Hitesh Rao

“At the time of solitude, I went where Narmada was sleeping. She got awake and sat up. She neither got scared nor nervous but she immediately got off the bed. She kept both her hands tied on her chest. I was standing so close to her that my face was near her face. We could sense each other’s breath.

I called out her name and could not speak anything else.

After a moment, I started - “I love you Narmada…I like to be with you…I want to marry you.”

She got nervous and said - “Please, go to your room, why have you come here? It may cause trouble if Jaanki sees us like this.” She was neck down. Her eyes were on the floor. Her heart was beating fast.

“Don’t you want to talk to me? Why are you angry with me? Why don’t you trust on my feelings for you?” - I softly asked her.

“I guess you don’t like my friendship with Varsha. You and Varsha are poles apart.” - I added.

She said - “You please go. It would not be nice if someone sees us like this. I do not want anything from you.”

I said - “But I am dying for you and I know you too are made for me.”

Her eyes suddenly fell on maid behind the curtains of the door who was trying to listen to our conversation. Narmada said - “You please leave right now, we’ll talk later. Mom is not at home.”

I went by on her prescriptive tone.

She was fighting for her self-being and the reason was only Varsha. She felt suffocated with my friendship with Varsha.

I was glad to hear her words - “WE’LL TALK LATER”. This meant, she gave her consent to my love. She understood my restlessness.

-- Excerpts from Romantic Novel "Narmada”
― Laxman Rao