Rupi woke up at the sound of a thud. It was her 5 year old daughter, Bitti. She had fallen down while trying to chase a mouse. She was a jovial girl, always happy and playful. She got up and smiled at her mother. Rupi got down from the leaf-bed and hugged her lovingly, while playing with her long brown hair. She was the apple of her eyes.
At dawn both of them went to the nearby river to get water for cooking and drinking. It was their daily task. Women from their community had to fetch water before anyone from the upper caste woke. They should not see eye to eye. Even their shadow was considered to be untouchable. Every time Rupi looked at Bitti, she trembled at the thought of the fate of her friend Lipu's son, a few months back. The poor boy was a bit feeble-minded and unaware of the differences, do's and don'ts of their caste and went to play with his dog by the river banks, when the women and children of the upper caste were taking bath. The boy ran to those kids to play with them. The women started shouting and some even threw stones at him, while their kids held his hands and legs. The poor boy was only 8 and succumbed to the injuries. Lipu lost her only child. But no one uttered a word. It was afterall the little boy's fault, how dare he was to have tried to play with the kids of the upper caste! Killings and torture of people from their caste was common in their land. They were known as the forbiddens.
It was a very hot day and Rupi was sweating while she was collecting dry leaves for making fire. Bitti was playing nearby. The sound of horse hoofs made both cautious. Bitti, even at her age was smart enough to know horses were for the upper caste and they had to hide before someone approaches. Both she and her mother ran behind a huge tree. Moments later the horse approached and they peeped from behind the tree at the horseman. He was a man in his 20s, wearing fine clothes. Rupi has never seen anybody to be so good-looking. But the man was hurt and bleeding profusely from his left foot, He stopped his horse and started panting. He reached out for his water bottle, only to find it empty. Rupi was carrying her pot of water and looking at the man's distress could not stop herself from asking behind the tree, "Water?". The man was startled and faintly responded with a yes. Rupi came out from behind the tree and gave the man her pot of water. He drank the whole pot at one go and thankfully looked at her.
Rupi was scared but could not control herself from staring at him. How can someone be so good looking! Suddenly she got back to her senses and pointed at the wound on the man's foot. The man said he has to see a medicine-man to treat that. Rupi laughed at him and said that these are common wounds and she could cure it. She asked the man to wait and ran to the nearby bushes to get some medicinal herbs. She took his foot on her hands and pressed the leaves on the wound. The bleeding stopped in a few moments. The man looked at Rupi, surprised and with gratitude. He now got down from the horse, looked into her eyes and stroked his fingers over her cheeks, lovingly. His eyes sparkling with thankfulness behind his long lashes. Rupi got scared but could not move from there. She knew she was a very attractive woman and a lot of men had tried to approach her but she had rejected everyone. But there was something in this stranger's eyes that she could not ignore. She thought for the first time she saw gratitude in a man's eyes. Rupi's voice made her come back to her senses -she quickly moved away and looked at the man, scared. He smiled softly, got up on his horse and went away.
Both mother and daughter did not utter anything to anyone about that incident.
Prince Vedabrat was sitting on a marble bench of his garden. His left foot was still hurting but he felt much better after the tribal woman mended his foot. She seemed like a sorceress at that time- attractive and kind. He could not help stop thinking about her. He should have offered her a gift. That route was new to him but he wanted to go to those woods again.
Rupi was a bit scared as she feared, talking and touching someone from the upper caste might bring in bad omen to them. But nothing happened. After a couple of days she went into the woods. Again she could hear a horse approaching. It stopped all of a sudden and she continued collecting leaves and logs. Suddenly someone pulled her from the back and turned her towards him. He saw that same man. She tried to run away but he pulled her closer to him. He opened the gold chain from his neck and put it around her neck. He planted a quick peck on her neck. She froze in fear, wanted to run but could not move. It was a magnetic pull she could feel towards him.
"Who are you, stranger?" she asked.
"I am Prince Vedabrat. Who are my dear?' "
"I am Rupi. I am untouchable."
Vedabrat laughed and embraced Rupi tightly, " How are you untouchable? See I am touching you."
Rupi was a bit shaky but still smiled at him. He said in his deep voice, "We are friends from today and nothing will break our bond ever."
They embraced each other, under the tree.