18th May 1994

After a lazy siesta, Sameer headed to the foyer dressed in a light blue jean and a white t-shirt. When he stopped by his grandfather's room, the elder man confirmed that he would join them shortly. But the foyer was deserted when he got there. Just what had he been expecting? Of course, girls taking ages to deck up and keeping others waiting was a global phenomenon! He snorted as he kicked a few pebbles in the courtyard.

He glanced around, noting a lot of shrubs that he was unfamiliar with. Not many were in bloom at that moment. Though the sun had made a lot of progress in its descent towards the horizon, the air was still heavy with the lull of summer heat.

Sameer remembered the unusually shaped pool that he had spotted from his room. Balwant had not mentioned anything about it earlier, was it okay to take a dip in it? Better to check with him. The thought of a sipping on a cold beer while in the cool water, made his lips curve into a contented smile. Sameer headed inside in the direction where he remembered Balwant mentioning his office was located.

The office turned out to be a spacious room. The expected desk and few chairs were placed at one end. The other side of the room contained a couple of big shelves filled with books and a few armchairs and little tables were laid out, for any readers interested in flipping through the pages.

Balwant greeted him with a smile from behind the desk and offered his assistance. On Sameer's enquiry, he was assured that the staff maintaining the property made a point to clean it regularly and all of them were welcome to use the pool during their stay.

Much to his surprise, Sameer found Naina settled in one of the armchairs with an assortment of books spread on the table close by. She was still in the same saree as before and was furiously making some notes.

Walking over he questioned, "Are you working on some assignment for your university?" She flushed a little at his question and then replied "No... actually... it's for this assignment. I mean trip! I haven't been here before, neither this palace nor this area in general." Gesturing in the caretaker's direction, she added "Balwant was kind enough to point out a few books which I could use to bring myself up to speed, to be able to guide you both for the next few days."

He was a little astonished "So, you have been here all afternoon cramming on the local history?!" She exclaimed smiling "Of course, I had too! What would be the use of a guide who doesn't know anything worth sharing?!"

He nodded and then asked in a teasing tone tapping his watch "So, do you plan to give us a lesson in history sitting here? Or will you share this information while we are actually outside, exploring these places of interest?" Noting the time, she quickly stood up looking a little flustered "Oh... I lost track of time! Sorry to keep you all waiting. Let me check if Shambhu Kaka is ready to drive us out."

Seeing Nanaji waiting in the foyer, she apologised to him too. She mentioned that Balwant had suggested that they explore the dam close by that evening as it would be pleasant time to take a leisurely walk and they were likely to spot a lot of birds. Also, the sunset was supposed to be rather spectacular from that point of vantage. Both the guests liked the proposed plan.

The car was ready and as they approached it Nanaji remarked "Naina, if you don't mind it, I would prefer to sit in the front seat as it has more legroom. My knees tend to get rather stiff, if I don't stretch them." She agreed amicably and climbed in the back seat with Sameer. Shambhu had gathered all the directions from the men at the palace and informed them that the drive would take about half an hour.

Once on their way, Naina started talking about Sudhagadh. The village was named after the fort located in that area. The fort had ended up in ruins post a battle about a century ago. Its condition had only worsened since, as slowly the surrounding villagers stole any stones and wood that they could salvage to build their own houses. There was nothing of the fort left behind now, worth a tourist visit. She prattled off some information about when the Dasi Mahal was built and which dynasty the king belonged to. It was not the king's official residence but had been built to house his concubines. Sameer was amused to see how she blushed just saying the word 'concubines'. He wondered fleetingly, wasn't she used to sharing this sort of information with tourists every day?

Jaiprakashji suddenly interrupted her "I thought this was your first visit here... you seem to know a lot about this place!" Before she could respond, Sameer chuckled "Nanu, she is just showing off all the studying she has done this afternoon in the palace office!" She blushed and then smiled in acceptance. The elder man beamed and muttered words of encouragement and how success always came to the ones who were willing to work hard for it. She listened in awe, trying to gather all the pearls of wisdom that this successful man was willing to spill.

Sameer unzipped the small black backpack at his feet and pulled out the digital camera his parents had gifted him as his graduation present. Vivek had proudly pointed out several times, that he had ordered the latest in the technology all the way from Japan. Sameer started experimenting with the settings and clicked some moving shots from the car.

Naina watched with fascination, the camera for a bit and the photographer for much longer. The unstudied air of confidence and easy grace about him caused her heart more than a few flutters. She had never been interested in photography or cameras before but found herself asking him a number of questions.

As Sameer scuttled a little closer while showing her the various settings on the camera, she experienced a strange warmth starting in the pit of her stomach and then spreading throughout her body. When his fingers accidently brushed against hers, her hand trembled slightly. If he noticed how she quickly fisted her hand and pulled it away, he did not say anything, but a slight self-satisfied smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.

Naina tried to coax her heart to get a grip on all these new emotions and feelings it was pumping into her veins. She tried to reason with herself, why was she feeling so overwhelmed by his closeness? It wasn't like she had never interacted with a boy before. She might have studied at a girl's convent school, but that didn't mean she had lived in one! She was friends with about half a dozen boys in her college. Well, they weren't friends really... but classmates that she sometimes interacted with. She definitely interacted with a lot of men in her workplace, just that none of them had ever been as handsome and dashing as him! And she hadn't met anyone with a smile as captivating as his... her heartbeats accelerated unevenly.

The country road turned bumpy, every now and then jostling the young man and woman against each other. Though there was ample free space around, neither made a real effort to put some distance between them. It was no big deal for him, and it was a very big deal for her.

On reaching the entrance leading to the dam and surrounding areas, Shambhu presented the guard with a piece of paper handed to him by Balwant. Seeing the royal stamp, the guard stood up sharply and presented them with his best version of a salute as he opened the gate and waved the car through. He informed them that they could park the car a little further up the road, but then the track was not appropriate for driving. A ten-minute walk would take them to the viewing platform. Considering the days were at their longest, they had about an hour to explore the area.

As soon as the car was parked, everyone started towards the viewing platform with a sense of purpose. They wanted to explore as much of the surroundings as possible, before the sunset.

Sameer lead the little procession, walking by himself capturing the place and moments through his lens. Naina silently followed the young man who had begun casting a spell on her, stopping and starting when he did. Without realising, her eyes sought out the sights that his eyes lingered on.

Nanaji mostly looked around, enjoying the tranquil setting and breathing in deeply the pure air. Whilst Shambhu trailed behind, his heart recalling memories of his childhood village.

Flocks of birds returning to their nests could be spotted overhead, their distant chirping contrasting starkly against the quiet. The only other sounds were the swishing of the grass growing tall in some patches, the leaves rustling in the trees and the steadily increasing sound of the water gushing through the dam gates.

The sudden scramble of a squirrel startled everyone, and Naina almost shrieked. Nanaji and Shambhu smiled indulgently, while Sameer laughed heartily. She tried to defend herself "How would I know it was a squirrel? Could have easily been a reptile of the dangerous variety!". He seemed to deliberate on her reply for a moment "Reptile of the dangerous variety... you mean like one of those shapeshifting cobras which have a wish granting gem of some sort... and are found exclusively in India?? I thought those existed only in Bollywood movies!".

Before she could respond, still chuckling, he focused his lens on her and captured her annoyed expressions. After glaring at him for a minute, she turned away, but by then he had already discovered his muse.

A few minutes later, they stood staring at the big white frothing wall of water spilling from the dam into the river below. The water on the upper side of the dam stretched as a calm and contained expanse, but the moment it flowed through the gates, it changed and started asserting its power. Transfixed, Naina watched this transformation. She had visited a few dams before, but something about this one felt unique. Maybe, even a little unexplainably eerie. 

A raft of ducks in different colours and sizes could be spotted seemingly floating effortlessly on the still waters, while a huge siege of herons dotted the banks. The visitors were able to admire the birds only from a distance though.

Sameer put the high powered lens on his camera to good use and captured some good close-ups though. After a while, he handed the Camera to Naina and stood next to his grandfather. She shot some photos of the duo, a couple of which he quickly deleted as they didn't meet his stringent quality standards.

Sameer wanted to climb the hill close by and click some more photos. Nanaji joked that his days of imitating a mountain goat were over and he would stay where he was. Naina stood next to the older men for a few minutes, feigning interest in their discussion of the predictions of monsoon arrival that year and the impact of any delay on the crops in that region. But her feet were desperate to head in the direction that her eyes were constantly drawn to. Finally gathering some courage, she muttered something about not wanting to miss the interesting view from top of that hill and scampered in direction of her pied piper.

Without any footpath to guide her, the climb up the hill was not easy. And the saree definitely did not help as the wind played havoc with it and flustered her to no end! Partway through the climb, Naina started questioning her decision, which was starting to seem more and more idiotic by the minute. At one point she nearly gave up. But one look at the young man now standing at the top with an elated look on his face as the wind caressed his hair, and her feet made their way to the top.

Sameer held out his hand to her when she reached the last, but rather steep, rocky bit. He almost hauled her up to where he stood. The view from the top was indeed beautiful and they had made it there just in time to catch the stunning sunset. They wordlessly gazed at the horizon. He then clicked more photos, some of the faraway red-orange ball of fire and some of the girl near him draped in the yellow saree as she struggled to keep it in place.

Feeling too rattled by the upheaval unleased by both the wind and his gaze from behind the camera, she urged "I think it's time we head down. It will soon start getting dark and I don't think there are any streetlights in this area. It will be hard for Shambhu kaka to drive back..." He nodded and then, letting out a reluctant sigh, helped her negotiate the way back.

Naina felt the tension leave her shoulders when their car left the bumpy road behind and joined the motorway. She turned her attention once again to Sameer, who was browsing through the photo gallery. He started showing her the better ones according to him. Naina did not know what to make of the fact that he had clicked so many candid shots of her. As per her, she wasn't looking particularly pretty in most of them, but he seemed very pleased with the results.

Noting some photos in the gallery where people seemed to be in some costumes, her curiosity was piqued. She expressed a wish to see them. Sameer was with a bunch of young men and women, all dressed in medieval costumes. He explained "It was a party hosted by a few of my classmates to celebrate our graduation. They had decided a theme for the evening – Rogues and Damsels."

She almost whispered as the butterflies swarmed her tummy "You look more like Romeo than a Rogue..." He was amused "Romeo! And why do you think that??" She blushed "I mean... it reminded me of the costume the girl playing Romeo had worn in my school's play." He was confused "Girl playing Romeo?" She explained "It was a girl's school... so all the parts were acted by girls."

He understood and then asked, "Did you act too?" She smiled brightly and declared with pride "I was Juliet!" He couldn't help teasing her "So, you must be very good at romance." She coloured "Nothing like that... it was just another girl." He smirked "Hmmm, so, you don't fancy romancing another girl..." She frowned looking lost at the idea. He asked cheekily pointing at his photo "So, would you have preferred romancing the Romeo in this photo?" She tried to laugh it off and turned to look outside the window feeling jittery on the inside.

As the darkness swiftly descended outside, Naina wondered what it would have been like to have him as her Romeo. Would she have managed to remember and deliver her lines so effortlessly, if she had to say them looking into his eyes? She remembered the kisses Shikha, that is the girl playing Romeo, had placed on her hand during the play as Romeo pledged his undying love to her for an eternity. It had felt so harmless and they had all giggled endlessly wondering what it would be like to be kissed by a boy. But imagining the young man sitting next to her now, on his knees pulling her hand to his lips, left her all hot and bothered. Stop being silly Naina! she admonished herself.

She must have been lost in her thoughts for a while, cause the next thing she knew was him clicking his fingers in front of her face muttering "Hello... Earth to Juliet..." When she looked at him slightly startled, he smirked "How long are you planning to sit here day-dreaming or evening-dreaming? We are back." They were back indeed and Shambhu was pulling the car in front of the porch. Naina coloured profusely wondering how he had managed to guess her thoughts. Was he a mind reader too, she wondered feeling flustered?

(Hope you enjoyed the Samaina interactions in this part :) Waiting for your comments!

Love, May)