Discovering Adrenaline { Twisted Saga P1 }

Chapter 17 :: A year later!????

Security around the Havelli became even more stricter especially after what Insiyaa did.......even though Amarendra Raichand didn’t say anything to Insiyaa about Manali trip, he secretly was slightly offended by the fact that his 15 years old daughter would dare to do something like that.

but in her defence, her baba was always so overprotective.......always wants to control her.

He doesn’t EVER let her attend school.....even when when the said school she got admitted was especially for the girls.

various tutors her baba appointed for her.....failing in her class was never an option. Once in while she'd go and that's only 2 to 4 days a month and she knew no one in her school liked her thinking she was absolutely privileged and teachers favoured her and that's why she always had good grades ......but that's not fully true. If only they'd understand that she wanted to mingle with all of them as well but she wasn’t allowed to go out.

Though she was relieved with her study and good teaching along with good grades, she was secretly very cross with his father as well as her care taker Jubeyda amma. The reason was that she no only had tried to talk her father into a stop her study and start looking eligible husband for her.....

and as if that wasn’t enough she also was constantly breathing down on her neck.....even when she was studying let night, bringing food because she might be hungry, and dry fruits for brain, warm milk,....she doesn’t like warm milk, she like cold one and amma knows it and she brought out her Quran and sat on her bed.....and started reading it in her low yet melodious voice.

"amma....padhayi kar rahi hoon na mein, aap doosre kamre mein kyun ni jaate"

[ amma. i'm trying to study, why don't you go to another room ]

but she didn’t even bother to look up at her......Insiyaa let out a sigh.

Amarendra Raichand was a rich householder.......a businessperson with group industries such as real estate, steel, cement, home appliances, tele communication etc but it is their Jewellers that's famous all around India........

they used to live in another havelli than where they are right now, quite smaller in size that was......Amarendra build that one when Ahana, his wife was still alive almost more than a decade and half ago, that was known to everyone as Nayi Havelli by people of Jodhpur, but then his wife died and Amarendra decided to come back again......ever since then he made many changes what his father aka Insiyaa's grand father didn’t like, but he didn’t like many things in the past......

and all of those babbling stopped when he took his last breath......

so,....after that without anyone there uttering any nonsense, slowly he finished renovating and redecorating the old havelli into a luxurious huge three-storied building......

Since then, Jubeyda amma had kept wishing that Amarendra Raichand at least once call the mawlana Akhtar Raza khan...so he would come to their house and bless them. All this time the old man was reluctant to travel so far from Lucknow, but now the opportunity presented itself and he had sent a letter from there stating that he would come to visit them on his return journey. Joy and excitement were boundless for Amma. She started the preparations in full swing. After all, Mawlana's visit to the house would make it holy......

Amarendra kept it quiet and Insiyaa just kept fuming.....

All the furniture from the big room on the ground floor was removed. A new taped bed with new furnishings arrived for the Mawlana to sleep in. Because she didn’t want him to climb up and down,.....he was very religious and never misses Salah and he'd go to mosque 5 times a day.

"abhi suno meri baat....Mawlana sahab aarahe hain....mujhe koi bachpana ni chahiye.... abhi bade hogaye ho aur ha mathe pe hamesha dupatta rakhna, koi jor jor chillana ni, gana ni bajana aur nahi nachna hain, jab tak wo hain, namaz padhna hai panch waqt,...sonaa hain time par...... to phone pe apne sir na ghucha ke rakhna, samjh aayi baat" Amma quickly said and glared at her

[ Now listen to me....Maulana Sahib is coming....I don't want any childishness....you are grown enough now and always keep a scarf over your head, neither shouting or yelling loudly or dancing around, nor playing songs, as long as he is there, you'll not miss your five times of prayer so,..sleep on time and no using phone all the night, understood the point ?"

she only sighed....and that's when she heard some snickering.....

'daadijaan iss baari tumhe Insaan banaake chodegi' a remark came few moment after before that remark maker's face came in light....

[ granma will finally be able to make human out of you this time ]

Rushda Rahil.......with her biting humor, she never liked.

'Rush....don't say that' Rushad's sister chided coming out from shadow behind her....and gave her a smile

'whaaat! it's true....I'd not be surprised if she would manage to marry her off by the end of this year' Rushda continued

'Rushda chup ho jao aab' Ruthba hissed, while Insiyaa just frowned at Rushda and then left from there.

so, with that few days later, during the last 10 days of Ramadan, her brothers returned for Eid vacation and Mawlana sahab arrived as well.

But what bad weather it was......!

The sky was overcast with dark clouds accompanied by storm and incessant rain. In the meantime, Amma was so busy preparing sweets and arranging for fruits and sumptuous iftar that she hardly found any time to breathe. Even with all that she managed to clean up the bed and fix up the mosquito net for the Mawlana.

After a lot of discussion, that tired man finished his dinner and went to bed. The servants also retired. Lying down in that neat and comfortable bed, Mawlana could not help but felt absolutely content and thank Allah once again before closing his eyes.

tip.....tip.....tip!

But suddenly in the middle of the night he woke up. Drops of water were falling over his kameez, possibly coming from the ceiling and through the mosquito net.

Oh! How cold that water was! Hurriedly he got out of the bed and wiped his stomach.

Then he said to himself, “Even though Amarendra Raichand renovated in anrw way, the roof has already developed cracks under the strong wether”

The bed was not much heavy, so the Mawlana dragged it to the other side of the room along with the mosquito net and again lay down to sleep.

tip....tip..... tip.....

Just as he closed his eyes, within half a minute a few drops of cold water fell upon his head this time. He sighed and got up again and dragging the bed to another end of the room once again exclaimed,....

“I see, the cracks on the terrace seem to have spread from one end to another.”

Again he lay down and once again water started dripping......on his toe nails!

Dragging the bed room to another corner was not helping in this matters in any way.

Water started dripping again.

Then he realized that the bed was so wet that he could no longer sleep in it.

Mawlana just realized how much trouble he was in......he was an old man in his early 70s', and although staying in the room in the cold floor was risky because of his arthritis,.....but at the same time he was too scared to go out of the room in this big unknown havelli.

but then what would happen if the cracked roof collapsed upon his head ? thinking about the worst possibilities he was scared to death,.....so he opened the door and came out to the verandah.

Though a lantern was lit there, it was pitch dark outside and no one was in sight......obviously last night everyone person was awake in prayer for Laylat al-Qadr and then today they host the iftar party for their known muslim community and for their business associates and the poor.....

so, everyone was dead tired!

The storm continued to rage in full swing accompanied by incessant rain......it was difficult to even stand still without flinching. He did not know in which room the servants slept. He shouted for them,...once but there was no answer.

There was sitting area made of finely crafted wood in one corner of the verandah. The Mawlana sat down there. Though he felt that it was beyond his capacity to do so,...after a whole tiring day, there were no other means left. The cold north wind sprayed some rain water on him and made him shiver with cold. Lifting his feet upon the chair, he pulled both end of his shawl over his body and tried to make himself as comfortable as he could.

Tired after the whole day, his body feeling numb, bitter at heart, with sleepy eyelids, and with the indigestion that had been caused by the rich food and sleepless night, Mawlana was really perturbed.

and as if that wasn’t enough........all of a sudden there was a new botheration. Huge mosquitoes started singing in his ears. Worried about the number of mosquitoes that were attacking him, at first he could not shut his eyes. But within two minutes he realized that the mosquitoes were innumerable. There was no brave man in the world who could counter such an army. The biting became unbearable, as did the scratching.

He quickly left the verandah, but the mosquitoes followed him.....and with that, much to his dismay that army made him take a tour around the whole Havelli.

The water in the room and the mosquitoes outside it really disturbed him. He started flapping his hands and feet, and even tried to hit them with his gamchha ( towel ),

but to no avail!

Running around from one end of the room to another, he perspired a lot even on such a cold night. He felt like shouting at the top of his voice but restrained from committing such a childish act. He imagined that Jubayda amma was fast asleep in her comfortable bed inside a mosquito net and that everyone else in the house was also sleeping peacefully.

Only he had no end to his running about. Somewhere around the havelli a grandfather's clock struck four and resigning himself to his fate he sighed in defeat and said,.....“Go on biting as much as you can – I can’t stand it anymore.”

Going to one corner of the verandah he squatted on the floor, saving himself with his back as much as possible.

“If I survive till morning, I’m not going to stay in this horrible place anymore. I will take the first train available for home,” He grumbled and promised himself.

Now he realized why he did not want to visit this place. But soon deep sleep erased all the sorrows of the night and he was nearly senseless in deep slumber.

Amma was always first to wake in the Havelli, so yes she did in the meantime woke up at dawn --- she had to look after Mawlana. Though he had had a heavy meal at night, she felt that the food was not sufficient enough.

She even resolved to compensate for it with different items throughout the day. Upon coming downstairs, she found his door open and frowned.

She felt slightly ashamed that the Mawlana had woken up before her. Peeping into the room, she found that he was not inside.

But what was wrong ?

The bed on the southern side was now placed north, his bag which was near the window was now in the middle of the room, and all the things of that room scattered around the room. She could not comprehend what had happened.

Coming outside, she called the servants but none of them had woken up.

Where did Mawlana go alone ? he hardly knew this place after all.

Suddenly she saw something –

what was it ?

In one corner of the dark verandah, wasn’t it something like a man sitting there? Gathering courage she moved closer and bent down to find him.

In an unexplained fear she shouted, “Mawlana sahab!"

Mawlana woke up, opened his eyes and sat up straight very slowly. Distressed with fear, worry and shame, Amma started crying. She asked him,

“Mawlana sahab, why are you sitting here ?”

Mawlana stood up and said, “There was no end to my misery all night, Jubayda”

in meantime, hearing the ruckus Amarendra, Rahat and Shawkat came out as well as Rushda.....and started watching everything.

“Why ?” Amma asked

“You have built a new house no doubt, but the roof is damaged everywhere. All the rain throughout the night did not fall outside but upon my body. Wherever I pulled the bed, water kept falling. I came outside in case the whole roof collapsed upon my head. But here too the huge armies of mosquitoes kept biting me the whole night. I ran from here to there, again from there to here. I think half the blood in my body is no longer there” Mawlana complained in a distressful voice

Seeing the pitiable condition of the old Mawlana whom she invited in this havelli after a lot of effort, coaxing and cajoling, Amma was moved to tears.......

“But Mawlana sahab,” Amarendra Raichand said, “the house is three-storied. There are more rooms above yours, so how could rain water pierce through three floors?”

Rahat and Shawkat only exchanged a look......

'three guesses who is behind it' Rushda mumbled looking at all the scenarios that was unfolding infront of all of them.

Then suddenly Amma realized that this would definitely be the handiwork of that wicked little __ she could be the only one behind it.

She rushed to the room and started touching all around the bed and found that the sheet was totally wet at the center, and drops of water were still falling from the mosquito net. Quickly taking it down, she found many many cubes of ice wrapped up in a big piece of cloth – part of it had not melted and a little piece of it was still left......

Running out wildly, she dangled it infront of Amarendra Raichand......his eyes went wide as saucer plate and whichever servant he saw,......he started barking orders at them

“Where is that wicked little thing ? Leave all your work, go look for her, and wherever you find that spawn of devil and bring her back.”

Ruthba was just coming downstairs. Perplexed at her grand mother's condition, she asked Rushda “What are you doing here ? What happened?”

Bursting into tears Amma said, “aaj aane do usse......pedho mein bariyan lagaoongi mein"

[ let her come....I'll shackle her down ]

“What has she done now ?” Ruthba asked looking at everyone

“Go and see for yourself what she has done to the Mawlana for no reason.” Rushda grumbled

They all went into the room.....Amma narrated everything, showed all of them everything. Then she said , “Tell me, how can I run this house with her interference on everything ?”

the Mawlana was flabbergasted at first but understood everything. Realizing his own stupidity, he burst out in laughter. Insiyaa's father only turned his face the other way.....as well as her brothers trying to control thei laughter.

The servants came and reported, “she is nowhere in the havelli......”

Another one informed that someone saw her running toward the Nayi havelli...with bag of fruits, other dry foods and some cloths as well.......they knew Insiyaa had no fear of darkness or being alone in big house.

After this incident, Insiyaa kept her distance to everyone in the house until the day of Eid......good things that Shawkat moved to that house to stay with her for last few days of Ramadan, Ruthba would visit every now and then......even Rahat came at last with Amarendra and Mawlana on his trail......

only person who stayed behind was Amma.......still salty about that incident.

they had a mighty good laugh about that night......Mawlana even praised her wit infront of everyone.

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