Chapter 1 Into the Depths of Oblivion

THE MIRAGE by GoldenHaze

Chapter-1 Into the Depths of Oblivion

Khushi kumari Ji Bhanusinghji Jethwa stared at her own reflection in the mirror! The setting sun in a way enhanced the tone of her skin and made it translucent and radiant. The red and green lehenga interspersed with the raw silk off white colour made her look beautiful almost... out of the world.The elegant and antique jewellery she wore increased the delicateness of her frame fourfold giving her an ethereal look.
The maang teeka that she wore along with the jewellery and the attire made her look like her ancestors whose portraits were still hung in the corridors of the great hall called the Jalsa Ghar with its mammoth chandeliers and ornate banisters. But Khushi was too much into herself to appreciate her appearance...little did she know how the dress and the jewellery enhanced her delicate features making her look fragile and breath takingly beautiful. She looked adorable and any grooms dream bride.

Her posture did not give away any of the turmoil she was going through from inside and it was only her eyes, expressive and big that showed anguish and a determination which reddened them slightly... a rare combination and indeed a rare sight to behold!        
But when was she ever common! Khushi sighed loudly and before dayee maa called her yet again, proceeded towards the narrow winding staircase to meet her destiny.

She neither saw the groom nor knew about him except for his name ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA. Yes!! but she did speak to him for a whole of two minutes on the phone two days back when her marriage was fixed all of a sudden by Babuji.

"Hello",her voice was nervous and sounded weak to her own ears!
Silence on the other end. five seconds...six and when Khushi did not know what to do and was about to hang up came the voice from the other end...
Khushi? A crisp voice pronounced her name and Khushi's toes curled in her casual chadaaws at the slight intonation of his voice while calling her name.
"Haan?', for the life of Khushi she could later never figure out how a stranger could sound so familiar, How his voice could be so alluring dragging her into a temporary stupor as if it were a drug and as to how she responded to it as if it was an everyday conversation she had with this man... a total stranger.
...Silence again! Khushi heard something like sucked in breath.., did she have the same effect on the stranger as he has on her? she wondered! 
"Aman will call you for some details we shall be needing and you can coordinate with him",thundered Arnav Singh Raizada quelling all her doubts, his slightly accented English reminding her that he is a Harvard graduate, and a world apart from her .
"In 48 hours You shall be...Mine."
"Ji? ",Khushi could not believe her ears that she was being discussed as if she was some possession or a new deal ASR has clinched and most importantly the way he said mine with a slight pause was very alarming!
The phone went dead. There was neither a preamble nor a farewell. "What kind of a man she was getting married to? Is this a hint for how her life would be?" Khushi flopped off into the couch gearing up for a confrontation with Babuji.

Sweat beaded on khushis forehead as she thought of that incident two days back which reminded of the conversation with Babuji that led to this phone call... 
                     ...She walked into Babuji's office on the far side of sheeshmahal to give him his daily dose of medication and found him talking animatedly with someone.He was alternatively pleading and this grabbed Khushi's attention as ever since babuji suffered from a paralytic stroke that paralysed his left side khushi took over the overall administration of the family empire of gems and jewellery  and the mundane matters of looking into the routine profit and loss of the Jethwa properties strewn in and around Ranpur just to avoid this type of stress.Munshi Brij Bhushan helped as they practically owned half of the properties in the purani chaawni and nava mohalla- both old and new wings of the town.

It is these proceeds that helped in the maintenance and the general expenses of the inmates of Sheesh Mahal.

Babuji was explaining something which the person on the other side was not convinced about and his slurred speech was no match added to that. Khushi thanked Devi mayya for showing such quick results and aiding in the speedy recovery of babuji and was happy he started fighting back in every way possible. Alerted by the clincking of her paayal, Babuji signalled munshiji to end the conversation. After Munshiji left Shashi Singhji asked Khushi to sit down ignoring her request to take his medication.
"Bitiya Humein haq tho nahi hain per...hum aap se kuch maangnaa chahthey hai! dengi humein? (I don't have a right to but...can i ask you for something! Will you grant me that?)he asked without any prologue. 
"Hukum kijiye babuji... apko pura haq hai"( Just order me! You have a right to)Khushi said thinking what brought out this odd request from him?
"Apne Babujiko galat tho nahin samjhengi?"(Will You Misunderstand Me?) Shashi singhji asked gingerly.
"Nahin! Aap kabhi galat ho hi nahi sakhthey!"( No sir! You can Never be wrong)Khushi affirmed.

Babuji squirmed in his seat. But he went on, " you know what were the circumstances in which payalia got married! 
Khushi shut her eyes and thought... believe me Babuji none knows it more than me as what you all know is nothing even nearer to the truth..."And how quickly we had to arrange for a grand wedding to befit our khaandaan as well as the Raizaadas?"...Shashi singhji went on oblivious of khushis thoughts...and the trials we went thru and the huge financial abyss we plunged into to make it one of the centuries most celebrated weddings she added silently! And the unprecedented spending to please the tantramatic mother-in-law Manoramaji of Payal jiji She mentally cursed.

"...Tho bitiya hum kya kahein unko Han ya na?"( So my dear, What should i tell them yes or no?) 
Babuji's query brought her back to the present. 
"About what?" She ventured.
Babuji just stared at her and it did not take much of his intelligence to figure out that khushi did'nt listen to him at all... ,
"Khushi listen my child we need to act fast as the mistake we did a few months back is going to cost us Sheesh Mahal!!! did u get me now?" Shashi pleaded with her.
"Babuji what happened? But...but... oh my god! we were given time, is it not ?...an year and...and... its not even six months yet', Khushi wailed!
"Han bitiya but Arnav ji can't wait for so long and he wants it to be settled in 48 hours", Shashi supplied.
Khushi was stumped. "Arnavji? Now where in the world is this related to him?" 
...and then she saw her Babuji's guilty face and realised how!"Nay Babuji don't tell me you listened to Aakash Jijaji and took help from him. Not him...Please tell me you did'nt!"Khushi pleaded with him. 
"Humein muaaf kardiejiye bitiya" Babuji said in a low voice and went on, "Believe me, that was the best i could do at that time and Raizadas are family now.It was the only thing that prevented Sheesh Mahal from falling into the hands of some outsider. Moreover Aakashji promised me he would prevail if need be if we took money from the raizadas rather than anyone else!" 
"Well then where is jijaji? and what does this Arnavji want now? Babuji jiji told me The mighty ASR is very ruthless and everytime she calls me she tells me how he keeps business away from anything else. Be it family or pleasure."
"I know Khushi.Unfortunately i didn't then but I realise it now. But this time he has approached us with a different scheme ..." Babuji's voice trembled.
"What?" Khushi felt an odd sinking feeling inside which always brought something worse and this premonition of her was never wrong.
"Arnavji gave us a two shot payment option for freeing Sheesh Mahal!" Babuji exclaimed.
Khushi waited for her Babuji to explain looking at him expectantly.
Shashi gulped and slowly ventured looking everywhere except at her... "Arnavji is willing to free Seesh Mahal only if..."
"Only if?" khushi prompted unable to bear the ambiguity.
"Only if You marry him!!!" There he had said it and it hung thick in the air the sudden silence deafening Khushis mind and making her go first numb and then insane.

Khushi continued walking trying to figure out how her life has changed so very completely in a matter of 48 odd hours! And how has she allowed the controls of her life to shift to Arnav Singh Raizada? Did she allow or did it just happen on its own accord? When Babuji told her that ASR wanted to marry her in return for freeing Sheesh Mahal she was too shocked to even feel anything. What in the world? why? and well!! How could he?.... thoughts got jumbled and she was enraged perplexed and surprised all at the same time. 

She tried her best to talk it out with Babuji but he only revealed this much and left the decision to her. As if there was a choice! There would have been if Babuji had not fallen ill on that fateful day five and a half months before. Then she would have fought her way back but now it's just next to impossible. After... after what she has done, now there is no way out.

Shashi saw that something was amiss. She had meekly accepted her fate and this did not go well with Khushi his spirited girl who never gave up without a fight. Is ther something he is missing? or is it because of the effect of stress sometimes in terms of dead lines and sometimes in terms of financial crunch that was continuously mounting the past six months?

"Khushi! Bitiya you have a choice! I will not mind it if you refuse this alliance. You don"t worry about anything. Your Babuji is still alive!" he spat. "Infact i tried every possible way to get out of this situation but well Devi Mayya has something different planned for you so it has come to this. "
Khushi saw a man once robust in health and pride but now frail and defeated yet with that Jethwa spark in his eyes trying to give strength knowing fully well how futile it was! 
"I would not have accepted to even listen to such a proposal had it not been for Paayalia since Arnavji is her Jeth." 
"Moreover, I just want to say one thing bitiya... In these circumstances i would have not found a better husband for you Than Arnavji. He is accomplished successful and most importantly from a good family and damaadjis brother.After payal got married and i broke down financially and health-wise i was worried for your future. I was worried how i would answer your parents when i meet them after my death",
..Khushi put her palm up to stop Babujis words. 
"Never say that babuji. For me u and amma are my parents. You don't need to answer anyone." she hugged him and wept. "If you think Arnavji is a good match for me i will never question your decision. So be it."

...Khushi tripped on the embankment and lost her balance and the next thing she new was that she was falling as she realised she in her thoughts walked to the far side and was not on the stairs but on the low roof that hung over the eastern section of the mahal which housed the marriage party and was called the lord Governer ki koti as the legend goes that once the British governer of the province stayed as a guest at Sheesh Mahal in that section of the eastern haveli.

She was falling in one second and in the other a pair of strong arms caught her before she landed on the hard tiled floor and then everything went blank!

Coming up...Chapter-2 Moonlight and Sunshine