BATTLE OF LOVE (completed)

CHAPTER 32

Day 5

Dharani's POV:

So the dandiya dance practice began in the common corridor where three couples will be dancing on a five-minute song. The couples are all by themselves which means I would be dancing only with Arjun, just the way I like it to be. So we got our sticks and I am no expert but I could just feel how terrible Arjun is at dancing. I mean his coordination and all are on point but the way he strikes is literally as if he is doing sword fight with me. He would knock my sticks off and smile at me as if he won the battle and he always has this constant expression of 'I am going to win this battle.'

After Arjun knocked my stick for the third time, I was fed up.

"May I remind you Arjun, that this is not a battlefield," I said as I stood again with my sticks.

"Close enough though," he said as he gave me a mischevious smile.

"And you say I should grow up," I said as I rolled my eyes. Arjun smiled again.

"Okay okay serious," he said and we continued our practice.

After our practice, we got a crazy idea that would help us know more about our people. We decided to act as if we fought over who is the best. Since I am from Anjan, I would be supporting prince Arjun and since Arjun is from Mitra he would be supporting princess Dharani. The plan went as executed and we asked everyone their opinion pretending that it was a dispute we would solve by voting.

Arjun's POV:

So we went and started asking everyone and the replies were quite revealing.

Amma - "I like both of them. According to what I've heard Arjun is strict but not as bad as everyone believes. Dharani is a humble and simple girl. They are unique in their own way."

Chutki- "Princess Dharani always." (I had to hi-fi her when she said this, though I felt bad for losing a point to Dharani.)

A guy from another couple: "I like Arjun because I feel he does the right thing despite what the world thinks of him."

The survey went on and we had like a lot of opinions. Honestly, I stopped counting the votes after a while and I have no idea if Dharani is counting them. It was kind of funny to see some people calling me arrogant, tyrant and god knows what. What was funnier though was me having to thank people for supporting my point and having to join them and scold Arjun aka me.

Everything went fine until Manoj uncle (Chutki's grandfather) was asked this question.

"I hate both of them. It is well known that Arjun is an arrogant, cold, and heartless beast. There was a time when I admired princess Dharani for her kindness but now she lost her identity. She is blinded by love and is now just a slave to her husband. She doesn't fight for justice anymore."

My blood boiled. I was kind of okay with him hating me cause I am used to hatred but what he said about Dharani was unacceptable. She never lost her identity. She almost broke our relationship in order to stand for what she thought was right. 

"I don't agree with your uncle," I said still maintaining my cool, " I think she is a strong woman."

"No son she is not," Manoj uncle replied, "You are too innocent. Do you know that she let her husband imprison her friend despite knowing that she wasn't guilty in the true sense and guess what she did after that? She went on a trip with her husband. It's been five days now and the couple is still busy with their romance."

I've never felt this helpless in my life. Part of me wanted to reveal everything but my values will not allow me to do so. I literally felt like I was handcuffed or something.

"Maybe uncle...." I tried to put my point but amma signaled me to stop and came in between.

"Everyone has their opinions Arun. Just respect it and leave. At the end of the day princess, Dharani will not even know that you fought for her and we will probably never get close to her. But Mr. Manoj is our neighbor and we will be spending years with him. Don't argue with him."

"I am not arguing amma," I opposed.

"You asked for his opinion, Arun and he gave his opinion. You cannot argue about that. Just apologize and forget all this." 

Well, she was right. We can argue on facts, not on opinions.

"I am sorry, uncle. Hope our relationship stays the same," I said as I looked to find Dharani. She was nowhere. I asked amma and she told me that Dharani was scared and so she ran away when the argument started. She scolded me for scaring her and I went into our home looking for her.

There I found her sitting on the bed, crying like a baby. She wiped her tears when I opened the door thinking it was someone else, but burst into tears upon seeing me. I went and hugged her resting my chin on her head.

"I have not lost my identity. I am not blinded by love," she said and I held her cheeks and wiped her tears.

"Forget it," I said, "He for some reason hates both of us. Just don't pay attention to his words."

"But why?" Dharani said as she shifted from being sad to curious, "We didn't even meet him before."

I shrugged.

"Maybe when you were an officer in Anjan...."

"No," I interrupted, "Trust my memory, I didn't do anything to him. Also, he is from Mitra. He has no connection whatsoever with Anjan."

"Then why?"

"I don't know and I think Chutki might be able to tell us. There should be a reason why she desperately wanted to meet you," I replied.

Dharani stood up to get Chutki but I told her that I will get Chutki and asked her to wash her face so that Chutki doesn't notice that she had cried.

(Hey guys, thank you for making it till here. Sorry for a slightly long chapter. Please do vote and comment. So, the next chapter will be published on 20 December 2018. So stay tuned. Thank you and love you all.)