Love Is Our true Destiny: A Rikara FF

Chapter seven

Omkara was woken up by a heavy, yet curt knocking on his cow-shed door. 

He looked out of his window, it was barely dawn, who was so eager to see him at this time?

He opened his door, to see a lathyal (guard with lathi i.e. heavy sticks) carrying a heavy box in his hands. 

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Omkara, still half-sleepy. 

"Take this, it is from the Haveli" said the guard, unloading his burden in Omkara's hands, and leaving quickly. 

"What the hell?" said Omkara to himself. 

He placed the box on a makeshift table, lighted an oil lamp as it was still dark, and opened the box. 

It had a note on top, which read. "With compliments, from the Haveli" 

Omkara kept the note aside, and peeked into the box. 

Inside, there were bottles of colored powder, some jars of Indian spices, some honey, few thin containers of oil, crushed flowers of varied kinds, even a little basic make-up.

What was all this for? Why would the Thakurain or Chhote Thakur send him all this? 

He recollected his last conversation with the Thakurain. She had mentioned something about making his colors. Was this what she meant?

He was fully awake now. 

He took the stamen of a crushed flower, mixed it with some haldi (turmeric) in water. After four tries he got it right: a burnt orange color he had in his mind. 

Soon with a lot of experimentation, Omkara managed to squeeze some of the nuanced colors he needed for his sketches. Combined with the rudimentary paint set he had got from Savitri, it would be enough to get him going for the time being. 

He didn't notice the time, the sun had arisen, he was scheduled to go for work at Yashwant's godown. 

While he was getting dressed, the thought struck him. Honestly, that should have been the first thing to strike him. 

The Thakurain sent him the ingredients he needed to create art......

Why? Was this some twisted humor on her part? Or....... 

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He knew he would find her here. 

It had been ten days since he had received that 'box of goodies', as he liked to call it in his mind, from the Haveli, but he didn't get any chance to thank her, or even acknowledge it. 

Omkara did not know how to describe it, a hunch, an intuition, a gut feeling? Whatever it was, he knew he would she would be here at the pond today. 

"What is it you seek this time?" came her voice. 

Her back was to him, like last time. 

He was standing at a respectable distance behind her, near the clump of trees, observing her melancholic posture, staring at the pond, dithering whether he should approach her or not. 

Did she feel his presence?

Either ways, it seemed like she took the decision out of his hands. 

"Not seek, express. Thank you, for that box. It was very thoughtful, and helpful, and frankly totally unexpected" said Omkara, in gratitude.