Kashti - Patwar

//Chapter 1//

*DON'T MISS AUTHOR'S NOTE*

Bondita was sitting on the window sill with her knees under her chin and she cuddling herself. Providing with the warmth, she craved for. Providing herself with the touch, that she wouldn't be able to experience ever. Providing her with the solace because now her life wouldn't be easy. Now her Pati Babu, sorry, Barrister Babu wasn't there to guide her. She was all alone in this world, this haveli, this room, just like her chanda mama. And this was just because of Aniruddha Roy Chaudhary. He was the sole reason for her misery. And she hated this man, from her whole heart. That was the only emotion she felt for him, now. She roughly wiped her tears with fury evident in her eyes. She won't waste even a single drop on him. She deserved better and she will work for that. No matter what life throws her way, her dugga maa is always there. She won't let anything wrong happen to her. 

After the bustling displacement of one's life the halfway across the world, one hears this when he/she/they are afforded that first moment to themselves. This silence. The moon glowing with all its beauty and cricket making its appearance quite prominent with that krr-krr sound. This provides the well acquainted sting of everything one could have done but never did. Manorama could have stopped all this fiasco. She could have stopped herself from asking Aniruddha for fake marriage, even after knowing that he was somebody's husband. She could have stopped herself from plaguing his thoughts. She could have stopped the marriage, even if it was fake. And most importantly she could have stopped herself from developing a soft corner for him, that wanted to be his wife, in real. Yeah, she had a maksad, but she was also a girl waiting for a boy to love her immensely. But she had no right to disrupt married life of two people, despite of their varied equation. She had no right to poke her nose in between, but what was she supposed to do now? 

Bondita was just like her small sister. And she completely understood the emotional swing she was going through. She wasn't wrong at her place also to fall for her husband. If not husband, she would have experienced her first crush with someone else, but this couldn't have ever be erased. It's a part of growing up. One should welcome such changes. But this was not just about her new developing feeling. It was about the social baggage this bal-vivah was bringing. And she understands Aniruddha's concern for the same, but was her marriage the last resort? There could have been other option, if we could have thought a little. She couldn't call herself her sister now. 

Manorama started having a real bad headache. Firstly getting married in a dizzy state, then being exposed to such an amount of accusations and howling, and now going through this mental emotional fight, all this was way too much. All this can be dealt later. She better catch a sleep first. She needs to work for her mission as well. 

A new day is supposed to bring new innings and happiness with itself, but seems like Roy Chaudhary Haveli ko kisi ki nazar lag gyi hai. Trilochan Roy Chaudhary couldn't sleep the entire night. He wasn't able to understand only what happened. How was he expected to react? He couldn't stop his son like nephew to marry. He couldn't stop his bahu from fainting. Arre, she's barely 15. If he only wasn't able to join his pieces back, how was Bondita going to do that? How will his family get back to track?

Trilochan was making up his mind to get out of the bed and pay a visit to durga maa's sthal. She didn't deserve such a weary response from her bhakts. No matter what, her puja should be done with same zeal. Before he could pump up enough motivation for the day, he heard a sweet voice doing aarti, and it was none other than his bahu. 

"Bahu! Bahu aarti kar rhi hai? Matlab sab theek ho gya? Aniruddha ne maafi maang li?" Trilochan questioned himself while sitting up suddenly on his bed. He quickly joined his hands to send a prayer and went on about getting ready. Hamari bahu ne aarti ki matlab sab theek hai. Fatafat tayyar ho jaate hai, varna firse gubbare jaisa muh fula legi. He chuckled mentally.