For Better or For Worse

CHAPTER 8 - The Breathtaking Sight

“Wow! Just wow!” exclaimed Sampoorna as the car came to a halt in front of Nandini’s ancestral home. The estate house that they so humbly liked to call it was indeed just a small estate house that belonged to her family during the hay days. However now, it is considered more of a palace. The red sand stone finish building, so typical of Rajasthan stood gracefully in front of them. The gravelled driveway and the woods, with a huge sprawling well kept garden with garden architecture was an addition that was made by Nandini’s great grandfather, to give it a more English country house look. The building however, was of typical Rajasthani architecture. The lattice work of the entire building was well kept most of them survived from its days of inception. The windows and doorways are mostly replaced with new glass structures to fit the needs of the modern world.

“Did you grow up here?” asked an astonished Samporrna without taking her eyes off the beauty that surrounded her.

“No, I grew up in Darjeeling in a convent. During the holidays I used to spend most of my time in Kolkata but every year during the winters we used to spend at least a month here. The entire family used to fly down to Jaigarh.”

“An entire month! How long did your winter holidays last?” asked Sampoorna.

“Three months exactly, we actually never got any other holidays for that long. In Darjeeling there was no concept of summer vacation because it is a hill station, during the winters it gets worse. It snows for a stretch of three months you know. It was the same for Adi too. In fact, during those months of winter in Rajasthan all the four families used to be together”, chipped in Nandini.

“Did all four of you study in the same school?”

“No, actually after Anita’s mother passed away in a car crash, Tarun uncle and my father decided to enrol Anita and myself into Loreto Darjeeling. That way we two kept company since Tarun uncle used to be busy those days, with his career just taking off. Adi used to study in St. Pauls Darjeeling. Yosuf’s mother, Hamida aunty was rather concerned and very protective of him when he was young. He is the only one amongst us who was not put in a full time boarding convent. He studied in St. James Kolkata. During the winters when we used to come here to spend a month for holidays, Tarun uncle used to take a month’s holiday too, just to be with his daughter. That entire month we never saw him working. In fact, sometimes my father used to be away on business trips and since Adi’s father, Bhavani uncle was still on duty, Tarun uncle was the only male figure that used to take care of us for that entire month. The rest of the family used to comprise of my mother, Adi’s mother Rukmini aunty and Hamida aunty. Even Yosuf’s father, Ahmed uncle left after a week or so to attend court and keep his law firm up and running.”

“Waw! You guys must have had an awesome childhood!”

“Well, I am sure we did, but our college days were better. In fact those were the most amazing time, because we were all in Kolkata for those four years of undergraduate degree. Amazingly enough we all got into a four years professional degree course for our undergraduate. Anita and I were art students. While she majored in Textile Designing I majored in Art History and Appreciation, Adi was an engineering student, and Yosuf was a law student”

“Incredible indeed”

While they were talking the rest of the gang went in and received a warm welcome by the entire family. Nandini hung around Sampoorna, just so that if she wanted to get a guided tour of the garden she could give her. She did not have a great height unlike most of her family members, but she had long wavy hair that reached till her midriff a perfect heart shaped face with accentuated cheekbones. Although she was a little on the plump side, she considered herself to be fat by the standard of her generation. That was however a misconception she could not let go of, although her friends called her petite and small and sometimes even teased her by calling her a midget. Not that she regretted her shape or her size. She was perfectly happy with what she had been endowed with. What she was rather aware and to a certain extent proud of was that she had a certain panache to carry herself with dignity. In short she was simply graceful.

With shades still covering her eyes, she held on to her most valuable possession, her camera while waiting for Sampoorna patiently, but something kept nagging her. She felt rather watched, a feeling that she never had even as a young child when she visited this place. One would think that the place might be haunted with ghosts of days past, but she knew of all the places on earth this place was the least haunted. Then again today, in fact, right now she felt like being watched, like as if a steady pair of eyes is warmly stalking her.

“Is everything okay?” asked Sampoorna seeing Nandini frown in deep thought.

“Yeah everything’s fine, I just have a funny feeling that we are being watched” said Nandini. “Don’t get me wrong, this place isn’t haunted of all things” she added.

“Being watched? Yes, perhaps” replied Sampoorna and looked straight behind Nandini. Nandini took the hint and turned around, just to find out Yosuf leaning against a column lazily with hands tucked in his jeans pocket and watching them both intently from above his aviators. Nandini gave a small laugh nodded and her head.

“Will you guys honour us by coming in?” Yosuf questioned.

“Yeah take Sampoorna in with you. I will be there in a while” replied Nandini. Somehow she was still not convinced with Sampoorna’s version of the watcher. Yosuf and Sampoona headed in and Nandini took off towards the middle of the garden, where stood a fountain still in a perfectly good working condition. She knew that standing in front of the fountain will give her a clearer view and she might just be able to find the watcher. She was convinced that it was not an animal and something told her it was not a ghost either. She stood in front of the fountain, facing the house she pulled her old fashioned shades up her head and positioned her eyes on the view finder of the camera. She zoomed in and out scanning every nook and corner till she found a figure lazily leaning against one of the guest room French windows on the west wing of the house. In a blue jumper and a pair of grey trousers, he immediately realised that Nandini had spotted him. He acknowledged her presence by nodding at her, clearly impressed with Nandini’s tactfulness and presence of mind to track him down. She moved her camera from in front of her eyes and looked directly at the stranger. She was not prepared for the impact of what hit her next, for she was staring straight into a pair of cool blue eyes. She was amazed how refreshing it felt, like a cool wave of the sea splashed on her face.

“Nandini!” someone called out.

Her reverie broke, only she did not look away. Instead she gave a nod as a return of his earlier acknowledgement of her discovery, but the look in her eyes was more voluble than words. It said in no uncertain terms “Let’s meet inside.”