‘Where do you meet such people who talk such bull crap?’ Raahat crinkled his nose in disapproval.

‘Don’t you doubt, I will find the key to Gurbaksha.’

Raahat chuckled at Rajjo’s departing figure.

Rajjo retired into her room as she wanted to wake up early and take a walk around the village. Thankfully, Asha was not there and her flower pot was still intact. The beautiful exotic flower reminded her of her irridescent desire. She wanted to see it flourish and grow. With a sigh Rajjo slipped into a deep sleep.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Rajjo was out and about. Asha was still not back. Rajjo wondered where she had disappeared? But she dare not ask in case she offended her and she seemed close to Kuljeet. It was better to maintain a polite distance.

Rajjo walked through the village. This particular ashram was in Fatehpur Sahib district. The nearest town was Kheri Naud Singh and they hoped to attract an assemblage of believers from Khanna and other nearby towns. The village had an elementary school. Rajjo could see kids running around the compound as a distracted teacher read an old magazine. Rajjo smiled.

The question of how to get through to Gurbaksha kept bothering her. She crossed a large volleyball ground located near a gurdwara. A few metres ahead she spotted a cluster of droopy oldies sitting under a giant tree playing cards. Wild hooting at a distance caught her attention. It was the village kids involved in a game of cricket with makeshift wickets and bales. A few oldies were engrossed in the game as they squinted to look at the next ball. Just then she spotted Gurbaksha and a few other sewadars amongst them. Rajjo stood in the shadows of a peepul tree to mull over how to approach her object of interest. They were all rooting for a boy to hit a six as the team needed only five runs to win. The others were animated but Gurbaksha sat there with a straight face. There was tension on his face as he gripped the leaning tree bark he sat on.

A six was hit. The others rushed forward in jubilation. Gurbaksha gave out a happy shout, and then, as if guilty, retreated.

The others had run forward so no one noticed his outburst. And Gurbaksha started walking back towards the ashram, Rajjo followed him only to find him lifting heavy chairs from the truck and unloading them under the tent. He wanted to do some physical work till he was exhausted, like he was apologizing for having spent a mellifluous moment with the children.

A light afternoon breeze was blowing. Some sparrows chirped around and pecked at grains and leftover food scattered in the yard for them. Rajjo went into the kitchen to boil her tea. The brown liquid gurgled and bubbled over. She focused on Gurbaksha’s face in the pan – the vapours turned noxious, it was his pain that she would focus on. She knew the words he needed.