𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒆

PART-27

*𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚛: 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛. 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍.*

Mami = Mother's brother's wife.

-*-*-

As the bus wound its way along the road, surrounded by forests and fields, Ira gazed out the window. Her mind drifted away from the mundane journey to the ancient city they were approaching.

Rajgir - once the abode of kings and sages, its very name means "the royal house".

And Ira imagined those ancient figures walking these same paths - the Buddh meditating beneath the trees, Mahavir guiding his disciples, kings holding counsel amid the hills.

Cradled within five majestic hills - Ratnagiri, Vipulachal, Vaibharagiri, Songiri, and Udaygiri - the city rests like a secret in their embrace. These silent sentinels have watched civilizations rise and fall, guarding the echoes of chants, debates, and philosophies that once shaped an age.

Long before it became a place of pilgrimage, it was the proud capital of the Magadh Empire - a seat of power under kings like Bimbisar and Ajatashatru. The ruins scattered across the land still tell the stories of that golden era when art, wisdom, and justice flourished together.

Vaidehi, sitting beside her, nudged her gently. "We're almost there," she said with a smile.

Ira nodded, her mind reluctantly pulling away from thoughts of the ancient city and returning to the present moment. She looked out the window once more, where the dusty roads and modern buildings stood in stark contrast to the timeless beauty of Rajgir's storied past.

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

Sanam pulled the key to her apartment from her handbag. The dim corridor light cast long shadows across her face, revealing her puffy eyes and red nose. She twisted the key in the lock, and the door creaked open. Stepping inside, she slipped off her heels and placed them neatly on the shoe rack.

She turned to lock the door when a sudden burst of light made her squint, her hand instinctively rising to shield her eyes.

"Where were you?"

The raspy voice made her eyes widen. Her fingers clenched around the key, the metal biting into her palm.

Gulping, she turned and forced a gentle smile, her lips trembling slightly as she tried to compose herself. "Y-You came early today, Kabir."

Kabir's eyes roamed over her, lingering on her face before moving down to her toes. "Where were you?" he growled in a whisper.

Sanam's hands trembled as she turned back to the door, fumbling with the key as she tried to twist it inside the lock. "T-To a f-friend."

"Which friend?"

"An old friend... from school," Sanam murmured, slowly turning around. Her eyes met his as she walked towards the black sofa with heavy steps.