Solace

Chapter 2

Somewhere in Rajasthan..

Aur 3 ghante, 26 minutes ~~
A girl in her early twenties was writing her diary with her left hand, keeping her right hand on her chin. She looked through her window and softly smiled showing her beautiful dimples.

She could see the Singh haveli, standing still from last 300 years. It is a beautiful Rajasthani architectural styled building.
The golden paint adds to the demeanor of the building, making it look lively. The Singhs had been the local landlord for a very long time. Still today they didn't lose their glory and respect and this haveli carried the proof of that.

As she was writing further, the pen seemed to run out of ink. She looked at her desk but couldn't find any extra pen. Her expression changed from happy to slightly irritated and she started to shake the pen rapidly in her hands. Suddenly ink spilled all over her yellow churidar. "Hadh haii", she said in an irked manner.

She thought to take a shower but stopped as soon as something crossed her mind. "Kuch teen hi ghante bache hai unke aane mai. Pehle hum haveli ho kar aate hai phir shower le lenge."
She covered the ink stain with her dupatta and came out of her room hurriedly.

"Kyu dour rahi ho? Koi marathon chalu hai kiya?", Salma begum said in an irk tone watching her daughter running towards the exit gate.

"Maaf kijiye ammi. Hume abhi haveli jana hai, der ho rahi hai. Agee se aisa nahi hoga", the girl breathing heavily caused by the running.

"Dheere baat karo. Kitni dafa samjhau tumhe Haseena. Apni chal, apni lehje ka dhyan rakha karo", Salma chided.

"Areh aur kitni dheere baat karegi. Waise hi iske muh se baatein toh mushkil se nikalte hai", a voice came from behind. Salma looked behind and saw Chameli coming with a bowl full of kheer in her hand.

"Ladki hai, dhyan to rakhna parta hai na, Chameli ji. Bas isko izzat se rukhsat kar doon, phir chain ayega hume", Salma replied.
"Iske abbu toh nahi rahe jo karna hai hume hi karna hoga. Adeel ki abhi inti umar kaha hai jo apni behen ki shadi ka soche. Abhi abhi naukri lagi hai uska", Salma kept blabbering.

"Hum aate hai", Haseena thought to escape as she saw her mother getting busy with her marriage talk with Chameli. She went towards the haveli leaving them behind.

Their house, well, actually not their house as the house is in fact the property of the Singhs, standing just behind the Singh haveli. In old times, this house was used as a guest house.
After their father's death they had to move from Lucknow, as their not so lovely relatives cheated and ousted them from their own house. Her father's boss, who is Dewan Vijay Singh, took them in, from then they lived here in this house.

"Mummy, mummyyyy", a six year old boy called his mother almost screaming.

"Hey Deva.. yeh ladka kisi din jaan lega meri", a lady in her late thirties was murmuring while descending the staircase.

"Kya hai Ashu, kyu chilla rahe ho. Do minute rukh nahi sakte kya tum. Ise bhi kiya hi kahe, iss khandan mein kisi mein bhi sabar naam ki koi cheez nahi hai", she chided.

"Mera tie nahi mil raha", Ashu complained.

"Toh yeh tum Malaika se nahi bol sakte the? Woh dhund deti. Meri ab dourne ki umar nahi rahi. Samjha karo beta", the lady sighed.

"Nahi, har koi meri cheezo ko haath lagay mujhe yeh bilkul pasand nahi", Ashu declared.

"Bhagwanji, dheeraj dijiye mujhe in sabko bardash karne ke liye", she looked upwards in a defeated manner. "Bilkul apni bua pe gaya hai tu. Kya jata agar thoda sa meri tarah ban jata toh? Akhir maine janam diya hai tujhe."

"Bua se yaad aya. Jaldi karo, Shivi. Mujhe jaldi school jana hai aur jaldi wapis bhi aana hai aur buasa se milna hai. Unhe mera naya plane dikhana hai", Ashu replied with visible excitement.

"Apni ma ko naam se bulayega? Badmash, idhar aa batati hu mai", Shivani faked anger and tried to catch her son.

"Mera tie dhundke do mummy", saying this Ashu ran and the sound of his giggles echoed through the house. Shivani looked at her son with a content smile on her face.

"Aane de tere bua sa ko, acche se khabar lungi mai uski. Na koi phone call na koi message. Santu na hoti toh uska aata pata kisiko na hoti," she said to herself.

"Haseena baji ap kyu khana bana rahi hai. Mujhe bol deti mai bana deti na apko jo bhi chahiye", a young girl around 19/20 asked after finding Haseena in the kitchen.

She was cutting vegetables for the curry, hearing the young girl she looked at her. Before Haseena could answer her, a chubby woman of 46, replied smiling ear to ear, "Rehne de Shanno, aj toh humari Haseena baji apne haathon se hi khana banayegi, Karishma didi jo aa rahi hai. Unke sabse azeez dost ke liye azeez treep".

"Treep nahi treat hota hai woh, Malaika didi", Shanno corrected her. "Tabhi toh Haseena baji ke dimple dikh rahe hai. Waise ap na bohut sundar dikhti hai haste huye, baji", Shanno said looking at Haseena.
"Ha woh toh hai", Malaika seconded.

Haseena just smiled at them and continued with the cooking.

"Karishma wapis aa rahi hai", it's the only thing she could think of right now and it made her heart flutter with happiness.

It's been eight long days, although to her, it seemed like eight neverending months. She had thought to call Karishma and talk, but her ammi wouldn't like that. And Karishma had this outrageous habit of not being available on her phone when she is on holiday. If it's not for Santosh, nobody would even know where she was. Was she even okay? What if she was hurt? She will always do something dangerous, without even caring for her life "to have fun".

"Ahmaq insaan", she murmured thinking about her favourite person with a serene smile on her face.

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What's up you lovely people? Doing well, I hope.
Feel free to give me your feedback in the comment section, both positive and negative. I am happy to take notes and do better. And if you like my story, do vote, let me know your thoughts through comment and follow (maybe!🤞)

See you in the next chapter.