Across the wide spectrum of her aristocratic milieu, and in the philanthropic circles she endowed, she was referred to variously as Your Highness, Rani Sahiba, Lady Gayatri, Madame, or more simply as Ma'am. Her name was Gayatri Laxmi, a 48-year old grand-daughter of the former Maharaja of an erstwhile princely state which, after 400 years of being a royal sovereignty, acceded to the newly formed post-independence republic half a lifetime ago. Being the only surviving heir when her father passed, she finished her post-graduate studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and almost immediately took over the reins of what remained of the family assets. Which by no means was insubstantial even though the government had expropriated much.
The initial years were spent in consolidating the family equity and estate, reinvesting the wealth, directing various litigations, setting up trusts, and basically setting her houses in order. During the first ten years, through the remainder of her twenties and early thirties, she had little time for personal relationships even though there had been many suitors. That however didn't prevent her from sexual dalliances with men; they were always very discreet and generally when she was on visits outside the city, or during her frequent overseas travels. Now, a quarter century later, she remained unmarried.
Lady Gayatri had a number of real estate properties distributed across the country, some of which she sold, some refurbished and retained. But the one she called home was a mansion in the country's capital, set amidst a luxurious sprawl of orchards and gardens. The estate was managed by a bevy of personnel that included a manager and a swarm of domestic staff. The most essential members of the cadre that served her stayed on the premises in an annexe. These included cooks, servers, a gardener, a driver, and the Lady's personal handmaiden known as Devyani.
Nobody else called her Devyani though; they all referred to her as Bai-Ma. The word "bai" in this part of the country could either refer to a maid-servant or be a polite form of address for a woman. The combination word, bai-ma, was a respectful and yet personalised name that the household staff had given her and that's how they had been referring to her over the years. Without any formal hierarchy in the household, Bai-Ma was probably the eldest and was certainly considered to be the senior-most. Nobody was quite certain what the precise nature of her duties were but everyone knew she was very close to Madame and was her personal attendant.
The one other resident on the estate was Xavier. He was a freshman in college and lived in the outhouse after the lady had agreed to rent it to him, surprising all the staff because the lodge had never been let out before. He had been raised in a small town in the Himalayan foothills about 240 kms ENE of the city and had come to the capital eight months ago to pursue his studies at the university. More interested in sports than studies, he had nevertheless disciplined himself to allocate his time proportionately and give due importance to both. He also loved music and had started playing guitar and writing songs with a local band that had a Saturday night contract with a luxury hotel nightclub.
Over the last eight months, Xavier and Bai-Ma had developed a very special relationship and were extremely close to one another. In more ways than one. But now, in mid-December, the university was closed for the winter break and Xavier, who Bai-Ma called Javi, had decided to go back home for a few days. His college was scheduled to reopen on the first Monday of the new year although he planned to return earlier because the athletics team, to which he had been striving to join, was having final trials before deciding the members for the inter-college championships in March.
Bai-Ma was also scheduled to start her four-week annual vacation soon, like she did every year. The Lady insisted that all permanent staff take their annual paid holiday either in two lots of a fortnight each, or once for four weeks. The only condition being that they mutually decide and agree on their timings so that the estate was never without the appropriate support personnel. There had never been any dispute, mainly because they all deferred to Bai-Ma who made the first choice of her holiday dates, and then the others adjusted around that.
This morning, like they did so often, the lady and her handmaiden were sitting on the balcony adjacent to the library on the first floor, sharing a pot of tea. The air was cold but they were well protected with shawls and blankets over their legs, looking out at the foggy morning that was just beginning to reveal the trees and dew-soaked lawns as the sunlight struggled to filter through.
"It feels strange knowing that Xavier is not on the grounds, doesn't it?" the lady asked, looking towards the outhouse even though it was not in their field of vision.
Bai-Ma was surprised to hear that question because her mistress hardly ever met Javi. But she replied in the affirmative, saying "Yes ma'am, it does feel a little strange. I will clean the outhouse thoroughly before leaving for my vacation this weekend."
"Yes, that would be useful. And I must remember to assign someone to do the house-keeping in the lodge when he returns. Do you know when he's coming back?"