Gandikota

Love Conflict

He slapped her right across the face, the force from the blow of his hand causing her lip to split, as blood slightly trickled from it. It was the first time, he had ever raised his hand on her, since she was born.  

"I gave you all the freedom to live your life the way you wanted, I never imposed any restriction on you.  Why?  It is because I trusted that you would use that freedom wisely. Yet today you have made my head bow in shame"

"Father, I have only loved him,is loving some one such a crime?"

Chenchi looked at him, with tears rolling from here eyes, the blood trickling from a corner of her lip.

"It is so easy for you in the flush of your youth, to be carried away by the feeling of love.  But we do not know who the stranger is? Where he comes from? He is not of our tribe, he is an outsider."

"When you saved me and gave me refuge ,  was I not a stranger to you Peddayya"

The deep voice from the door , echoed in the cofines of the abode, as Ramalinga, stood silhoutted against it.  Peddayya turned towards him, with even more rage in his eyes.

"I saved you as any human being would have done, I gave you the refuge, even without knowing you. I admired you for your wisdom, so much that for the first time in my life, I had even overturned my own judgement.  And you repay me in this manner?"

"I shall be ever grateful and indebted to you Peddayya for all my life. But I do not see what wrong I have done here?"

"She was young, impressionable, in her flush of youth,  and you took advantage of her feelings, if that is not wrong I do not know what is"

"She is part of me Pedayya,she is the one who shall be with my life, till end comes. I cannot even think of any one else. I could have easily carried her away from here, but that would be real ingratitude towards some one who had given me  a new life"

"And that would mean a stain on the honor of my father as always"

It took a moment for Peddayya to register what was said, as he stepped back a bit, surprise writ large on his aged face,  his temples burrowed in a deep frown, his eyes questioning intently.

"Who are you?"

"Years ago a king had forbade hunting or cutting of wood on your land protecting your way of life. You still take his name with reverence. You are wise enough to understand"

"Ramalinga Nayaka of the Pemmasani clan"

The words came out in a tone of awe, as the reality hit Peddayya, straight in the face. Yet you could not see it on his demeanour, as a conflict of emotions raged in his mind.  Silence reigned in the abode, as each unsure of what to say, waited for the other to speak. It was Peddayya finally who broke the silence.

"There can be no man more suitable than you for my daughter, but yet our worlds are different. You are a man of the palaces, she is a child of the forests. You are bound by restrictions, conventions,she is a free spirit,untamed. Even if you wed her, would your own people accept her.  They would lose no opportunity to remind her of her place."

"Pedayya, she is the other half of me, the day I loved here, I had sworn that I would protect and defend her to death.  Any one who hurts her or offends her, would not be spared. She would have her own space in my life, where none would even dare to enter".

"In the flush of your emotions, you would promise the heavens Ramalinga, but the real test comes in being true to your promise. And I can never trust your royalty, no matter how well meaning you tend to be"

"I am willing to even give up my life for the promise I make.  I do not believe in empty promises, I could go on and on, but I leave the decision to you and her. If I take her away by force, it would be sheer ingratitude on my part, and I would have to live with the guilt all my life"

Ramalinga rose and walked towards the door of the abode, as he turned back.

"But as long as I live, she will forever be in my heart. Even if she does not accompany me for the rest of my life journey, I shall still consider a part of me. There shall be no one else in my life".