Jaipur, City Palace
22nd June 2005, 10:45AM
The big grand palace, exceptionally the largest palace in India, is seen decorated magnificently like a dream plucked from the heavens, people hurrying up things to set everything in its place, totally colorful surroundings accompanied by sounds of ghunghroo and dohls.
This was the situation from when they got the news that the king and queen are blessed with a princess. Everywhere you look, people were bustling, making last-minute adjustments, ensuring that every corner of the palace was perfect, ready to welcome it's PRINCE AND PRINCESS.
It is said for decades, the royal family had been burdened with a curse, a shadow that loomed over them, whispering that no princess would ever be born into the royal lineage, but it came to an end with the birth of this princess who is yet to arrive and conquer her people's heart. Her arrival was a cause for celebration, not just for the royal family, but for every citizen in the kingdom.
They rejoiced as if welcoming their own child, their hearts swelling with happiness and anticipation, the palace was on full swing enjoying arrival of their princess. Security was tightened; the knowledge that threats could arise to challenge their little treasure heightened everyone's vigilance, everyone were alert and her brothers who became connected and over protective just then, were not at all leaving their brother and only sister.
Her innocent eyes, filled with wonder, and her calming smile melted the hearts of even the sternest guards, everyone was only waiting to spend time with their little load of fun, welcoming her was like welcoming the queen into their world which they knew she has the aura to rule, everyone's aim was only one— to look after their little bundle of joy, keep them safe from all the evils out there...
A convoy of gleaming cars rolled through the grand gates of the palace, signaling the beginning of the much-anticipated celebration, as the vehicles entered, the air was filled with the thunderous beats of dohls, while dancers, adorned in vibrant traditional attire, swirled gracefully, their ghunghroo echoing in harmony with nature, even if it was in the day, they didn't back out from cracking fireworks which even in daylight were sparkling in the sky.
The sun cast its warm, golden rays upon the scene, as if in gentle blessing, not wanting to scorch the delicate skin of the young prince and princess. Even the peacocks, symbols of grace and beauty, spread their magnificent feathers and danced in delight, joining in the kingdom's joyous welcome. The entire kingdom was ablaze with happiness, the celebrations echoing through every home, the whole state was celebrating their arrival as if like a festival in every home in the state.
The cars came to a halt, and the queen of Jaipur, MRS. AAKRITI SHEKHAWAT stepped out in a simple yet elegant Anarkali looking still young not at all like she was mother of 4, her son cradled lovingly in her arms. Beside her, the king of Jaipur, MR. UTKARSH SHEKHAWAT, strong and regal, supported her with one hand while carefully holding their daughter, the precious princess, in the other.
As soon as the royal couple stepped out of the car, the prince's face crumpled, and a wail escaped his tiny lips. The loud, jubilant sounds of dohls and cheering seemed too much for his sensitive ears, and he squirmed in his mother's arms, seeking comfort from the overwhelming noise.
Aakriti gently rocked him, whispering soothing words to calm her distressed son while, getting worried on listening to prince's wails, Utkarsh immediately raised his hand towards the crowd, who understood their king's command in seconds and everything became pin drop silent. Everyone's concentration was on the prince as the queen rocks him, but what got their attention was their princess's giggle.
Instead of crying, her innocent face broke into a wide, delighted smile. Her eyes sparkled with joy as if she were revelling in the festive sounds around her and the sparkles up in the sky. The rhythmic beats of the dohls, the jingling ghunghroo of the dancers, and the joyful cheers of the crowd seemed to enchant her, on observing this, everyone had an amusedly calm smile, their eyes filled with pride for their princess...
"ahhhaaa... see, my princess is already energetic" Utkarsh mused, his eyes sparkling with excitement and a broad grin spreading across his face.
"No, my prince is no less; he too will be equally energetic, right beta?" Aakriti retorted, still attempting to soothe the prince, who remained inconsolable.
As her efforts seemed to fail, the king moved closer worried what happened, only to witness a small miracle: as soon as he reached Aakriti with his princess in his arms, the princess's quick hand landed a sharp slap on the prince's cheek, halting his cries in an instant.
"Did she just shut him up???" king's brother, MR. AADARSH SHEKHAWAT... exclaimed in astonishment, drawing everyone's attention.
"Bola tha na humne, my princess is exceptional" Utkarsh proclaimed with pride, kissing the princess's forehead. At that moment, Aakriti gave a signal to the crowd to resume their celebration. To everyone's amazement, the prince, now pacified, began to giggle alongside the princess...
"chalo ab bahot hogaya, I'll carry her" the queen's sister, MRS. EESHA RAIZADA, said with a smile.
Before anyone could object, she gently lifted the princess into her arms. With Utkarsh momentarily separated from his princess, his friends seized the opportunity, whisking him into the heart of the crowd. There, the king, usually so dignified, was seen laughing and dancing with unrestrained joy along with his brother on his side. This rare display of exuberance left the crowd in awe, but they embraced the moment wholeheartedly, making sure the celebration continued with unbridled enthusiasm.
As Utkarsh with his brother and his best friends cum family were busy in dancing and expressing their over joy, the hired photographers were doing their job properly capturing each and every single moment without missing any moment which is to be cherished for years, going on with dances for an hour more, both the princess and prince started to cry at a time startling everyone who were till then gushing on the cute kids...
Even amidst the loud dohls, Utkarsh was able to hear his children cry and ran to them. Without hesitation, he took his princess into his arms, her cries ceased almost instantly at his touch, and the prince stopped crying as well, comforted by the sight of his twin calm and safe.
"Haw!!! She is already on your party jiju??" Eesha whined making Utkarsh smirk in proudness
"toh? Hamari Pari hain" he replied with a proud and satisfied grin
"chalo, let's go inside now" the king's mother, the rajmata of the kingdom— MRS. SUHANI SHEKHAWAT, interrupted making Aadarsh butt in
"hame kuch karna hain" he said and brought a plate filled with red Kumkum water giving an idea to everyone there already
"Nah nah... it will be me first... hamari Pari ke charan pehle hamare dil pe hongi" Utkarsh declared immediately and dipped his princess's feet in the plate and print her foot prints on his heart, over the shirt.
The gesture was repeated by his brother and then his friends, each taking their turn to create their own unique mark. Watching their fathers, the older children became eager to join in...
"Baba sa... hame bhi chahiye" the eldest kid of the king and queen, MR. RUDRANSH SHEKHAWAT, kind of ordered coming forward, followed by every elder kid who could understand what was happening there. Almost everyone was now, having the foot prints of the cute buddies on their white outfits respectively, which they co-ordinately wore planning this beforehand.
As this completed, they walked forward there stood the rajmata MRS. SUHANI SHEKHAWAT, with aarti plate in her hands, beaming with excitement to welcome them accompanied by rajpitha MR. NAMAN SHEKHAWAT, beside her, ready with bundle of notes. As they approached rajmata, she warded of all the evil eyes with aarti plate while rajpitha warded off all the evil eyes by rotating a bundle of notes around the whole family ensuring protection and prosperity.
Passing the bundle of notes to a servant ordering to distribute among poor, rajpitha immediately took the princess in his arms making the king frown, his eyes betraying his unease. He didn't want to give his princess to anyone; he also gave her to her mother sulkily even when she had to feed the princess.
Moving forward into the private wing of the palace they placed both the prince and princess in the crib; they were surrounded by the kids who were excited to play with them. As the kids gets busy playing with them, Rudransh along with the eldest son of Aadarsh and his wife, MRS. SRISHTI SHEKHAWAT, MR. DEVESH SHEKHAWAT ran into the garden where they kept their gift ready, and brought it over.
They were orchids and lavenders, unsure of what their sister and brother would like from the flowers present in the garden, they chose the most delicate ones and their favourite ones. They both brought same kind of bouquets for twins, as soon as they brought the flowers to them and placed the small mini bouquets beside the twins, princess giggles with eyes sparkling out her excitement expressing her likeness towards the fragrance of the flowers placed beside her
"Look Maasi sa!!! Her eyes are twinkling like... Stars!!!" dev exclaimed excitedly. His Maasi, Eesha Raizada, came there to look at him, and she smiled
"She loved your flower bouquets Rudra and Dev!!" Eesha said ruffling Rudra's hair followed by dev's hair making the kids grin widely on seeing their only sister accepting their first gift.
Everyone was taking turns in playing with their prince and princess giving both the king and queen a deserved rest. There were wide smiles present over everyone's face, chit chatting happily contented of now having their princess with them. There enters their family priest who has been their main purohit from years. Everyone immediately stood up greeting him, coming towards the queen and king, he blessed them by keeping his palm on their heads
"dheergaayushmaan bhava. shubkamnay Rana sa, Rani sa... aapke vansh ko mila shraap, in-se anth hogaya" he blessed making both of them nod happily, happiness of having a daughter after few decades was totally evident.
Then, the priest turned to the just-born kids, looking at the prince and princess, he just let a serene smile making everyone smile too, keeping his hand on princess head first, he closed his eyes making everyone attentive of what he says about her. It's been a ritual; he always predicts one's achievements just as a person is born. It may be true or false too, but it's just that they believe in it, as he closes his eyes, he smiled before he starts to speak...
"sweet, calm, kind, sharp, intelligent... but at the same time bold, courageous, fierce, dangerous and powerful... bahot hi anokhi vidhi hain inka... kisi bhi raja ho, kitna bada raja bhi ho, unhe gutno pe le aane ki swachata hain inki mann mein... kisi bhi sankat ko paar karne waali buddhi hain inke dimag mein...
kitna bhi bada dukh ko dur karne wali muskan hain inki... aap sabhi ki dil pe raaj karegi yeh nahni si Pari... jitna komalta, sheetalta hain utna hi rudrata aur shoorta hain inme... kabhi bhi kisi ko akaaran pida nahi pauchayegi... varshon se adhura reh gaya ek kaam puri karne wali karan hongi yeh... shubh ho, aapki saubhagya hain rana sa aur rani sa... aapko sirf beti nahi ek asli wali devi mili hain..." he completes making everyone tear up on listening to him talking everything positively not even a single negative ness about her character. They wanted to ask about her life but kept calm thinking if it's appropriate to reveal he would have done it, if he didn't do then it shouldn't be revealed, after smiling at the princess, he moved to prince.
"bilkul behen jaisa... bas dono, ek dusre ke chavi hain... behen se adhik shant hain. Hamesha behen ki saath denge, kisi bhi paristhiti mein. Inko sabse apne behen ka hi parva hoga... yeh kuch bada karne ka kaaran banenge aap sabki Jeevan mein...
He will always be the reason to bring you your princess to you, like he did now... aapki dusre bete jaisa, sab kuch vaisa hi hain, cold, dangerous, angry, protective... bas sambhalne mein toda mehnat hogi... inhe inki behen bahot aasani se sambhalengi... ek dusre ke bina jee nahi paayenge..." he completes saying about the prince making everyone sigh in relief, as they all expect the priest to leave as usual because he leaves the next moment his work is done, but he just kept standing there gazing at the princess lost in thinking something, rajpitha was about to ask the priest about it, but the priest turned to them with stern eyes.
"Sambhal ke rehiyega sab... jo var aapko mili hain vo sabhi ko chahiye, iske pehli ki kuch anarth ho jaye, sacheth kar rahe hain Abhi, sab savdhan ho jaayiye" priest says staring back at the princess making everyone tense up what he was indicating at? Even before anyone could ask anything priest leaves. Everyone got into deep thoughts which is noticed by the rajpitha, he too was equally afraid and worried about his princess but it's time to enjoy right at the moment, trying to lighten up the situation and ease up their worried faces, he spoke
"Let's move ahead... everyone is waiting for a glimpse of their prince and princess" he says dragging all of them to the public wing's lawn, they reached there, to see the crowd gathered in their garden to the roads totally filled up with their people.
The king and queen got emotional on seeing their love for their prince and princess in just a day of their birth... this is just the start, they didn't yet know what all their princess is gonna face in her life, and knowing it, we could only pray she stays strong through her life...
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Jaipur, City Palace
28th June 2005, 10:12AM
The whole palace was a spectacle of grandeur, adorned with a vibrant array of flowers and an assortment of decorative items. Every corner was filled with things that captivated children's imaginations—balloons of every colour, playful streamers, and whimsical decorations that danced in the air.
The entire palace—both the private wing and the public wing where the visitors and tourists were allowed in—seemed alive with colour and joy. Almost every one of the 5 families weren't okay with leaving their just born cute princess here. So, most of them didn't at all moved from the palace. Considering the huge number of people present in line to play with the cute bundle of joy, everyone gets a chance quite rarely.
So, they're enjoying in what they got. As the time for the ceremony approached, everyone gathered in the grand throne room, which was a part of private wing not allowed for any tourist visit. At the centre, the King and Queen sat majestically on their thrones. The King cradled the princess gently in his arms, while the Queen lovingly held the prince.
To the right of the King sat his brother and his wife, their faces filled with joy and pride. To the left were the King's parents, exuding wisdom and grace. As the priest reached there, he does a small puja in the centre of the room which lasted for half an hour with both king and queen involved in puja, as the pandit recited few mantras, he spoke looking at king
"Rana sa... inn dono ke kundali ke prakaar, dono ko 'आ' se naam rakhna chahiye, agar aap ko koi naam mann mein hain, toh vo hi batadijiye" the pandit says looking at Utkarsh who grins widely on hearing this. Pandit ji gasps momentarily seeing their king grin this widely after being cold till that moment, which is for the first time Infront of them...
"Shall we make those names final Kriti? Ab inke naam bhi 'आ' se rakhna hain na?" Utkarsh asks Aakriti excitedly making her nod chuckling at his excitement, nodding at her he looked at his father to ask if he wants to name his grandchildren...
"Aap karlijiye rana sa... aapki pari hain, aapka hak banta hain" his father, naman said not having courage to snatch his son's excitement and over joy of having a daughter. Thanking his father with a subtle nod, he looked back at his princess...
"pehle kunwar sa aur Rajkumari sa ke kaan mein theen baar unka naam bata dijiye, uske baad iss thali mein naam likhiye." The Pandit ji began giving instructions, while Utkarsh listened intently, absorbing every detail.
Following the priest's directions, he first leaned down towards his newborn son's ear, softly whispering the chosen name three times. Each repetition was filled with love and pride, as if he was already envisioning the bright future that lay ahead for his son.
Once he finished, he gently moved to his daughter, whispering her name with the same tenderness and affection. With this part of the ceremony complete, Utkarsh glanced over at his wife, Aakriti, signalling for her to perform her role.
Despite his overwhelming excitement at naming their children, Utkarsh was mindful of the importance of this shared moment. He believed deeply that his wife deserved, and indeed should have, an equal role in this celebration. The previous night, he had made a special request to her: he would whisper the names into their children's ears, while she would write them down on the ceremonial thali.
As Utkarsh finished whispering the names, Aakriti pulled the beautifully adorned thali toward her, her hands steady with the significance of the moment. With a serene smile, she carefully took the prince's hand into hers and inscribed his name in the soft grains of rice spread across the plate, each stroke deliberates and filled with maternal love, same went with our princess too...
Unable to contain their curiosity and excitement, Aadarsh and Srishti, eagerly stepped forward, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the names inscribed on the thali. The air was thick with anticipation, everyone in the room leaning in, waiting to hear the names of their cute little bundle of joy...
"it's AARAV UTKARSH SHEKHAWAT AND AARAVI UTKARSH SHEKHAWAT!!!!" Aadarsh and Srishti yelled at a time excitedly like kids erupting a whole round of cheers and applauds along the whole room on hearing their names, but Utkarsh seemed he wasn't satisfied with the names; he interrupted their hoots raising his hand before speaking...
"Correction, it's AARAV AAKRITI UTKARSH SHEKHAWAT AND AARAVI AAKRITI UTKARSH SHEKHAWAT" he finished earning surprised and excited hoots from everyone present there.
His parents looked at him, with pride swelled on their chest seeing their son, their friends hooting with a tasing smirk seeing how he wasn't leaving a chance to imply both Utkarsh and Aakriti would be in every step of their lives... as the celebration continued discussing who will present their gifts first, naman grabbed the chance moving forwards...
"Can I have the opportunity to at least see her now?" Naman playfully turned to his son, a mischievous smile on his lips as he gestured toward the special gift he had prepared for the twins.
Utkarsh chuckled at his father's playful demeanour, nodding in acknowledgment before turning his princess to him. Gently kissing Aaravi's forehead, a gesture filled with love and affection, Naman took out a delicate diamond bracelet he had designed himself, a beautiful piece crafted specifically for his one and only granddaughter.
He gently clasped the bracelet around Aaravi's tiny wrist, marvelling at how it fit her perfectly. Not forgetting his grandson, Naman followed by clasping a similar bracelet around Aarav's wrist. Each bracelet was unique and had been thoughtfully engraved with their names, "Aaravi" and "Aarav," making them not only beautiful but also personalized treasures. The names etched into the fine metal added a special, customized touch, marking them as heirlooms to be cherished forever.
"You seriously designed it already baba sa??" Aakriti asked surprised that her father-in-law who is no less than father, designed a bracelet by himself? Just in an overnight? They just shared this thought with him the previous night and he was so sure that he got it engraved already?
"Haa... apne pyaare pari ke liye itna toh kar sakthe hain" he muttered looking at giggling Aaravi. Kissing their forehead for one more time, Naman stepped back with a knowing smile. He anticipated the next wave of excitement that was about to unfold.
As he had expected, the atmosphere quickly shifted from tender moments to playful chaos. The room erupted into a lively commotion as friends, siblings, and other relatives eagerly jostled for the opportunity to present their gifts.
Laughter and friendly banter filled the air as everyone vied for the chance to be the first to offer their carefully chosen presents. The twins, oblivious to the whirlwind around them, remained the centre of attention, their parents and family revelling in the joyous and spirited chaos of the celebration.
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3523 words
Heyyy Page Turners!!!
So, what do you think about the setting?
what do you think will happen in these happy and excited lives?
I hope you liked the prologue and do hit the star button ⭐, feel free to comment your opinions and guesses, cause your author is excited to know them💗💗
Until the next part
~~yours sri🦚🪷
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