- 13 -
When there was no news from Rani about her visit to Patiala a day before Basant Panchami till 5 pm, Alok started feeling restless. For once, he thought of calling her, but he remembered what she had said on 25th January, she had not refused outrightly but had not made any firm commitment either. Finally, her call came around 7 pm. Apologising for calling late, she said, “Around 4 o’clock, two of my neighbourly ladies came and started discussing the Punjab elections. One was predicting the ‘AAP’ (Aam Aadmi Party - Common man’s party) party’s majority and forming the government in Punjab, while the other was confident of Congress’s victory, describing the failures of ‘AAP’ in Delhi and blaming SAD-BJP (Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party) alliance government for making the youth of Punjab victim of drugs. After the political debate, they started gossiping and backbiting of families in the neighbourhood. I tried very hard to get rid of them, but their gossiping was going endless. Ultimately they just left and now I feel a sense of relief. You must be eager to know about tomorrow’s programme! I’ll reach around one o’clock and leave by four, I won’t be able to stay longer than that.”
“Okay dear, I’ll try to be satisfied with whatever time I get your company.”
……
Three-four days prior to Basant Panchami, there occurred continuous snowfall in the mountains, and rain and icy winds in the plains forced people to remain confined in their homes. Quilts and room-heaters were the only means that were providing some relief from the biting cold. But on the day of Basant, there was no trace of the biting cold. The chill of winter had gone to a great extent. The cool winds felt pleasant instead of making the body shiver. The youth had started packing away their warm clothes for the next winter. During the day, due to the warmth of the sun-rays, it was becoming difficult to wear warm clothes even for those who had crossed their youth. It did not feel like winter season anymore! There is a saying also, ‘Aaya Basant Pala Udant’ (Come spring and the winter flies out of the window). Due to the winds of spring, the old leaves of trees started falling and flying freely on the wide-open roads and parks of Mohali. The buds of new leaves started showing their presence on the branches of trees.
As decided the day before, Rani reached Patiala on time. She was wearing a Basanti coloured (Spring yellow coloured) Saree. Alok saw her and said, “Wow, you’ve come attired in the colour of Basant season! You’re looking very beautiful!”
“I had to come to celebrate Basant festival, so I thought, why not wear a Saree of this colour? Now that you’ve also praised, I feel happy with my choice.”
“It’s lunch time. Let’s have our meal. If you want, we can have tea first.”
“At this time, no tea. Let’s have lunch.”
Alok had made arrangements for kite-flying. After taking their meals, they went upstairs and enjoyed kite-flying. There was a crowd of kite-flyers on all the roofs of the neighbourhood. Some of the people were of the same age as Alok and Rani, but they were enjoying Basant with their sons and grandchildren. The sky was full of kites of all hues and shapes. Alok and Rani came down after flying kites for about half an hour. While making and drinking tea, they reminisced about their childhood memories of the kite-flying. Since the time was short, it was not possible for Alok to spend the whole day with Rani the way he wanted. If Rani could spare even half a day, he would have taken her to the temple of ‘Kali Mata’, Baradari, the University library and Guru Gobind Singh Bhawan. He did not want to ask Rani the reason of not being able to spare more time. At four o’clock, Rani said ‘See you again’ and headed towards Mohali.
*****
