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The gift
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"Your aunt not only has a big house, she has a big heart too," said Rishita.
Anang could just nod his head in reply. In fact, he was more surprised than happy when his aunt Jaymala gifted a stunningly beautiful necklace with a matching pair of earrings to his new bride as wedding gift.
The necklace was made of gold and studded with precious stones. 'Royal' was how one would describe it..
But then wasn't it natural with the giver of the gift, herself, belonging to the Royal family?
Of course, Jaymala, was not royal, by birth, meaning she didn't have what we call blue blood coursing through her veins. Her father was an ordinary clerk, working for a small state, pretentiously, called the kingdom before Independence. But nature had given his daughter beauty that could put a princess to shame. And a distant relative to the king was besotted enough with the girl to marry her and set her up in a modest size haveli.
Independence stripped the Royals of their titles and most of their wealth but didn't leave them exactly paupers. After her husband's death too, Jaymala, lived well in her big house with three servants and people of the small town addressed her as Ranima.
Anang was Jaymala's only living blood relative when he came under her care. Having lost his parents in an accident at the tender age of eight, Anang had nowhere to go. Jaymala was not on the best of terms with his sister who married a low caste engineer. So nobody knows whether she was moved by affection, pity or sheer social pressure when she had her nephew under her wings.
But caring is not parenting. At least not in this case. Jaymala didn't have any children of her own and she didn't much care for Anang. She didn't ill treat him, she was just indifferent. Anang, to his credit, never gave anyone a chance to complain. He spoke when spoken to and rarely entered the main house. Like others he too addressed Jaymala as Ranima.
Anang was put up in the outhouse. It was called the guest house but as far as he could remember no guest had ever stayed there. And it was used by Jaymala's oldest and most trusted maid. Anang, like most others, called her simply Dai. She took care of him for the next seven years and then he was sent to a big city for further studies.
While sending him away Jaymala indirectly told him that now he was expected to be on his own. Anang took the hint and on reaching the city, began working and studying almost simultaneously. He was good at both.
Years flew by. Anang got his master's degree in electronic engineering. After working for three years in a big company he found a girl he wanted to marry. Like a good boy, when he called up his sole relative, with the news, Jaymala advised him to opt for a civil ceremony which would save time, energy and of course money on everybody's part. Anang too was relived. He got married in the presence of about two dozen people, most of them, being from the bride's side. Jaymala's health was too frail to travel. After marriage, Anang took Rishita to meet his aunt aka Ranima.
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