“Jatin?”
“Yes, Boss?”
“See that I’m not disturbed for at least half an hour.”
“Right, Boss!”
Sonia played the CD and relaxed in her chair as the raag began. The three voices were very good. The raag began slowly, as each of the students vocalized their talent. A slight reverb to their voices added a touch of reverence. Raag of inspiration, Mrs Dharkar had told her. Sonia closed her eyes. She allowed the three beautiful voices to unwind, caress, gain tempo, flourish, scale, and dip, thrilling her with the essence of the music. She felt her heart fill with the music and her body tingle with inspiration.
A while later, she walked out into the outer office. Her face was flushed.
“Boss?” Jatin asked with immediate concern. “Are you all right?”
“Jatin, we are going over to the Dharkar residence at once!”
“I accept it!” Bishan burst out. “I did it! I killed our Guruji!”
Mrs Dharkar, Sonia, Jatin, Kirit, Vandana, and Sumeet stared at him. Bishan was sobbing uncontrollably, his sobs renting from his heart.
The dim lights in the sitting room, Raujibua’s favourite room, bestowed the space with a cozy glow. Evening had fallen on the Dharkar residence but the whole house looked like an illuminated lantern at the foot of the Sinhagad hill. But inside, the atmosphere was tense. When Sonia and Jatin had arrived, Mrs Dharkar had brought them straight to the group gathered in Raujibua’s sitting room, where Bishan had insisted that everyone be present. He had something to tell them all.
“Please forgive me Guruji, because I know I can never forgive myself!” Bishan continued in between sobs.
“But Raujibua had a heart attack,” Sonia suggested, gently. “What is there to forgive?”
“Yes, a heart attack - because of me! I was unruly, I misbehaved, I did everything he told me not to do! I never did riyaz, I thought I was so talented. I dated and. slept with women, something he disapproved of. I went against everything he believed sacred. And I didn’t stop at that! I argued with him and fought with him on stupid issues and I hurt him so badly that he had a heart attack!”
His whole body trembled with guilt and grief, but no one moved to console him. Kirit stared at him, his face a mix of sympathy and anger, and Sumeet stared at the floor expressionlessly. Vandana was observing Kirit and Sumeet. Only Mrs Dharkar’s face expressed compassion. She glanced at Sonia questioningly.
“You’re right, Bishan. You did contribute to Raujibua’s early death,” Sonia said, finally. “He would’ve probably lived for a couple of years more, but your behaviour hastened his early demise.”
“I don’t want his money. I cannot touch it now. I killed my Guruji and I will never forgive myself for it!”
“You are justified in blaming yourself, but you are not the only one, are you?”
The others turned to Sonia in astonishment. Bishan raised a tearstained face. Sonia angled towards Kirit, facing him with a glint in her brown eyes.
“You contributed to Raujibua’s death, too, Kirit, didn’t you?”
Kirit flushed. “What… what do you mean?”
“I mean the roaring argument you had the day after Bishan had his discussion with Raujibua.”
The room was suddenly filled with curious anticipation, as all eyes were trained on Sonia and Kirit.
“Kirit, would you like to tell us why you had a showdown with your Guruji?” Sonia prompted.
Kirit maintained his silence. Sonia sighed.
“All right!” She faced the others, her eyes travelling from face to face, to finally rest on Vandana. “Ever since I arrived here and began questioning the inmates of this household, I was under the impression that the main cause behind this whole story was jealousy. Among Raujibua’s three disciples, or to put it more clearly, jealousy towards Sumeet. Both Bishan and Kirit were envious that Sumeet had been chosen by Raujibua as his chief disciple. But I was wrong. I realised soon enough that the underlying emotion in this whole issue was not jealousy, but love! Kirit’s love for Vandana!”
Mrs Dharkar gasped, flashing a glance at her daughter. Vandana averted her gaze, blushing deeply. Bishan and Sumeet looked amazed. Kirit refused to utter a single word.
“Kirit and Vandana have been seeing each other and meeting clandestinely for a couple of years now. But when Raujibua got the wind of it, he was furious! He regarded this as outrageous, as a betrayal worse than Bishan’s immoral behaviour, in fact. Almost a sin, since love between his disciple and his daughter was for him like incest. He not only forbade Kirit to ever meet Vandana again, but he threatened to cut Kirit off from his will. Kirit was horrified. This was something he hadn’t expected. He knew he couldn’t live without Vandana, he loved her too much. But he desperately needed the money Raujibua had promised him. He had to do something before his Guruji attempted to change the will. And he did it, most beautifully.”
Kirit stared at Sonia, stricken. But he still did not speak. Tears glistened in Vandana’s eyes as she edged towards the young man.
“The whole episode with Kirit and Bishan really drove Raujibua out of his mind, making him weak and defenceless. So Kirit took advantage of it. The three students had planned to record Raag Hameer in their voices and present it to their Guruji
