LOVE: To Infinity And Beyond

Forgiving punishment

Dearest readers,

I just wanted to let you all know that as promised, I will write a sequel to this book, but before that kindly bear with me while I finish this one and write a very short OS book on Mahabharat. I hope you all will like that one too...

~With immense love, Bristi <3

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As we enter the hall, which is gradually emptying now, I feel Madhav's eyes on us.. Well, more on Krishnaa. He smiles triumphantly at her, at their joint victory in convincing me.. I know its silly, but at times I really feel that if someday Madhav has to choose between me or his Sakhi, he is obviously going to choose her. Though, Krishnaa would say jut the opposite. Whatever, this is not the burning issue of the moment. I can only think idly about this and pray that Madhav never has to choose between the two of us, rather, any of us never has to choos e between the other two. That would be devastating, and we would end up being able to choose none and die a thousand times, crumbling into ourselves.

 But right now, someone is exerting the full devastating force of his charms on me.... Well, that is my own son. Abhi is grinning like the summer sun at me, his dimples, which I guess he has inherited (quite impossibly) from either his Maai, or the lifeline of his Mamashri--- Radha...  

Even thinking of Radha tended to choke me with the immense pain that such a tragic love saga could possibly exert of the two people involved. But, Madhav had once said, " The saga of OUR love is not tragic Paarth. It is the ideology of LOVE. The sacrifice, devotion and trust involved in our love is the main glory of it. We don't need to stay physically close to each other for our love to so-called 'succeed'. We don't need any social affiliation either. Our souls  belong to each other and none of us, inspite of being separately married, have ever let any qualms from the outside touch our souls, other than we ourselves. That is what completes and succeeds our love. Our love is not tragic, its immortal."  Madhav's words ring in my ears and suddenly a completely different thought strikes me. There'll be a physical end to the physical existence of me and Krishnaa, too; and the same applies for Madhav and Radha as well. May the Almighty be generous enough on me to take me out of this realm first. I won't be able to tolerate the loss of my beloved. I have been dangerously close to that tragedy once, but please not again. And, the same request applies regarding the loss of my best friend and ultimate guide too. 

Okay.... No more dwelling on the darks of the unknowable future. I approach Abhi, who is already having his arms clung around his Maai's neck, and extend my arms to take him. He suddenly stop flashing the charming grin, hides his face in his Maai's shoulder and starts giggling. "That's not fair!", I whine, almost reflexly. But I must have predicted this. He would never ever leave his Maai's lap to get to someone else, even if that was me or Subhadra, or even his dearest Mama. Krishnaa gives me a mock petulant pout and then flashes a triumphant smile, and inspite of my desperate trials and couldn't help not smile. The next moment, my other four kids come up running and crowd us, while Priu greedily half-leaps and I catch her and envelope her into a hug. Malini follows the kids along with Priyamvada maasi, whose presence, despite Mata's absence worries me instantly. "Mata?", the question tumbles out instantly. Priyamvada Maasi just nods and smiles and I look around and realise that its only Madhav, Satya,  Rukmini Bhaabi, Subhadra and this small crowded group of 'us' here. I immediately realise that Mata must be having a few precious moments with her other five sons, and I have the least interests to leave my favourite people here and intrude them right now, I just smile peacefully and look at my wife, whose blue eyes suddenly are a bit clouded, as if starring somewhere far away. "Krishnaa?", I call her and instantly Abhi and Priu's eyes are also focussed on her face. She just blinks and instead of smiling, asks in an alarm, looking at Malini, "Where is Nitambini?" 

Oh.. my Queen. Nothing escapes her notice!  But really, it's not my moment to get re-dazzled by this incredible woman. Really, where IS Nitambini?

I and Krishnaa step into the royal gardens-- the last place left for us to search for Nitambini. Krishnaa had pleaded with me to not deploy the guards or even inform anybody else about Nitambini's sudden amiss. Even Malini had no clue where she could be. "You really think we can find her like this? How long would we roam around, uselessly searching for her all across the palace premises? Really Krishnaa, what are you thinking?" I am just so frustrated. She can really be so damn exasperating at times. Why can't she just tell me what in the world she is thinking? Why can't I just read her mind? Well, I can often do that, but only when... Yikes! You are on a search-and-find mission Arjun. Stop drooling over your own wife! I scold myself and shush my constant scurry of thoughts at the same time, as suddenly some mild flurry of whispers hit my senses.  I halt on my tracks, so does Krishnaa. Whoa! I never knew her senses where so strong.... Well, inspite of all these years, and inspite of MYSELF, I have begun to seriously doubt, how much I really know her. She is so mysterious and that is probably the real crisp. Krishnaa looks up at me, her crystal orbs glowing in the moonlight. Oh! She can just hear the flurry of words, but she wants  me to make out what they are actually speaking of and who are they.... Well.. I take a few extremely cautious steps forward and realize that its neither Duryodhan, nor Duhshasan, nor Jayadrath or Ashwatthama. It was Nitambini, of all the people, and a more-or-less good-looking man. What! This is no way anything related to Krishnaa's plans of forgiving punishments. Who is HE? I feel her heat touch my body before I feel her slightly patting on my hand...