Hitting It Hard

Firstly I apologise for the delay. I was a bit preoccupied with work and then fell sick. Thank you all who have patiently waited for the next update. Will try to be regular from now on

Wishing everyone a Happy Women's Day- celebrate the feminine as well as the masculine side, the Shakti you have within you and let no one ever demean, demolish or destroy it. Fight for you are born fighters, You are Gauri, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga and Kaali!!!

Hitting It Hard

Jhalim Singh slammed shut his laptop unable to concentrate on his work. Ever since he had lost out on the historical tourist destination project he had been assigned menial tasks by Rao Maldev the head who had called for a board meeting post their arrival from Udaipur,

“We will have to make some serious changes if we are going to stay in competition”

The biggest change was that his sister Rajkumari Phool Kanwar Rathore was now a full fledged member of the Rathores business. She was currently working on a draft which if accepted by the boards would be sent to the Punwars- as a proposal. As if she could make a decent proposal he thought

“All she knows is shopping, looking good and doing nothing.” He knew if he raised any objections he would be the first one to be thrown out. The only good thing that had happened was she was no longer engaged to that fool Jagmal.

Phool looked at her proposal one last time before she saved the draft and sent it to her Bade Daata. She had fought hard for this one chance to prove herself worthy of being involved in the family business. Her Bade Daata was old school but he believed in giving chances to everyone and so he had given her one chance and if she failed then she would have to do everything the elders told her too. Breaking off her engagement on her own without telling them was already a negative mark against her and the fight that ensued was ugly. She was glad that Udai Singh ji supported her in this decision, she thought to herself

“The father whose son I hurt in the worst possible man accepted my decision and welcomed it. His would be daughter-in-law protected me while my own family look down upon my decisions”

Ajabde sat in the site’s office working when she heard some commotion. As she made her way outside she couldn’t believe her eyes of all people Jagmal and Toran Mal were standing creating a ruckus in her office. She took a deep breath as she reminded herself

“Do NOT lose your calm Ajabde Punwar”

The guards looked worried seeing the crowd that had gathered outside the office. They had tried stopping them by speaking politely but they were behaving rudely with them.

Jagmal stared at the girl sitting in front of her who had the audacity to say NO to him.

“Are you sure Ajabde Baisa you want to say No to us. We are after all giving you a choice to make things right” he told the girl who looked at her without showing any emotion, “after all you wouldn’t want the world to know about your fake engagement and reason for running away from your own wedding”

“The decision to choose the partners was taken by the jury and not me. The sole reason of my absence throughout the presentation was the fact that no one ever questions the decision taken by the honorable jury. Besides the jury members are men who do not participate in nepotism and favoritism. There is nothing I can do for you and as far as you ruining my reputation go Jagmal you would do well to remember that it’s not my name that will be dragged in the mud”

Jagmal couldn’t control himself, “Are you saying that you being Kunwar Pratap’s fiance had no role in him getting the project? We all know the presentation by the Rathores…”

“Was the same old presentation Jhalim Singh had been showing for majority of his projects including the government ones. There was nothing new or innovative in that presentation. I have already said and I do not like to repeat myself, there is nothing that can or will be done for you. Kindly leave the premises as I have a lot of work to do”

Pratap sat in his cabin working on his emails when Shakti entered the cabin and switched on the television

“A tussle seems to have broken out at the Punwar’s site office in Bijolia when Kunwar Jagmal arrived with handful of goons and tried to ransack the property for not being given the project. This is not the first time that Kunwar Jagmal has resorted to such cheap tricks but the interesting part is that Ajabde Baisa did not take the matter lightly and if rumors are to be believed she punched Kunwar Jagmal for hurting her guards at the office. Not only did Kunwar Jagmal got punched but women working in the site came out in support of Baisa and thrashed the men who had dared to raise their voices”

“Chalein Bijolia Dadabhai?” he asked his brother his eyes sparkling with mischief as the elder one shook his head “after all Jagmal ko kisiko toh save karna hoga Bhabhisa se”

The two shared a laugh when another update came up

Kunwar Jagmal has been arrested for trespassing, intent to harm and hurting an innocent bystander. From what we have gathered Kunwar Jagmal received the short end of the stick as not only did he get a really good punch from Ajabde Punwar but was also beaten up by the ladies working at the handicrafts centre near the site office. He has been admitted to the hospital for stitches and treatment but once he gets the all clear he will be taken into judicial custody.

Jalal stared at his crazy best friend who was devouring the freshly cooked kacchori. Ajabde Punwar sat relaxed not caring about the incident that had taken place earlier. When the news had come he was already in Bijolia having arrived early to help out with the preps and the first thing he had done was to go to the station where Ajabde Punwar sat like a tigress watching her prey squirm like a worm. Once her complaint had been filed she had left the place and checked up on all the guards and people who were present at the office.

“You know Jalal I really wanted to finish those files before I took the break” She told him, “par uss Jagmal ne sab gadbad kar di” He stared at her with narrowed eyes, “please! you enjoyed punching him Ajab. Dekha manine his face was blackish blue”

She looked at her friend  “I’m a Rajput and mere saamne agar kisi weak ko koi maarega ya bully karega then I will raise my fist at the person. I don’t care mere saamne kaun tha and never will care. I refuse to be a silent spectator”

“Ji meri Jhansi ki rani and rani Durgawati ki hybrid” he teased her as they made their way back home. “Rao ji ko kya bolne waali ho?” he asked her seriously and saw her friend look worried for a second and then she said the words that made him smile, “I always tell him the truth Jalal. Always”

“And me” his eyes were worried for her “you can tell me Ajabde I promise you I won’t judge ever. If you feel at any moment even when you are at the mandap that you are not ready just give me a signal I’ll be the driver of yiur run-away car but please bina bataaye mat jaana. You scared me and I don’t want to lose you ever”

“Jalal last time everything that happened was just a big mess. I said yes to the rishta because I wanted to make Daata happy and didn’t realise at that time that my happiness was all he ever wished for. I couldn’t open up to him and when I found out about the truth I just ran instead of facing it. Pratap gives me the strength to face my issues. He’s like the mirror who shows me the reality- the messy part of it for sure and with him I find this comfort zone of being my true self. I didn’t change at all jaisi thi waisi hi hoon and hamesha rahungi. I know in my heart he loves me for who I am warna he would have never taken Daata’s permission to propose to me. Last time I didn’t have the option or choice but now I do and I choose him”

Jalal nodded his head, “just so you know shaadi ke baad bhi if you need a runaway driver I’m there. I’m shifting my base here and I’ll have a cabin at Khan Baba ka office” She looked at him with a huge grin, “you’ll be here!!!”

“Yes madam after all aap par nazar rakhni hogi kisi ko toh warna sabko punch maarti phirogi”

“Waise I seriously did hit that Jaggu hard” she looked proud of herself and Jalal couldn’t but agree.

Later in the night as Pratap saw his brother and loved ones dancing to the music beats rejoicing over the upcoming celebration. The next day he would marry his musibat and make her his forever. A ping on his cell made him frown; it was a message from musibat

Kharus Kunwar neeche milo bade waale tree ke paas in 10!!

A minute later he received another one

Daaru leke aana!!

15minutes later Ajabde tooka gulp of the chilled beer her would be husband smuggled under his kurta as she told him about her day

 “Phool called off the engagement and she sent a proposal as an official representative of Rathores. I was working on it when Jagmal came with his goons” she told him looking for some reaction but found none. Without looking at her he knew her inner dilemma

“Phool doesn’t affect me anymore. She stopped affecting me post the business gala award night. It’s true I loved her at one time in my life but I realised later on that what I felt for her was not even a percent of what I feel for you. The night of Gangaur  puja I knew I couldn’t stay away from you and prayed that you didn’t send me away and the moment you threw away that ring and came close to me I knew it then and there that I loved you. The peace contentment I felt while holding you in my arms I wanted to feel that way for the rest of my life. I never felt like that with Rajkumari Phool, with her I was introduced to the concept of love but you showed me love”

Ajabde smiled as she placed her head on his shoulder as they stared at the stars with their hands entwined. They would embark on a new journey cherishing each other and their family members.