43

Late evening, Ramu left for the bus terminus without uttering a single word to Tara or giving a hug and kiss to his child. He took the last bus for the overnight journey to Delhi. The whole way he kept thinking of the plot to take revenge with Badri. Early morning he reached his destination and went off to sleep. It was already 12.30 in the afternoon when he got up with a start. The first thing he did was to call up Gauri.

"I want to meet you Gauri. It's very important. Can you come down at the earliest?" Ramu asked her in a serious tone.

"Okay, I'll be there with you by 2.30pm, but I'll have to leave before 4pm as Papa is home today," replied Gauri in a tone getting serious too.

In the meantime Ramu freshened himself and started waiting for her to come. And at the nick of the hour Gauri stepped into his room. Ramu welcoming her hugged her tightly and offered her a glass of water.

"Yes, tell me what is it? Why did you call me in such a rush?" enquired Gauri.

Ramu narrated her how Badri had done the bitching against him to his mother and how she died because of this.

"Had she not known about our affair, she wouldn't have boarded the ill-fated bus which was her last journey. She would have been alive," said Ramu sobbing. Gauri got up swiftly and hugged him tight while putting his head on her chest.

"Don't cry Ramu, this was she had to leave you. These were just the circumstances that made her do all this," said Gauri while patting his back affectionately.

"No, but I really want to take a revenge with that bastard Badri for his womanish acts. I want to kill him and that's what I'm going to do now, once he steps back in Delhi," Ramu spoke in a fury.

"Are you a fool, to think about all this? Even I'm getting infuriated thinking about his silly acts. But what will happen if you get caught and imprisoned. Where will I go? I'm already expecting your child and we have to marry first before I give birth to it," replied Gauri in an apprehensive tone, getting worried about herself and the future.

"Don't you worry; we'll get married in a temple next week and then go to the courts to get our marriage registered. You can talk to your parents about it...........but no, you shouldn't. It's going to be a secret affair. I'm just going to call a couple of my friends and you too can call a couple of your friends with whom you think you can confide in," said Ramu, looking deep down in Gauri's eyes.

Gauri felt elated after hearing this.

"And you, Ramu, stop bothering about Badri. If you really want to avenge your mother's death, why dirty your hands with his blood? In Noida, which is in Uttar Pradesh we always get hired killers. Why not give the job to them? They are professionals and will come out clean after doing their job," said Gauri taking his hand in hers.

"Wow!! Gauri, you are really a wise girl. I never knew that even murderers can be bought!! But Gauri, I got an apprehension that they will ask for lots of money which I don't have. Can't we just get him beaten up and breaking his limbs? That will serve him right, I think. If you know of someone do let me know and the things can be talked over."

"Yes, I got a friend Savita whose distant cousin is into such dastardly things. He'll do your job for sure as she's one of my best friends," Gauri replied after thinking hard. "So, now stop talking depressive things. Let's talk about our future plans of marriage," Gauri told him whimsically.

"Oh yes Gauri, you are right. Don't worry, next Monday we meet at the Gauri Shankar temple in Chandni Chowk and get married. In the meantime I'll do the settings with the pandit over there and will call you to tell the exact program," said Ramu giving a smile to her.

"Oh!!! It's going to be 4.30pm and I have to rush back home. My Papa will be back any moment and I feel really scared answering his queries about my whereabouts," Gauri said with a frightened look in her eyes as she stepped out of the door. "Will wait for your call," Gauri said waving bye at him.

As soon as she was gone Ramu got himself prepared to go to the temple in Chandni Chowk and meet the pandit over there. By 6.30pm he reached the temple and waited for him anxiously for an hour to let him finish the evening aarti which was being done at that time. When the aarti was over, he got up instantly, took the prasad from the pandit and told him the purpose of his visit.

"Are you married before?" pandit asked eyeing him suspiciously.

"No, certainly not!! This will be my first marriage," Ramu was quick to reply to his query. "The reason I want to get married in the temple is because the girls parents aren't approving our relationship," said Ramu looking straight in the eyes of the pandit.

"You can come down at 11.30am on next Monday but do bring some friends along, or any of your relatives," pandit said in an incoherent tone. Ramu bent and touched his feet uttering the words of thanks little loudly so that they may be audible to the pandit. Happily, he stepped out of the temple, came to the market, had his stomach full of food, took the metro rail and came back to his room. On reaching, he wanted to call Gauri, but didn't as Gauri had already warned him once not to call her in the evenings as her father is home that time.

Next day morning, he got up early and got ready to go to his work. On reaching his store, he was greeted by the staff paying the obituaries for his deceased mother. Even the employer patiently heard the cause of the accident of the bus in which his mother was travelling and felt sorry for that. In the lunch time, he came out of the store to eat in the nearby eatery. While having his food he called up Gauri.

"Hey, good news, I've been to the temple and have settled everything with the pandit over there. But you, at your end bring along a couple of friends and I too will bring two of my friends who are working in the store along with me and in whom I can confide everything," Ramu smiled while giving her the news. "Oh yes!! The time is for 11.30am next Monday at the temple but I will reach by 10 o'clock. You better be on time because by 3pm, we will go to the marriage registrar's office at Tees Hazari which is just close by," Ramu spoke the words hurriedly as Gauri was going to disconnect fearing her mother would hear the conversation.

The day for the marriage arrived after a long wait for Ramu and Gauri. On that day, Ramu got up early and got readied in an hour. After having his breakfast he hired an autorickshaw and reached the temple by 10am. In the meantime the two friends with whom he'd confided in also reached the venue. Ramu felt pleased on seeing them and gave them money to buy some flowers for decoration just outside the temple asking them to rush up the job.

"Don't worry Ramu, we'll finish the job by maximum 11am," called out one of his friends.

Ramu was anxiously waiting for Gauri to come. As soon as he came out to look at the flower décor being done by his friends he could see Gauri holding a small bag alighting from an auto rickshaw with two of her friends. Immediately he stepped forward and greeted the threesome, escorting them to the hall where the ceremony had to take place.

"I want to wear some makeup and change my top to a red one which I have brought along with me," Gauri whispered in Ramu's ears.

"Yes, yes, you come along with me," Ramu said taking her to another secluded room of the huge temple. It was 11.30am and the pandit arrived on the venue. On reaching he inspected all the arrangements, feeling satisfied he called out for Ramu and Gauri to come forward. On stepping forward they both touched the feet of the pandit. He, while blessing them, "First of all you both should understand this is a 'Gandharv' marriage, which is supposed to be a historic marriage tradition based on mutual attraction between a man and a woman, with no rituals, witnesses or family participations. But now, the friends of both of you who have come along and I myself are the witnesses of the holy deed done. It'll be better for both of you to get your marriage registered as soon as possible."

"That we will, today itself," Ramu replied smilingly, looking at Gauri squint eyed.

Then the pandit started the proceedings and culminated the marriage according to Hindu rituals. By 1pm they both were married with sweets being distributed freely amongst the friends and the worshippers who too had gathered to see the ceremony being performed. Later on all of them went to a small restaurant in Chandni Chowk and Ramu treated them with a sumptuous lunch.

By 3pm they were all set to go to the courts to get their marriage registered. In another two hours they were free to go back to their homes happily married, in the eyes of the law too. Once back home to their room, Gauri straight went to the bed and sat over there which Ramu had decorated beautifully with the flowers before going to the temple. From a nearby restaurant Ramu had brought some snacks which they both took before retiring early for a sleep as they both were totally exhausted.

It was six o'clock in the morning when they both were woken up by the loud thumping of their room's door and calling out of Ramu's name incessantly. Ramu immediately got up with a start and while rubbing his eyes, he opened the door. To his surprise there was a police inspector with two male and two female constables and at the back of the policewomen was a bespectacled gentleman in his late fifties in his nightwear standing behind them with utmost disgust clearly showing on his wrinkled face.

"Where is Gauri, the daughter of this gentleman," growled the inspector looking sternly into the eyes of Ramu.

"She's inside," Ramu said in a timid voice.

"And what is she doing inside? You will have to come to the police station as this gentleman has levied charges of kidnapping his daughter on you," said the inspector sounding harsh to create ripples of fear in Ramu's mind.

But Ramu stood there unfazed not heeding to the harshness of the policeman. In the meantime Gauri too came and held the hand of Ramu. Seeing Gauri, her father stepped forward.

"But why had you to do this to us?" he took her hands with tears welling in his eyes.

"Won't you bless us Papa, he is my husband Ramu?" Gauri too was on the verge of crying.

"But are you legally wedded?" the inspector intruded, calling out loudly making a face of disapproval.

"Oh yes we are legally married," Ramu too sounded hard, and immediately rushed inside to get the certificate of marriage issued by the courts. On seeing the papers, the inspector turned towards Gauri's father and said, "Sorry gentleman, but we won't be able to help you out now." He gave a sign of leaving to his constables and they all left, but Gauri's father kept on standing at the door sill itself.

"Please come in Papa, I'll make you a cup of tea," Gauri called out while trying to hold the hands of her father. The gentleman immediately stepped back and in a stern voice said, "Gauri just keep it in your dirty mind that you don't mean anything to us anymore and don't you dare visit our home, and if you do I'll see to it that you are thrown out like garbage from my home. You have simply broken our trust in you. Only once, would you have confided about this boy to us, then maybe we would have married you off with great pomp and splendor. But now, keep it in your head not to show this dirty face of yours ever to us." Saying this he just walked away in a wink of an eye, not even giving a chance to Gauri to plead to him.