The door opened again and a chubby man in his late twenties ambled in. She recognized the round face covered with an unkempt beard, clad in sparkling white and starched kurta pyjama that barely contained his ample stomach. She recalled seeing him on the news channels when he was charged with murder and alleged rape. This was Rajjo’s youngest sibling, her brother Sheru. His tobacco-stained teeth smiled at her. In return Kuljeet glared at him. She did not want to engage with Sheru at any level. Gluttony was writ large on his face. To Kuljeet’s relief Sheru scuttled out. She was distracted by a flurry of movement through the open door. A few performers were running with harmoniums and tablas. Maybe some performance was planned.

She turned her attention to the imposing wall with a built-in glass case displaying herbal products from the Durga trust. The bottles lined the shelf-like soldiers, proudly wearing the Durga trust symbol. Herbal pills for male sexual disorder, an energy boosting muesli, a maha mantra DVD for wish fulfilment, pills to combat female infertility, acne products, oils, skin and hair care products, pills for relief from joint pains, arthritis, even shaving foams! There was another bottle sitting on the shelf with a white guy wincing in pain on the cover. There were cures for weight-loss, obesity, and constipation on the shelf as well. Kuljeet was amused to see that shampoos for dandruff and hair growth were also manufactured by the Durga trust. The last shelf made Kuljeet wonder how many people bought it and if it really helped. The products confidently offered remedies for cataracts, cancers, cervical problems and tumors. By now Kuljeet wanted to collect all these items and try them one by one. Rajjo’s meteoric rise in the last fifteen years could be seen packaged in these bottles on the shelf.

As time ticked by and Kuljeet waited in the room that smelt of roses and jasmine, her uneasiness grew in leaps and bounds. She wondered how she was supposed to tell Rajjo that she had a premonition. Kuljeet had watched Rajjo brave many a scandal, media reports and attacks against her empire from a distance. But this time it was different. This time there was evil riding on the storm that was brewing. It had every intention of uprooting Rajjo and tossing her on the shore like a wasted corpse. For Kuljeet, Rajjo was still the lost girl who she met over a decade ago, whom she wanted to protect, whatever her sins.

Perhaps, her judgement day had arrived too soon.

Just then the door opened yet again and the stunningly beautiful Rajjo, decked up like a bride, walked in eagerly and hugged Kuljeet tightly. Her amber eyes had become deeper, her riot of glistening curls longer. Her face had a maturity that made her beautiful and a wildness that made her dangerous. She was still a wild flower in the forest.