85 years have passed since the tempestuous romance between Duke and PIku made them leave their motherland.
India in 2025 is unrecognizable.
Everything is different with sweeping social changes that began with the country's independence. But what h...
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Chapter 30
Adipur
When the party finished it was 2.30am .
For the elders , the night was over . It was Shashti morning . They went downstairs to bathe and get ready . Soon the people from the village will arrive to carry the idol into the temple premises. A large dais has been built for it separately . The old temple wasn't strong enough to withstand the foorfalls of 1000s of devotees .
Avi and Patty didn't have any particular duties for the pujas . They went back to their room and crashed , heaving sighs of relief .
The household was up and about as if just woken up from a refreshing sleep .
The following days were a blur for the guys . So much activity , so many beautiful moments , so many intense emotions were packed in these few days that it would take them some time to process through them all .
Vijayadashami arrived and brought with it a wave of depression . People had started crying right from the morning . They were hugging each other and crying as if they were in mourning. This was not only the last day of the puja . It was also the penultimate day of the family gathering as well . The next day , the family will leave . One by one , they'll all return to their real lives . This dreamlike state of unity , would be over .
The idol was carried down to the river side . All the family members helped carry the idol in turns . They waded into the shallow edge of the Pali river , carrying the idols that they prayed to for the past week and slowly lowered it into the water . They said their goodbyes as millions have done in the past and would continue to do , in the future .
The next morning the guys went out for a morning walk . Patty saw a wonderful field of catkins he hadn't noticed before .
He called Avi over to him and they walked into it . It felt as if they'd walked into a bank of white clouds . The catkins were in full bloom , gorgeous , pure white . They rose up proudly swaying in the cool autumn wind , as if waving at the clear light blue sky . They walked hand in hand through a small lane in the middle of the towering flowers and came upon a little clearing . Smiling at each other they sat down .
The place caccooned them as if they were wrapped in cotton wool . They lay down and looked up at the sky . They could see a pair of eagles circling high above them , their dark forms were silhouetted against the bright blue sky .
Patty turned to Avi .
He was lying with his eyes half closed .
'Sleepy ? '
' Hmmmm ? No . Just relaxing . ' said Avi .
Patty pulled out a small box from his pocket .
He'd been carrying this around for the past few weeks , waiting for the perfect moment . He got up and kneeled in front of Avi .
