The Intel

The Intel

“How many Champak Lal’s are there in this region?” Jagmal stared at the thick book with yellow pages that had around two pages dedicated to the man Champak Lal. He and his sisters decided to dig into the man who was supposedly marrying Hansa kakisa. All three never agreed on anything but would stand united for one person- HansaBai Punwar. The woman had raised all three as her own; their childhood memories had more of Hansabai than their mother. Dheerbai Bhatiyani would leave her children and go on about her business that no one knew off. She would leave them behind for days, weeks and sometimes month but Hansabai never once let them feel like outsiders. For Hansabai, all three were her children.

“Dude” Chand looked up, “Jija is on a roll. The sheer number of pictures and stories she has shared of Bijolia palace clearly say she’s going on full throttle.”

Jagmal stared at his youngest sister who had gone back to her phone, “how is looking through Instagram helpful?” he asked sarcastically. 

Chand Kanwar looked straight into her brother's eyes,

“This is known as investigating” she showed him her phone, “you see this way I can keep an eye out on everything the enemy is up to.” She scrolled through the images, “see these images and stories let me know the stages of preparation at Bijolia. Although” she frowned, “jija has yet to share any image of Hansa Kakisa or herself. All she’s shared are the palace décor.”

Jagmal closed the yellow pages and took out his phone to scroll the images shared by Ajabde. He surfed the account only to end at one picture that got all wheels inside of his head turning.

“Call Maan and Patta,” he told his sister, “We are going for a visit”.

“Champak Lal” SajjaBai ji sat reminiscing about the name and the man it belonged to as the children surrounded her. Heer had been surprised to see the Bhatiyani siblings and twin brother at her doorstep. Jagmal seemed to lead the others who were just as surprised to find themselves at the Solankhini residence. After serving tea to SajjaBai ji and coffee to the others, she sat down beside her twin as the senior woman decided to let them know about the man whose name had their father, Rao Ramrakh fuming.

“Let’s see” SajjaBai pondered, “it is true there are quite a lot of Champak Lal in the region, and I’m aware of a few of them but why do you ask?”

“Because you are the only person who doesn’t treat us like kids,” Jagmal said in a sweet voice, “unlike the other elders you share things with us like we are adults and capable of making sound decisions..”

Sajjabai ji nodded her head, “that’s true. It seems I’m the only person who has faith in your children.” The others hid their smiles knowing fully well that Jagmal had used his mother’s oldest and frequently used trick to get the details out of Sajjabai ji.

“So Champak Lal” she looked at the children gathered around her, “which Champak Lal do you want to know about?”

“The one who makes Kakasa angry” Chand blurted making the others stare at her.

“Ohhh that Champak Lal” SajjaBai ji smiled, “if anyone has to be angry then it should be Champak Lal after all Rao ji did elope with the poor man’s bride.”