Yakshagni - An odyssey of unbroken devotion - II

 20) The Warning Whispers

Dharma was surprised by the summons from Rashika. What she didn't expect though was the other woman's scathing attack on her.

"Oh, you have consented to come to the office today? Should I be pleased or honoured?"

Dharma regarded Rashika's flushed face with perplexed eyes, "I come every day to the office."

Dharma’s dignified composure provoked Rashika further. "So, where were you the last few days? Did you take permission from me for leave?"

"I was in Modhera officially. I thought you knew that I was going there with Mitali and Nikhil," Dharma frowned at Rashika's displeasure.

"You thought? Really? You are supposed to inform me before taking off to some wild town," Rashika rebuked, running her eyes over Dharma. This was the first time that she was actually taking note of Dharma. She pondered what attracted Maurya to this tramp.

"Sorry, I assumed that Sonia would have..."

Rashika interrupted, "I am your boss, not Sonia."

"Right! Next time, I will certainly inform you," Dharma replied, observing Rashika's long open hair, her light eyes, and her immaculate outfit.

"There will be no next time if the fashion show flops. You will be out of Index the minute the show does not meet our expectations," Rashika blustered, her resentment apparent to Dharma.

"Yes, ma'am!" she complied and marched back to the door but Rashika's next words made her pause in her steps.

"And stay away from Maurya."

Dharma viewed Rashika thoughtfully. Rashika feigned to concentrate on the file in front of her.

"Don't you trust your fiancé?" Dharma's soft query enraged Rashika and her face shot up.

"It is women like you that I don't trust," Rashika snarled.

"Women like me? Care to explain?"

"No, I don't have to explain anything to you. Get out of my office."

Dharma's wilful spirit did not allow her to retreat quietly.

"Fine by me. But next time, before you point your finger at women like me, have a word with your fiancé first," Dharma's retort managed to wipe off that self-righteous look from Rashika's face.

Rashika stood up violently, and for a moment Dharma thought Rashika would assault her physically.

"What do you think of yourself, you desperate woman? And what do you mean by alleging that I should ask my fiancé first?" Rashika's face took on an ugly expression and Dharma balked from the venom she espied in the other woman's eyes.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," mustering courage, Dharma walked out of the office.

She expected Rashika to barge into her work room anytime and fire her, but Rashika did not make an appearance and Dharma heaved a sigh of relief as the day drew to an end.

On her way to the hostel that evening, Dharma mulled over Rashika’s warning to stay away from Maurya. Why did Rashika think that she needed to be warned? Had Maurya conveyed something godawful about Dharma to Rashika? If so, Dharma was angrier with Maurya than with his fiancée.

Beleaguered at the unfairness of life, that tended to put her in a spot without any provocation, an indignant Dharma strode to the hostel. She noticed that the spell of Spring had faded and a warm cloak of aromatic air surrounded her. The zephyr carried the sweet-smelling fragrance of tender mangoes. At once, Dharma was reminded of Parijatpur where the heady fragrance of Coral jasmine flowers left one with imperceptible longings. Coral jasmine flowers, also called the night-flowering jasmine bloomed only at night. According to folklore, a princess called Parijataka was in love with the Sun and she tried to win his heart but the Sun rejected her and she committed suicide. A tree sprung from her ashes. Unable to stand the sight of the Sun, the tree flowers only at night and sheds them like teardrops before the Sun rises. Hence, it was also called the sad tree or the tree of sorrow. Sighing, Dharma wondered what made her ruminate about those flowers. It was probably the shifting seasons and the balmy night.

One foot inside the hostel, Dharma paused. The gust of wind sweeping over her filled her ears with hoarse whispers.

"Save him! He is yours..."

Chilled to the bone, Dharma froze on her feet, trying to understand the enormity of those words. She searched around her, for a glimpse of an image that warned her sporadically. Last time, when she had heard those whispers, Maurya had been in danger. However, now it seemed more like a foreboding. At a loss for words, she pondered if she should check with Maurya. She then recalled Rashika's threat. Discarding her fears, she gave up trying to fathom the secret messages that she heard.

Reaching her room, she began to collect her things from the washrooms and kitchen. In a couple of days, she was moving to Brahim's house, and she should be excited. Yet, she was restless. A primitive fear gripped her. As the night deepened, her tension grew. Not bothering to analyse her actions, she called Maurya because she knew that her anxiety was centered around him.

His phone was switched off. The nebulous unease stemming from a feeling that something was going to happen to him, refused to disappear. She walked back and forth on the terrace, calling Maurya without success. She considered checking with Rashika but dismissed the idea as ridiculous. What if they were together? They would think that she was paranoid.

Despite the assurance that Maurya might be with Rashika, Dharma was impelled by an irresistible force that could not be quelled, to find out if Maurya was doing fine.

She called Tapan.

************

Maurya left the sprawling resort of Neemrana and headed towards the Jaipur-Delhi highway. There had been a conference of the Apparel and Textile Manufacturers Association, and attending the conference had been mandatory. He mailed the minutes of the discussion to his secretary and left the venue. There was an unusual pile-up of traffic on the highway and it took him many hours to reach the outskirts of Delhi. Switching on the music system, he drove steadily, enjoying the pleasant night. There was a junction ahead and he noticed the long queue of vehicles. To avoid the jam, Maurya took a short cut but unexpectedly, the road he took was bumpy and dark. He switched on the fog lights however a tractor coming from the blind alley on the left, hit Maurya's car. Swearing aloud, Maurya tried to stop the car from swerving towards the opposite direction. A bike riding behind him knocked into Maurya's car. To avoid a head-on collision; Maurya veered the car towards the open fields and the car tumbled forward into a ditch. Maurya's head hit the steering wheel and the splintering pieces of the windshield sailed around him. The jammed door and the seat belt locked him inside the car. Maurya shuttered his eyes close at the nick of the time and the flying scraps pierced only the skin around his eyes. He tried to catch sight of the biker, realizing that the other man had been thrown off the vehicle. The driver of the tractor had jumped out when Maurya endeavoured to avoid the crash. The searing pain on his face and the impact of the steering wheel on his head rendered him unconscious. His last hope before he lost all senses was that someone would drive along the deserted road and alert the traffic police.

****************

After Dharma's call, Tapan tried Maurya's number but it was unreachable. He called Maurya's secretary from whom, he learnt that Maurya had left Neemrana some hours ago. Tapan checked the time and expected Maurya to have reached home by now. Recalling Dharma's anxiety, he drove to Maurya's apartment and discovered that Maurya had not reached home. His hunch that something was not right urged him to inform Vasukinath Krishna. A search was organized at once and Maurya and his vehicle were found forty minutes later. All three, Maurya, the biker, and the tractor driver were rushed to the hospital, and the vehicles were towed away.

***************

Dharma made an effort to sleep but it eluded her. She lay on the bed, waiting for Tapan's call. Around four in the morning, when she had just closed her eyes, Tapan called her.

"Hey, sorry to bother you this early. But you were right to be worried. Maurya met with an accident," and Tapan went on to explain the extent of Maurya's injuries.

"You mean there were three vehicles that crashed into each other?"

"Yes, luckily Maury was the only one who escaped with the least of the injuries. The man on the bike was grievously injured. He is in the intensive care unit. It was the tractor driver's fault, and when he jumped out, he fractured his arm. He also has a gash on his head."

"And Maurya?" Dharma asked breathlessly.

"The windshield broke and shards of glasses pierced his face. Thankfully, his eyes are fine. There are some bruises on his arms and one on his forehead."

"Thank god!" Dharma heaved a trembling sigh of relief.

"Yeah, don't know if he would need an operation but I guess Maurya will survive."

Unbidden, the tears flowed from Dharma's eyes. She shuddered at the image of an incapacitated Maurya, left on the road. The thought of him lying motionless tautened her nerves.

"Thanks, Tapan, for informing me..."

"Dharma, wait!" Tapan halted her from ending the call.

"What?" she asked tremulously, pondering if there were more injuries to Maurya, that Tapan had not told her.

"How did you realize that Maurya was in trouble? What made you call me?" his curiosity disconcerted Dharma but she answered him, without revealing her premonitions or the whispers that warned her regularly about the dangers that surrounded Maurya.

"I don't know. I tried to call him about the fashion show and when I didn't get him, I called you," Dharma made it sound very casual but Tapan detected strong emotions that Dharma strove to conceal from him.

When the call ended, Dharma wept silently. The long night, the omnipotent instincts that had kept her awake and the dreadful foreboding about an imminent danger to Maurya, left her exhausted. The lack of sleep and exhaustion made her tearful and she sobbed helplessly. Tapan's description about the accident scared her stiff and she thanked the Almighty for keeping Maurya safe.

Finally, she fell into a fitful sleep.

**************

There was a constant stream of visitors. Maurya got tired of staying awake. During the last couple of days in the hospital, Rashika had become a permanent fixture beside Maurya's bed.

Fortunately, the glass fragments had only grazed his skin and had needed minor stitches. However, he had dislocated his elbow, so he had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. In addition to Rashika, Vasukinath, and his wife, most of Maurya's employees visited him. Tapan did not reveal Dharma's timely call to Maurya due to Rashika's presence.

"Tapan, how did you know that Maurya was in trouble? If you had not alerted Dad, Maurya would have been on the road for hours," grateful for his help, Rashika questioned him curiously.

"I called Maurya for something related to designs and when I didn't get his number, I was worried. Maurya's phone is never switched off usually," Tapan made up a story. He was actually intrigued by the bond between Maurya and Dharma. Even now, he could not get over the fact that Dharma had sensed danger to Maurya, and hence she had tipped off Tapan. He suspected the presence of a silent attraction between Maurya and Dharma. From the moment Tapan saw Dharma with Maurya, he had realized that the two were drawn to each other. In fact, he would be happy if they got together. He had often felt that Maurya deserved someone much better than Rashika. Tapan had always considered Maurya as his idol, and now, he had started admiring the determined and beautiful Dharma. He was convinced that Maurya and Dharma were perfect for each other.

Rashika pressed, "The staff of Index want to see you, so they got my permission to come this evening. Is it ok?"

"You have already given the permission. Then why ask him?" Tapan asked, a wee bit annoyed with Rashika over her 'I know what is right for Maurya' attitude in the last couple of days. He had been visiting Maurya every day, and every time, he wanted to talk about Dharma, Rashika was invariably present.

"Well, I can say no even now," Rashika mumbled, somehow unable to answer back to Tapan as smartly. Secretly, she was in awe of his talent and confidence, and consequently, it made her less assured with him.

"No problem. I don't mind them visiting me," Maurya intervened, his weary body and mind jolting with life at the thought of seeing Dharma. He waited anxiously to see her but to his utter disappointment, there were a couple of staff from Index who could not make it and Dharma was one of them.

He hated the feeling but it riled him that Dharma was not concerned enough to visit him.

*************

Dharma shifted the bag and baggage to Brahim's house. Some of her hostel mates, with whom she had become friendly, bid her a warm farewell. Brahim and Kamya welcomed her cheerfully. Dharma was pleased that Kamya had made efforts to clean the room. Usually, Kamya hated the whole process of sweeping and mopping. And if she had made such efforts, then it meant that Kamya was truly delighted to share the room with Dharma.

Unable to sleep that night, Dharma's thoughts circled around Maurya. She had wanted to visit Maurya with other staff members but since she was shifting, she had given it a miss.

She recalled the distinct whispers, "Save him! He is yours..."

Her blood rushed at the thought that Maurya was hers...Once again, Rashika's caustic warning reminded her of their relationship.