A Sign

Shivani stood up furiously dusting herself and fuming at Mrityunjay's words. He had literally dumped her outside on the floor and slammed the door on her face. Her instinctive reaction was to go to the door and bang on it hard, to register her protest at the way he had just treated her.

As Shivani raised her hand to bang on the door, it froze mid air. What exactly had he said to her? "She was not taught how to speak to her boss?" What did he mean by that? As far as she knew, she was working for Gaekwad Farms.

So is... he.... the.... Gaekwad... she came to work for?

But wasn't this Gaekwad guy, whoever he was supposed to be, like some old man or something? This guy didn't look older than in his early thirties. Was he drunk? Shivani stomped away from Mrityunjay's cottage with all those questions and went straight to Paras Kaka.

Inside the cottage, Mrityunjay slammed the door and stood there for a couple of minutes to see what the girl would do. When he didn’t hear any noise, he went into his bedroom. After he had changed and freshened up, he came to his painting studio and picked up the brush, that Shivani had used and turned towards

His heart jumped in his chest when he saw what she had done to his painting, set up on the easel. At the right hand bottom, she had signed the painting clearly in beautifully cursive handwriting and the name she chose was 'Kalpana'.

Mrityunjay stood, with his heart pounding hard, looking at the painting in complete disbelief. He had not mentioned a name for the painting so far, because he wanted to do it after he had fully finished it. And 'Kalpana' was the exact name

he had though of too. Was this a sign?

Mrityunjay threw the brushes down and moved away from the painting area. He had to focus all his energies on the elections. Now was not the time to fall into these distractions. It was a mere coincidence. It happens all the time. Two people CAN think of the same thing at the same time.

And he was just getting carried away. No doubt the girl is beautiful, those delicate eyebrows, that sharp chin, those high cheekbones and... Mrityunjay closed his eyes. Her eyes formed an image in his mind, those hazel eyes, just as he had imagined. "Kalpana..." Mrityunjay opened his eyes wide, shocked at what he had just discovered.

Shivani stood outside Paras Kaka's cottage, banging the door hard in frustration. He came running to her, in panic. "What happened... why are you pounding the door like that?" he asked her, looking at her from head to foot.

She stormed into his cottage and asked him forcefully. "Kaka, who is that mountain of a man, living in the big cottage?" she rattled, sounding all serious.

"Who? Which cottage? Mrityunjay?" asked Kaka, looking more confused due to her questions.

Mrityunjay - what a queer name, she thought to herself. Out loud, "anyways, who's that Jay... is he my boss?" she questioned.

"Of course, these stables are his grandfather's. He prefers to live here, because he loves the horses. That day, the horse you were riding? it's his - Tuscany. You didn't know this?" he asked, sounding even more baffled.

Shivani was shocked at Kaka's words. Oh no! What had she done? She was doomed. She had called him horsewala, told him to his face, he didn't know how to behave with girls. Even before she had settled down in the new job, she had ruined everything. Oh no, what had she done?

Ardhanaareshwar Ashram- Outskirts Of Nagpur

Godha sat down on a squarish mat, the tears in her eyes flowing like a river in flood, but still smiling. "I have sacrificed the last 18 years of my life, to make sure my son achieves what I couldn't and now...." her lips quivered, but the smile stayed. She was talking to Swamy Brihannala, who sat deep in meditation. "I have followed your every advise, I have fulfilled your every demand, even... even... to the extent of..." Godha swallowed her pain. "You cannot let me down, in this last minute," she pleaded.

Swamy Brihannala opened her eyes slowly. As her lotus petal like eyes opened from meditation, she looked down at Godha. Swamy Brihannala bent down slowly and wiped off the tears in Godha's eyes. "You are hurt, I know. The situation is grim, I understand, let things be as they are at the moment. Don't fight now. You must survive to fight another day. Right now, you are like a fish out of water. You have no power, you control nothing, there is no one who can get Milind out. So the best way out is to let Mrityunjay win the elections for you. And then I will tell you how to eliminate him," she professed, before going back into her meditative posture.