Arohan - The Ascent

The Meeting - Chapter 3

"Please don't ask me anything. I won't be able to answer any of your questions. Please can you show me where my house is. I am very tired and would like to rest now," said Urvashi, looking at Pandit ji. Pandit ji studied the pleasant looking girl in front of her. She was young, but her face held a poise calm which came after being through a lot of ups and downs in life. Kedernath was sure there was a story here, but she was not ready to talk about it. So, he let it pass.

"Of course. Let me get you something to eat and then I'll show you to your place. It's just a couple of houses from here. It's not too big, but it's in the village center and you'll be safe there," he explained. Urvashi smiled an understanding smile. "Thank you," she said, for the gentleman's kindness.

Next Day

Urvashi had trouble going to sleep in the house she had been given. It was again a thatched roof house, with a living room, followed by a bed room. This house for some reason had an attached toilet. Panditji explained that, they had to get the toilet built for an old woman who lived in the house. When the woman dies, the son, left the village and moved to Delhi for good. The keys were with Pandit ji for the upkeep of the house. Now that he had found a tenant, he would send the rent to the owner, every month. Urvashi was thankful for Pandit ji's thoughtfulness. In the past few years, she had forgotten, how simple things that we take for granted in a city, become luxuries in a village. For e.g.: having an attached toilette. Imagine if you had to walk out of the house, to an unlit part of the courtyard and probably be greeted by snakes and scorpions on the way.

Urvashi arranged her cloths into an array of shelves built into the wall. They did not have any doors. So, she put two nails into the wall and hung a curtain to obstruct the cloths from showing. She freshened up and as she was tidying up the kitchen, she heard a loud knock on her door. Urvashi walked up to her door and opened it.

"Good Morning!" said Vicky, looking at Urvashi from top to toe. She wore a lotus pink cotton saree with a thing border, her hair tied up in a bun, with bangs falling just over her forehead. Urvashi looked at Vicky, enquiring with her eyes, why he was there. Her face though showed no reactions. "I thought that your reaction will be different," said Vicky, leaning onto the wall on his right side. "What are you doing here, get out...something like that?" asked Urvashi. Vicky smiled.... he almost thought she was asking him to leave.

"My boss calls you.... Get into the vehicle," he told her, his looks becoming stern now.

Urvashi observed Vicky, her eyes now, steady on him, as he fiddled with the toran of the house and fidgeted at her gaze. "My appointment with your boss is half an hour later. I'll be there before time... and I'll come by myself...." She said, trying to shut the door. This reaction Vicky had expected. He put one foot between the door and the frame. Urvashi looked up at Vicky severely for his insolence. "I knew this would be your reaction. Don't worry, I didn't get my bike today. Today I am driving my boss's car. He sent it specially for you," said Vicky.

"Take it back Vikram... I will be there before time," she said, her voice sterner this time.

"What the hell..." Vicky couldn't complete his sentence as Panditji walked in just then. "Urvashi, I though you said you'll come in 10 minutes?" he asked, looking from Urvashi to Vicky. "Is he troubling you again..." "No, not at all Pandit Ji... come let's go...." Said Urvashi, picking up her bag, set on a small table in the hall and stepping out of the house. Her saree made her look older than her 25 odd years.

As Shivani walked out with Pandit Ji, Vicky caught up with the two of them. "A very grand welcome awaits you both," he heckled them walking close to them. "Go on, go on," he told them. Urvashi did not seem affected by his words, but Pandit Ji looked worriedly from Urvashi towards Vicky. Whatever that Narottam would have planned, he thought to himself.