And Then One Fine Day - Change

In the library, Antara waited for her students. She knew not how she was going to teach William and his brother a language that was so completely alien to them. Starting from scratch with numbers and alphabets would be quite a hardship for them she realized.

Her thoughts wandered to what her father had told her as she'd left for the Rasgarh Fort after school.

"Do not be worried my child. There is nothing wrong in whatever you are about to do. However, it will do you well to remember where you come from."

And she certainly knew where she came from. The high and imposing walls of the fort not doing any good in easing her discomfort. The library in itself was almost museum-like. There were about a million books housed in it.

Yet, despite its grandeur and larger-than-life persona, the walls spoke to her as though welcoming her into their space. The earlier Governor had all but abused the beauty of the ancient structure. But Lord Graham had seen to it that the fort was restored to it deserving beauty. The lawns and gardens were enormous, but the genda and mogra flowers added to its beauty. Colours were strewn all across what she could only assume was a flower garden. It was a beautiful sight. A small meadow.

Her thoughts halted as she heard the library doors creak open. In stepped a little boy with light brown hair and freckles on his pale white skin. He was wearing mini-jodhpurs, a crisp white shirt, a black waist coat and boots to match looking every inch the aristocrat that he was.

Antara smiled softly to him and when James smiled back, she saw William in him. This is how he must have been when he was James' age. Antara smiled to herself as William walked in,

"I hope I am not too late."

"Not at all Sir. Why don't you both sit down."

"Thank you Antara. And please call us William and James."

She only smiled. She seemed to be doing that a lot she thought. She ordered herself to stop but she just couldn't.

----

Three months on and Antara was still smiling in her hindi class. If it was possible, her students were even more charming than before. Jim, as she now called James had taken her heart from day one. She had never met a sweeter child. He was wonderfully eager to learn and had picked up the language beautifully. He now spoke short sentences with amazing fluidity and clarity. Antara loved him dearly.

William, Antara noted was unlike anyone she had ever met. Not only had he mastered the language, but he had also slowly crept in to her heart.

The village headmaster's daughter was in love with the Governor's son.

She knew not when it happened and how it all happened. But it had.

She was irrevocably in love.

----

For William, the last three months had been beautiful. He not only got to see Antara everyday, but he also got to spend plenty of time with her. And in doing so, he was able to know her better. He knew now she loved flowers, so he would have fresh flowers on her table in the library everyday. He knew she loved books, so he would send books over to her house every weekend.

He loved her smile, warm and friendly. He loved the way she cared for James. His little brother was blossoming under her touch. Gone was the shy little lad who used to cling to his brother for every thing. In his place now was a confident and affectionate child, always smiling just like his teacher.

However, William also knew that all this wouldn't last. His father would soon be posted elsewhere. And although he would be staying back in Rasgaon, having just been commissioned; he knew he couldn't be with Antara. It just wouldn't be right for her.

He, William Arthur Graham Meyberg was head over heels in love with Antara, the village headmaster's daughter.

----

Surijee stood at the entrance to the Grand Hall waiting for Willam Sirjee (he no longer referred to him as the white man).

Upon entering the hall, William asked Surijee whether he would like some refreshments since he'd traveled in this heat on foot. Surijee was very happy with Sirjee's warm and generous hospitality.

He drank some cool water and then told William Sirjee that Antarabibi will not be coming to teach in the afternoon because her pitaahji wasn't keeping well.

After informing Sirjee that it was nothing serious, he left. He liked William Sirjee. He was a nice white man. He did not have any airs about himself. He was very nice indeed.

In fact, even though Suri would never admit it to anyone; he liked William Sirjee and Antarabibi together. He knew Sirjee will be able to care for his bibi.

But Suri knew how the village was. Even though he was an old man himself, he was not stuck up with his ideals and principles. He knew that times were changing and changing with times was imperative.

With his thoughts scattered in all directions, Suri arrived at Antarabibi's house to find people gathered outside, whispering about some tragedy.

Suri cleared his way and went in and stopped dead in his tracks. Antarabibi was sitting hunched in a corner, silent tears streaming down her face.

Vasudevjee, the village headmaster had died.

----

"Surijee, humko Antarabibi se milna haaain. Please help karo," William beseeched Surijee for the hundredth time. But Suri was immovable. He told William Sirjee that Antarabibi did not want to meet anybody. She was dealing with pain in her own way according to him.

William felt helpless. It had been almost three weeks since he'd seen Antara. He just wanted one glimpse of her to see for himself that she was okay. But he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with Suri.

He turned to leave when he heard her voice, soft and almost feeble, "William..."

He turned then to the woman he loved. The woman he'd missed dearly for the last few weeks. The woman who'd become the centre of his world.

----

Antara ran towards him then. She didn't have a care in the world. She didn't care about what the villagers would say. She wanted William. She needed him.

She found what she wanted in his tight embrace. She found...love...

But things were going to change now...

******************to be continued********************

And Then One Fine Day - School

Surijee rang the bell thrice, signalling the end of school. As he waved goodbye to the last of the children, he saw a white man walking towards the school. His first thought was to shut the gates to the school and run inside. But he knew that would be cowardly and he was definitely not a coward.

As the man came closer he said, "Namaste saheb. Main Suri hoon. Iskool ka chaukidaar. Aapko kisise milna hain saheb?"

He waited in trepidation wondering what the white man was going to say. But he was surprised when the man smiled gently and said something in a weird language. "Hindi" was all he caught in the man's tirade.

He opened the gates for the man and said, "Saheb, andar aa jao. Main kisiko bulaata hoon."

----

Antara was gathering all her books from the table when Surijee came in running.

"Kya hua Surijee? Kuch kaam tha?"

Surijee told her about the white man who had come to school and was waiting near the entrance. Antara knew at once that he was William. A small bubble of excitement began hovering around her head. She didn't know why William had come and even if he had come to learn Hindi, she didn't know how serious he was about it.

She told Surijee to bring the 'white man' into her classroom and by the look on the old man's face she knew he didn't approve.

----

Surijee didn't know what to make of the situation. Who is this white man? And why does Antarabibi want to meet him in her classroom? His questions went unanswered as he ushered the white man to Antarabibi's class.

However, he didn't just leave him there. He waited outside the classroom, keeping an eye on the white man!

----

Antara couldn't stop herself from smiling. William was so big and overbearing in her tiny little make-shift classroom. He wouldn't be able to sit on any of the chairs of her students and the only other chair was hers. When she offered it to him, he waved her off saying, "When do we start Madam?"

Antara's first reaction was to laugh but then she knew Surijee was standing outside, his attempt to eavesdrop failing when he started coughing.

"You cannot be serious Sir. Do you really wish to learn Hindi?"

"Absolutely dear girl. And also, now that we have that cleared up it would be nice to know your name."

Exasperated, but at the same time a little too overjoyed for her own good she said, "My name is Antara."

"Antara...Antara..." he repeated and to her astonishment he said without a tinge of an english accent.

"So when do we start Antara Madam?"

Antara didn't know how to answer that. She knew that if William kept coming to school, tongues would start wagging and sooner or later the entire village would be at her school's doorstep demanding to know what a white man was doing in there.

"Honestly Sir, I don't know how will I teach you. The villagers will..." she trailed off when he put his hand up stopping her.

"Antara, I am only asking you to teach me the language. If the villagers ask you anything, I will answer them."

"No Sir. That will not do at all."

William knew she was right. In a country like India, he knew how women were treated in society. He didn't want Antara to be ostracized because of him. No. He would never have that.

"Okay. How about I arrange for you to come to the Rasgarh Fort to teach Hindi to my younger brother, James? He's only 8 years old. I'm sure the villagers will not have a problem with that."

Antara wondered why he was going through so much trouble just to learn a new language.

"Sir, I really do not know how this will go down with my village. They may not approve," thinking how to phrase what she was about to say she added, "and besides, why are you going through so much trouble to just learn a language? The villagers will think there is something else to this."

"And if there is?" William surprised her with his response.

The silence was so overwhelming in its wake that Antara was surprised that she couldn't hear it buzzing in her ear. She was so glad that Surijee didn't understand a word of English.

Before she could come up with a suitable response William said, "Its settled then. You can come to the fort in the afternoons after school closes. I promise to drop you back to your home before the sun sets."

Antara looked up at him when he said that.

"My dear sweet girl, I know you will need to be home before the sun sets. I will not keep you any longer."

She smiled then, a smile of gratitude and also pleasure. She really wanted to teach this 'white man', to Surijee; her language. But, deep down Antara knew there was something more. She just didn't want to dwell on that just yet.

"Okay Sir. I will come"

"William, " he corrected her. "Okay William."

Happy with that, he turned to leave. When he was at the door, he heard Surijee pull back and chuckled softly to himself.

He turned back then and said, "Oh and I'd like to start with knowing the meaning of your name my dear girl."

And then he was gone...

***********************to be continued****************************

And Then One Fine Day...The Morning

Clad in a blue and red sari, long black as midnight hair tied into two thick plaits, her only adornment a single thin chain around her neck, almond shaped doe-eyes, the colour of twilight with gilded flecks, a long dainty nose with a small nose-ring, cheeks the colour of pink roses, a pointy chin with hinted at a bit of stubbornness in her nature...who was she?

She seemed to be asking him something but for the life of him he couldn't bring himself to pay attention to whatever it is she was saying.

She finally stomped her foot in anger and thats when William was shaken out of his reverie.

"Who are you," he asked wondering if she knew English because he for one didn't know a word of Hindi.

The girl stared at him pointedly and thats when he realised that he was still lying down on the grass. He quickly got himself together, scrambled into a sitting position, adjusted his clothes and hair and repeated his question, "Who are you?"

"I am the Headmaster's daughter," she said in a sing-song voice with not even a tinge of hindi accent.

"Very well. I am...," before he could his finish his sentence she said,

"I know who you are. You're Sir Graham's son, the one who has come to oust us all from our homes and take away our land if we are unable to pay the tax this year." She finished in a puff of anger.

William was taken aback at the abject animosity evident on her angelic face. He wondered who had fed her such a load of nonsense about his father, a peace-loving man trying his damnedest to bring some amount of respite for the village of Rasgaon. But for some reason he knew that no matter how much ever he tried to clear his image, the headmaster's daughter wasn't going to believe him.

So instead he asked her, "Where did you learn to speak English?"

"Why do you ask? Have I surprised the imperialist in you?"

William was getting a tad angry with the sourness in her voice, he knew there was no reason for her to be this defensive. After all his question was asked in complete innocence.

"Not at all," he replied a little stiffly.

Antara was angry with the imperialists for having destroyed her beautiful village but she wasn't mannerless and inhospitable.

"I am sorry. That was rude of me. My mother was the nanny to Lord Hilton's granddaughter. I used to tag along with her and was allowed to sit for tuitions. Thats where I learnt to speak English."

"Oh well. Thats wonderful. I am glad you can speak English. Perhaps you can teach me your language."

"Certainly. You can join the village school. The fees is nominal enough for you to afford and the hindi lessons are in the afternoon."

William smiled at her cheekiness. But he was in the mood to surprise her it seemed so he said,

"Certainly. Shall I come down to the school tomorrow? Are you the Hindi teacher? Or do you by any chance take classes after school?"

William watched her expression change from mild disbelief to suspicion. He quickly added, "There would be other children in school too right. Its been quite a while since I've spent time with children. My eldest sister has 3 girls. Quite a handful those three. I do miss them dearly."

Antara found herself softening to the young man. She knew that should anybody see her speaking to him the entire village would be in uproar. But she was never one to follow rules.

"Will they be visiting you during their holidays? Have they been to India?"

"No they haven't been to India. I have requested my sister Charlotte to bring the children during their holidays to India. It will be quite an adventure for them."

Antara blurted out, "Why adventure? Is it because they feel that we are a country full of uneducated and backward villagers? We are quite an advanced country Sir. The world thrives on our rice and handloom. Your government survives on our trade."

"Why are you getting so agitated and defensive my dear girl? The children will love India for her culture and unity. The colours of this country are so varied and different. It will most definitely be a learning for them."

"I apologise for speaking like that Sir," she blushed.

"Apology accepted my dear girl. Please do not call me Sir. I feel quite positively old when you call me so. My name is William and my dear one ones call me Will."

"I don't know whether we will meet again. If we do, maybe then I shall. For now, Sir will do just fine," she grinned.

She turned to go, when William stopped her saying, "Wait. What is your name?"

She smiled, her right cheek dimpled and said, "If we meet again, I shall tell you. For now dear girl suits me just fine. I quite like the sound of that."

With that, she turned and scooted away into the woods, leaving William with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

He knew they would meet again. He knew.

After all how difficult would it be to find a girl who was not only the village Headmaster's daughter but also the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Going back to school never sounded more appealing!

***********************to be continued*************************************

And Then One Fine Day...The Lake

The lanes of Rasgaon had never been so lifeless. Even the mud and gravel on the surface refused to budge.
It was like the entire village was in silent mutiny of all that was happening around. Everything was in a state of calm - the calm before the storm. For nobody in the village knew that in about 6 months, the village headmaster's daughter would change the destiny of the village.

For them, she was still the naive young girl, who taught in the local gram-school and took dance classes in the evening for the zamindar's children.

----

The smell of wet mud infiltrated his nostrils as he took his morning ride on Mustang. The previous night had been a good one. He'd met with all the important officials in the Parliament. He'd given his silent acquiesce to anything they'd said just to ensure that there was no initial dissension.

They'd finally called it a night, close to midnight.

But sleep seemed to be eluding William. So he decided to go for a midnight stroll.

He decided to explore the woods behind the house. Having lived all his life in London, he'd never really had moments of solitude. The times William would spend in India would always be dear to him, as these would be the moments of self-introspection and self-analysis - something which he seldom did.
So he walked down the cobbled path, interpolated every now and then with a fallen tulip and some errant leaves which the gardener would sweep off the next morning.
His path was aglow with the light from the lonesome moon in the sky that night. The stars seem to have disappeared that night. The solitary moon and the fireflies torched his path.
William walked and walked into the night, forgetting all his woes and troubles. He decided to leave those to ponder over for the next day.

He came to a clearing. The shrubbery and the branches made way for a small lake, literally in the midst of nowhere. The languid reflection of the moon on the still waters was William's undoing. He sat down on the banks, not wanting to stir the water from its apparent restful state, he didn't give into the ever human urge of throwing a pebble into the water.

How long he sat there he knew not. How many hours of the night had gone by he knew not.
He didn't realise when his eyes closed and when sleep finally claimed him.

----

The next morning, Antara went down to the lake. She wanted to be away from the abject mutiny that was now in the veins of Rasgaon. She didn't want to be a part of any war. She didn't want to be a part of any conspiracy. She just wanted to live her life on her own terms, without being answerable to anybody.
As she walked down the familiar path, she picked up the fallen tulips and leaves. She would make a raft with all the leaves and set the tulips on it and send it down the river. She never liked the way the gardener would just stomp on them and sweep them away. So she found a better end for them.

Upon reaching the bank, Antara realised wasn't alone. Thats when she saw him.

----

William had woken up to the sound of the pelican happily sipping water from the lake. He'd woken up in the lap of nature, was his first thought.
He looked around and thats when he saw her.

******to be continued******

And Then One Fine Day...2

India... He'd heard so much about this country, read so much about its ancient culture and heritage. He knew all the states and its capitals, the union territories. He'd done his homework before coming.

He knew he still had a lot to learn - which is why he was here.
He wanted to explore the length and breath of the country he'd heard so much about. He wanted to experience the cultural shock and awakening that people often talked about.
He knew he'd find his destiny in India.

His father was a top ranking official in the Parliament.
The same Parliament that was responsible for the general dissension groping the country.
The same Parliament that was hated and loathed by the common man - the plebeian.

William was supposed to be a part of this Parliament.
He was one of them. The Imperialist.

----

And then one fine day...

And Then One Fine Day...

Things weren't going down well. All around, the chaos and general hubbub was deafening to say the least.
In all this, finding peace was like finding water in a dry and arid desert.
Yet, the hope never left her. The misery never shrouded her optimism. She believed that victory would be hers. She believed that happiness would touch her one day.

----

For Antara, love had always remained the transient illusion.
Nonetheless, she didn't let the thought of never having found true love get to her. She knew the day would come. And it would come soon.
But till then, she was content with her life.
The dull monotony that was the way of life for many had never shadowed her even once.

The dark times were forgotten (always) long before they stayed long enough to leave scars.
She never stopped believing. She never stopped hoping.

----

And then one fine day...

The Journey - Final Chapter

Rishi watched as his son slept blissfully unaware of the tension and panic his premature arrival had brought on.

His right hand was beside his ear and his head was turned slightly towards his left. He was wrapped in a light yellow sheet. A small tuft of brown hair could be seen popping out from under his yellow cap. The light rise and fall of his small little chest, the small little sighs that he made...all made Rishi realise one thing - his son was real. This was his boy. His little guy. He wanted to touch his soft cheeks, play with the slight cleft in his chin, see if his son would hold on to his finger.

But most of all...he wanted to show his son to the world. Every time his mind spelled 'my son', Rishi's chest inflated a little more with that certain fatherly pride. He wanted to run on to the rooftop of the hospital and scream himself hoarse. He wanted the whole world to know about the newest addition to their family.

Soon after, the nurse came. "Sir?"

She had to repeat herself once more, this time in the indulgent voice she reserved especially for all those overwhelmed new daddies, "Sir...if you would come with me now, your wife wishes to speak to you."

That got Rishi to spin back and face the nurse. "My wife!'" he exclaimed.

"My wife wants to speak to me? Did she really say that Sister?" He was stunned and he was thrilled to bits about it.

The nurse just nodded and asked him to follow her.

----

Neha waited for her husband to come to her. She was sore and aching in all places, but she knew that now wasn't the time to focus on the pain. It was just mild after all. What she was going to do now, was bigger than any pain.

She had come to this decision, while she was writhing in agony, in the delivery room. How her mind had found the space to accommodate this decision was beyond her. She knew she was doing the right thing. For her family. For her husband. For their son.

This had to be done.

----

Rishi knocked lightly on the door, before letting himself in to see his wife. On his way over, he imagined this scene a zillion times. He didn't know what his wife was going to say to him. But he knew one thing for sure. He was going to fight for his family. He loved Neha. He loved the little bundle of joy, Neha had brought in to the world.

He was going to save this marriage. He was going to save his family. His wife and his son were everything in this world to him.

He wasn't going to let them go.

----

"Rishi, I have something I need to say to you."

"Neha, I too have something I need to say to you. Could I please say my bit first?"

"Rishi...this is so typical you, you know. Why can't I go first? What I have to say is important to both of us. Please Rishi..."

"Okay sweetheart. You go right ahead." He would do anything for her.

"Rishi, I've come to a decision." She saw that he was about to say something, so she held her hand up and continued, "I need you to hear me out please."

Rishi's anxiety was reaching new levels and he was sure he was going to hit the panic mode very soon.

"While dancing with you this afternoon, I started to hope Rishi. A new hope sprung and I started believing that we do have a chance of making this marriage work. I was going to tell you so. But then my water broke and the moment was utterly destroyed and...and..." she couldn't go on. A soft sob escaped her and she started weeping.

Rishi crossed the distance between in two quick strides, sat on the edge of the bed and took his weeping wife into his arms. He soothed and calmed her. He pressed soft kisses on her temple, smoothed her hair. Finally when she had calmed and was only hiccuping a little, he pushed her back onto her pillow.

"We'll talk later sweetheart. You need to rest."

"No Rishi..." she rebelled and caught hold of his arm. "I need to finish what I had to say."

"Neha...we'll talk later. You need to rest darling."

"Rishi please. Weren't you also wanting to say something? Please Rishi. Tell me what it is. I want to know. Are you going to leave me? Is that what you were going to say?" she burst into tears once again. This time curling up on her side.

Rishi was stunned. Why should she think that?

He lay beside her and gathered his weeping wife into his arms once again.

"Come here you silly girl," he said and just held her.

Finally when she was again on a hiccup spree, he sat her straight. He held by her shoulders and said,

"Neha Nair, if you for even a second thought that I was going to leave you, you are sadly mistaken my darling wife. There isn't a force in this world that can keep me away from you. I never ever want to let you go. I am so sorry for being such a callous prat earlier. I wish I could take it all back, but I cannot sweetheart. I really hope you can forgive me someday. If you cannot I understand. But I will strive to ensure that I will never hurt you ever. Thats a promise babe."

And then, the darnedest thing happened. Neha started crying again.

----

Two months later

Neha and Rishi, stood by the door to their son's nursery watching him sleep in his crib.

Rishi had found that his son did indeed have the softest cheeks. He'd cried a little the first time his son had held his finger tightly in his fist.

Neha found a tender side to her husband she never knew he had. She enjoyed watching father and son together. Sometimes, she would wake up in the middle of the night to feed her son. When she would pad down to the nursery, she would find Rishi holding a bottle to his son. He would be fast asleep, but their son would be busy glugging down his formula.

Rishi had insisted on his son being named Rishi Jr. "Its a father and son thing," he'd said.

Neha didn't object one bit. After all, she'd always wanted to name her son Rishi.

But she would keep that bit of information to herself. Her husband's ego was quite swollen as it is.

**********THE END*******