His Acceptance ♥ | Rudhita (ON HOLD)

Part-26

The sun's rays peeped inside the room through the cracks of the curtains and fell on Trilochan's face, disturbing his peaceful sleep. He sat up straight and yawned, stretching his arms. Then joining his palms together, he observed the lines on them for a while. After uttering some chants, he rubbed his palms and moved them slowly over his face. It was his usual morning routine. Then getting down from the bed, he touched the ground and then touched his forehead. He was quite calm until his eyes fell on the clock. It showed half-past 7, causing him to panic.

"Hey dugga maa, itni deri kaise hogyi aaj hume uthne mein! Humari puja mein bhi vilamb hogya!" he muttered to himself and hastily went to have his morning bath.

Having finished his bath, he was ready to go downstairs but before he could step outside, a melodious voice, singing the Shri Durga mantra, caught his attention. It was so soothing, that he closed his eyes in order to relish it. With a perfect pronunciation of each word and an euphonious voice complimenting it, the hymn sounded heavenly.

"Itne madhur swar mein Dugga maa ki aarti kon kar rha hai?" he thought and went downstairs. Entering the mandir, he was surprised to see Bondita singing in front of the goddess' idol. He smiled teary-eyed as a lot of memories flooded back in his mind. It had been years since a lady had sung the aarti in the Roy Choudhary Haveli. She sang like a nightingale, her voice echoed in each corner of the mansion, making the others to stop their respective works and come out of their rooms. Although Binoy and Somnath weren't theists, hearing the voice, they did assemble outside the mandir. They were quite enjoying it but the sudden halt in it made them frown. Finishing off her aarti, Bondita took Dugga maa's blessings and turned around, only to get surprised by seeing the RC men standing behind her. Firstly, she went towards Trilochan and offered him the aarti. He took it and she bent down to take his blessings.

"Sada khush raho." he said with a subtle smile, placing his hand on top of her head.

She stood up and then lowered her head.

"Maaf kijiyega Kaka sasur ji, main aapke bina aarti nhi karna chahti thi, par Dugga maa ki puja mein deri achchi nhi hoti na, toh isiliye maine..."

"Maafi maagne ki zaroorat nhi hai, achcha kiya tumne puja karke." hearing his words, she smiled in relief. "Aaj hume deri hogyi thi uthne mein. Lekin abb humare liye maa ki puja mein toh koyi badha nhi aani chahiye na." she nodded and gave him the prashad.

In the meantime, having nothing more to do there, Somnath thought of leaving but before he could go, Binoy's call stopped him. Yesterday's incident was still fresh in his mind and therefore, he didn't turn to face him.

Binoy began by pushing up his specs, "Som, kal jo kuch bhi hua...mera matlab hai, kal jo maine tumhe daata uske liye I am sorry. Shayad maine kuch zyada hi keh diya." his words and expressions clearly showed that he was in guilt.

Somnath smiled wryly before turning back and facing him.

"Kal main bohot pareshan tha aur tumhari uss galti ne mujhe aur gussa dila diya. Isiliye..."

"Isiliye aapne apna gussa mujhpar utar diya?" he interrupted belligerently.

"Nhi Som main..."

"Rehne dijiye Baba. Anirudh Dada sahi kehte hain, main aapke liye bas ek katputli hoon, haina?"

"Somnath!" Binoy raised his voice, drawing Trilochan's and Bondita's attention towards them.

"Meri bhi toh kuch bhavnaye hain. Jab chaha daant diya, jab chaha maafi maang liya!" he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. "Main aapke haathon ki katputli bankar nhi rehna chahta!" with this, he stormed into his room.