Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Kumbhalgarh

The next morning, the girls caught their flight at 5 in the morning and when they reached Mumbai Airport, they were pleasantly surprised to see Mrityunjay waiting for them. Shambhavi hugged him and introduced him and Anisha to one another.

On the way back home, Shambhavi kept pointing out things to Anisha, for she knew that they would not be getting any time after this to show her anything. Although, on the bright side, they would have plenty of time to roam about Kumbhalgarh, but Shambhavi was trying to steer clear of that topic for the moment.

They reached home and as soon as she got out of the carm she was attacked by Nitya via a tight hug. Shambhavi instantly reciprocated the embrace. Adhya was standing behind in line and was hugging her sister.

The Vyas sisters were together after almost five months, which was a long period of time as they had never been apart for that long. They had a tear-filled reunion and would have continued to hug each other on the road had Mirtyunjay not intervened and said, "Devion, continue this Bharat Milap inside the house please," and got a smack from his would-be wife.

Anisha met the younger two Vyas sisters and soon they were all going inside the house. Everything was already prepared for their departure to their mother's home in Kumbhalgarh. Shambhavi and Anisha went to rest awhile and around lunchtime, they had their dress fitting session when the dresses for each function were tried on to make sure they fit well, as the dresses were already decided earlier.

The rest of the day went by in that and over a hundred other little things. At night, the Vyas sisters along with Anisha were sitting together enjoying each other's company and catching up on one another's life.

Adhya told them about the wedding preparation and Nitya about her medical studies. Anisha and Shambhavi told them stories from IOTA and the sisters laughed at them. They were talking about the teachers when Nitya asked, "Tai, did you get a photo of the Hot Captain for us? You promised us to bring back a photo."

Shambhavi rolled her eyes and Anisha looked at Nitya and asked, "Which hot captain?"

Nitya looked back at Anisha and said, "The one who interviewed Tai. Why? Are there more hot Captains other than that one?" Anisha looked back at Shambhavi and gave her a sly smile.

"Acha, you mean Captain Aniket Rai Chauhan. You will be anyway meeting him, so you don't get to see a photo of him. He will be at the wedding. After all, he is the king of Kumbhalgarh," Anisha informed Adhya and Nitya, who had their jaws hitting the floor.

"He is the king of Kumbhalgarh?" asked Adhya, astonished by the fact and Anisha nodded in confirmation, "And he is going to attend my wedding?" Adhya asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Shambhavi could ask him to go to hell and he will happily do it. This is just a wedding, and who knows, next time we all might be visiting Kumbhalgarh for another wedding," Anisha teased Shambhavi slyly.

Adhya and Nitya looked on and Shambhavi and screamed so many different things together. They asked questions and Shambhavi although did not answer any of them, the blush gracing her cheeks was enough to tell them exactly what had been happening.

Nitya sighed dreamily and said, "Haye! Are there any other hot captains attending the wedding that might be single?"

Shambhavi thought this was time for the perfect revenge, "No one is available. Anisha grabbed the only other, single, hot Captain."

And the tables were turned on Anisha now with question after question being fired at her about Advith.

The girls spent half the night like this, talking about boys and whatnot. They went to sleep only when the sun was starting to rise in the sky. They woke up around midday and the rest of the afternoon was a hectic mess with the girls packing everything that they would be needing.

They were going to go via flight and then had booked several cabs to get to Kumbhalgarh. The girls were reaching first followed by the Bajaj family the following day.

The flight went smoothly and as they reached Kumbhalgarh, Shambhavi couldn't help but think about Aniket. She was waiting to meet him but was confused with what she would say to him when they would meet. How was she even going to face him?

They reached Kumbhalgarh and Shmabhavi pointed out the fort to Anisha. Even the Vyas sisters were awed by its beauty. It had been quite some time since they had come to their maternal home. They recounted the stories of summers spent on the road and alleys of the city area.

They reached a medium-sized house built in a haveli style with rich Rajasthani architecture. They got out and saw that the gate was open as it was always found like during the day. From inside the house, you could hear a group of different Sitar tones being played in the melodious harmony of the song Albela Sajan.

Shambhavi was taken back in time hearing the melody. She could almost hear her mother and grandfather singing the song while teaching the kids. Nitya and Adhya ran inside to meet their Nana and took Anisha with them, while Shambhavi just stood for a few seconds looking at the home her mother had grown up in. Everything about the home, every corner, every room reminded her of her mother.

She was suddenly hit by the fact that her little sister was going to get married from the very home their mother had run away from.

She shook her head and went in. She saw the girls rambling on at an unimaginable speed to their Nana. "Let him breathe for a moment, won't you two?" She reminded the girls that their Nana was not as young anymore.

"Ahh, meri Chanda, come here, come here, let me look at you," Prithvi Vyas said. He was an old man, almost 80 years old, with white hair and strong build. He looked every bit of a Rajput that he was.

Shambhavi smiled at the use of the nickname and went to touch his feet when he said, "No. Girls should never touch our feet. Girls should always look up with dignity, never bow down," he said, taking her in for a hug.

Prithvi Vyas had always been a hardcore feminist, way ahead of his time and had instilled the very same ideals and morals in his sons and daughter. As a result, both his sons had been feminists as well, and his daughter was a different story altogether.

"Chanda, you haven't been eating properly," he fussed over his eldest granddaughter. It is always said that your grandchildren are dearer to you than your own children, and the same was the case here as well. He especially had a special place for Shambhavi in his heart, as she was the eldest of all his grandchildren.

He always wanted more daughters but had been blessed with only one. Though, he had been blessed with 5 granddaughters for which he was very grateful. Now, one of his granddaughters was going to get married.

"She is eating properly, but the army is making her work hard, Nanu," Adhya complained.

"That is not true. I could gain 10 more kgs and Nanu would still say this, wouldn't you Nanu?" Shambhavi asked her grandfather.

"How is your training going?" he asked and Shambhavi relayed everything to him. She also introduced Anisha and soon Prithvi Vyas started considering her as his sixth granddaughter.

It was time for dinner, so their eldest Mami came to tell them that the food was ready. They sat down on the floor with small chowkis in front of them and on those chowkis were placed the best Rajasthani thalis ever made. The girls dug in lovingly as everyone continued talking about the wedding. The next day, Mritunjay's family would be arriving and 3 days later the wedding function would begin with a Kul Devi pooja followed by Haldi and Mehndi ceremonies, and then finally the wedding itself would take place on the fourth day.

The whole ceremony would be carried out in the haveli itself, so no halls had to be booked and guests would be staying at a guest house booked only a few kilometres away. The girls retired for the night and Shambhavi was staying in her mother's room this time.

The next morning when Shambhavi woke up, she was surprised to see four bouquets of white roses with each of the girl's names on them. Along with the roses were a different variety of dry fruits and other trinkets sent with a royal seal on them. 

Aniket had been generous, Shambhavi thought. She was interrupted in her thoughts by Adhya. "Who has sent all this?" she asked looking at the Roses.

Shambhavi smiled and said, "Aniket."

Adhya was shocked and handed a letter to Shambhavi that she had missed while inspecting the gifts. It was addressed to her.

"I thought you would have forgotten about the flowers, so I sent some myself. Hope your journey went well. I want to invite you and your family to dinner at the palace tonight. Please do come. Don't deny.  -Yours truly."

Shambhavi tried to stop the smile from breaking on her face but she failed miserably. Adhya was happy to see her elder sister smile like that. She knew that Shambhavi rarely ever smiles, but at the moment, with the letter in her hand, she was positively glowing. In her mind, Adhya had decided that no matter what she would help her sister get this happiness because she also knew that Shambhavi would do everything in her power to push this happiness away from her.

They were soon joined by Nitya, Anisha and their Nana. "What is all this? It looks so good and look at these. Such pretty roses!" Nitya had started her rambling and Anisha thought back to their last day at the Academy when Shambhavi had white roses in her hand.

Their Nana also saw all the things and immediately recognised who they were from or rather where they were from. "These have been sent from the palace, but I haven't known anyone in the palace since the queen Rukmani passed away."

"Oh, if they are from the palace then your Aniket Sir must have sent them. You know Nanu, one of Shambhavi Tai's teachers is Captain Aniket Rai Chauhan, the king of our sweet little Kumbhalgarh," Nitya informed Prithvi Vyas, who looked at Shambhavi for confirmation as she nodded her head.

"He has invited us to dinner tonight, but I'll just send back a reply that we won't be able to make it," Shambhavi said when Nanu stopped her.

"Don't say that.  We will go, of course. He is the king. I know we live in a democracy but the Vyas family has always honoured the royal family and we will continue with the traditions," Prithvi Vyas spoke in a firm manner leaving no room for question and the girls were absolutely delighted with the fact that they would actually get to go inside the palace that they had admired so many times as kids.

Shambhavi was conflicted about the dinner. On one hand, she was excited to go to the palace and carry the tradition forward that had been a custom in their families for a long time. On the other hand, she was not sure how to behave in front of Aniket anymore. Her mind and heart were waging a war inside her, and her heart was gaining an upper hand at the moment.