Broken Ties III

Broken Ties- III

Love is hard; it tests you in ways you never thought was possible. It asks you to be vulnerable, to allow someone to hold power over you, that can make or break you. Kunwar Pratap Singh Sisodia wanted to love, he wanted someone in his life who would keep him close to her heart, and he would do the same for her. In his mind, they would be the perfect match- equals in every aspect, not like his parents. His parents were amiable, but he never felt or saw love between them. They maintained a distance, both of them had distinct roles, and they played them with full conviction. When social gatherings required for both of them to be together, they were seen together. His Ranimaa managed the NGOs, philanthropy part plus the household duties while his father looked after the family business. As a kid, his parents were always there for him, and that was enough.

The first time Pratap saw Ajabde was during a cultural festival where his father was the guest of honour. It was his second time attending a social event with his parents; his father had walked ahead with the sponsors while Pratap was waiting for his Ranimaa who seemed to be looking at a girl. He followed his mother’s gaze and saw a timid strange looking girl in way too sparkly clothes standing with her trophy looking at something longingly.

“Ranimaa” his voice was curt. Jaiwanta bai ji looked at his son who was glaring at the poor girl. “Kunwar Pratap” she looked at him sternly only to see Pratap hold her hand possessively, “we have to go.” On their way back, he held his mother’s hand refusing to let go of it.

As he grew up, Pratap was taught the way of the Royals, with lessons all day long, and the only time he enjoyed himself was when he was with Chetak and Sarang. His mother would joke that Chetak was his clone while Sarang was the sensible one out of the trio which was true. Chetak just like him was possessive, easy to provoke and had mood swings that could scare of people while Sarang would go on minding his business unless someone ticked him off bad.

One thing that ticked off and amused Pratap at the same time was one fact; Chetak was far more possessive of Ajabde than he was for Pratap. Ajabde had won over both Chetak and Sarang within the first 15minutes of their meeting, and after she had left, Chetak had roamed like a lovesick hero who has been told to stay away from the heroine. The pure Kathiawari stallion refused to eat, did not follow any orders and refused to go out for a ride with Pratap. He kept staring at the doors of the stable looking out for her

“Chetak loves you more than me” he had complained to Ajabde who had become his close friend. She smiled as she patted the mane of the horse she was riding

“Thank you for loving me, Chetak,” she told the horse which neighed in delight. Pratap made a face as he ran  his fingers soothingly over Sarang’s nose, “you love me, right Sarang.”

The horse in question looked at him and then went back to staring at the grass on the ground. Ajabde couldn’t hold back her laughter, and as she tried to control herself, Pratap couldn’t help but look at her- with the sunlight radiating over her form, the laugh like the melody of an old song, her doe-like eyes curious yet doorway to her heart and soul.

Pratap knew he was in big trouble when he saw Ajabde dance with another guy at a party. Hosted by one of the royal kids, Pratap knew he couldn’t decline the invitation but he didn’t wish to take the princesses to the party either so after discussing with his reflection for nearly an hour he asked Ajabde out as a friend.

“It’s a win-win situation,” he told her, “you get to see what these parties are like and I get a date.” She had gone red on the mention ‘date’ but agreed to go out with him. It was the night of the party he had concluded- he wanted to be more than just friends with Ajabde Punwar.

Their friendship had blossomed into love within a short span of time. His first gift to her was a dreamcatcher that he built himself – pure white with peacock coloured feathers. She looked at his present with wide eyes,

“I promise you that as long as I shall live you will only have good dreams filled with love, hope and promises,” he had been scared when he saw the tears roll down her cheek but later as they cuddled while watching a movie he knew everything was going to be alright.

Pratap stared in shock as Rao Ramrakh gave the ultimatum to Ajabde who just walked away from all of them. It was supposed to be a happy night for everyone especially the two of them, but he couldn’t understand why things went wrong

15 minutes later, Ajabde walked out of their lives and vanished. As she walked out, he told her,

“This is it, Ajabde. If you leave now, then it’s over for us.” She did halt for a second but then walked out without another look.

Pratap came to a stop as he looked at the man who was overlooking the food preparations. “I have some questions that only you can answer,” he told the old man who nodded his head,

Champak Lal smiled as he took in Pratap’s state, even though dressed formally his eyes told another tale, “how can I help you Kunwarsa?”