That Stormy Night

CHAPTER 12 : PAST (Part 1)

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Now be ready to read the most important part of this story. Now the truth will be revealed. I hope you will like this part.

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SUDHA'S P.O.V.

"I could never imagine that my words will affect Dayaal so much. Though his voice is very gentle and full of politeness but his words aren't really. Every time it feels that he is warning me of some danger. I don't know what it is but something doesn't feel right. We finally settles in the hall room for a conversation, he prefers to stand near the wall which had Ashutosh Sahib's life-like portrait. I was waiting with a bated breath for Dayaal to speak, looks like he has a lot say, every moment was making me anxious and was trying my patience and then he starts "

DAYAAL : (sorrowful voice) Memsaab, before I give you the keys to Pashchim Mahal, you must know every aspect of Ashutosh Sahib's life. He lived in isolation, died in isolation, no friends, no family, no lover. What he had was a wish to seek revenge from the people who messed up his life. He wasn't always a loner. There was a time when this Mahal (mansion) saw great, happening parties, guests, he had contacts from all around the world and people loved coming to his place. Wine, food, dance, music, you name it and this mansion could present it.

Ashutosh Sahib's father Brij Sahib was a Rajput ( Warrior prince) from Rajasthan (state in India). He lived with his wife Kalpana and son Tarun. Everything was running smoothly in their married life until one day when Brij sahib discovers that Kalpana had an illicit relationship with one of the soldiers and was pregnant with his child. He killed her lover but couldn't do so to the queen of the mansion, what will he say to his people? Why he killed his pregnant wife? If anyone finds out about the illicit relationship the queen had with a mere soldier of the kingdom then it will bring bad name to the family and to the kingdom, people will mock at him. Brij sahib then decided to wait till the queen delivers the child. If she is a daughter then she will be killed and if it is a son then the king will adopt him.

The child comes to this world and the queen dies. Brij sahib raised young Ashutosh like a father. He got all the facilities and luxuries which Tarun (Brij's biological son) got but Brij always maintained a distance from Ashutosh, he never treated him like a son personally. Poor Ashutosh Sahib, he lost his father before birth and mother just after the birth, only Tarun was there for him. His step brother was 10 years older to him.

Then the freedom movement started in the country and Brij Sahib with his troops went to fight wars with British and due to which most of the time he was not at mansion. After India gained independence, the Indian Government merged all the princely states into one country. The kings, princes all around the country had vast amount of lands in their kingdom which they had to give up when the new Indian Government formed. It suddenly became illegal to keep their ancestral land ( Dayaal says with aggression and pain in his eyes). Everything became illegal.

Brij sahib also faced a lot of financial crisis and therefore, to avoid any further mess he decided to leave Rajasthan and start a new life in Chail. When Brij sahib came here with his sons, not many people knew him. Whatever money he had, he bought this mansion, decided to venture into business of tea and coffee plantations, established factories, gave job to the villagers, he built schools, temples, mosques, gave money to villagers to set up their own small scale business.