The next dawn brought with it immense excitement in the small cottage of Meethi and Imlie as it was the time of Mela (fair)! Meethi had prepared enough organic stuff like diyas to sell at the market. She was now in the process of making another batch as her diyas were quite brought during these yearly melas! Dulari too was quite in await of the evening as she would get enough money. It did not make any difference to her that it was Meethi's hard earned money that she was shamelessly snatching away. But then she was habituated to this!
Dulari had always been allergic to happiness. It gave her immense satisfaction when she would see other's happiness snatched.
Sometime later
The villagers were immensely worried as the only huge well which supplied water for most of their needs was seized by a landlord who had put his chair infront of it and was claiming it to be his and only his. No amount of requests or desperate pleas budged his heart for it only did give him a feel of supremacy. And then suddenly the air changed!
The pride and supremacy he was feeling was suddenly replaced by a different emotion altogether, a mix of fear and slight anger.
"Satyakam Dadda!" his name echoed in the shouts of the people who bowed before him in reverence, their eyes lighting up with hope and relief. It agitated him more and the feeling of supremacy was lost out altogether. It felt like within a moment, what was his was snatched away just by a man's mere presence!
Satyakam walked with his held high, glaring at the landlord. He kept walking and acknowledging the revertant gestures of the people, all the while his fear creeping in the sidekicks of the landlord and the landlord himself!
He walked past the landlord nonchalantly and picked up the rope of the bucket
"Leave it right there Satyakam! This well belongs to me and you'll not be left alive if you dare to take water from it without begging infront of me!"
"Well and it's water belong to the inhabitants of this village and not to one person. And about you killing me, then get it into your thick head oh coward that none of your men nor you have the courage to even lift the gun or knife to kill me, forget about killing me with it! And third thing, when this well dosen't belong to you at all, what's with begging infront of you! Now if you want to be alive, get lost from here!" Satyakam declared and took out a bucket of water from the well. The villagers cheered for him and immediately got around to get their containers and vessels filled and left blessing him.
The landlord Dhaniram burned with rage and jealousy. Satyakam had reduced him to nothing without doing any thing and this insult was something he couldn't bear! He snatched the axe from a man nearby and hurled it towards Satyakam, only it did not touch him at all because a hand had caught it midair!
Aditya had been informed by Janendra that Satyakam had come into village and had immediately set to the ground near the well where he was supposed to be there. He had been capturing the entire happenings on his camera but stilled in shock when he saw that the hand which had caught the axe was Imlie's!
Imlie had caught the axe in the air, her eyes raging and her teeth clenched. She wasn't dressed in uniform anymore but was dressed in a brownish skin coloured salwar kameez. Small silver jhumkas adorned her ears and silver bangles her wrists. A small black bindi adorned her forehead and her nosepin gleamed in the sunlight. Her hair was loosely plaited and hence strands of hair had come out. Overall she looked beautiful, the anger in her eyes adding to her aura.
Meanwhile
Dev entered the room to see Malini standing by the window lost in thoughts. She looked slightly upset.
"What happened Professor? Why do you look so upset?" Dev asked making Malini come out of her trance.
"Papa" she said and moved to hug him.
"What happened Malu?"
"There was a fight between us today... me and Richa and Pranay. It was basically because of his sexist and prejudiced remarks. It was directed towards us and that's why Richa got really angry. She retorted back but I kept quiet. Now I feel I too should have spoken up as it was mostly directed at me"
"Hmm, it's alright Malu. Just let it go. You can't stand and argue for everything can you? You not defending at his remark dosen't mean that you're accepting that remark. Just leave it."
"Hmmm..."
"Hungry?"
"Yes very"
"What does madam have to say about some Cheesy tomato pasta?"
"Wow Papa! Right away then because rats are having T20 in my stomach right now!"
The two chuckled and moved towards the kitchen.
Back to Pagdandiya-
"Imlie!" Satyakam called out worriedly and rushed towards her. He snatched the axe from her hand and got more worried seeing the slightly deep cut on her hand, dripping blood.
"What was the need? I-"
"It's nothing Dadda! I'm alright." she said still glaring at the landlord who was now slightly shivering.
And what happened next none had anticipated! Within the flash of a second, the axe had been snatched from Satyakam's hand and hurled towards Dhaniram who stood perplexed. It had hit the pole of the unbrella sheltering him, encircling his throat.
"My aim dosen't falter Dhaniram seth. And for what you just tried to do, the axe would have pierced your throat if not for the fact that your family is back at home awaiting your return, especially considering Sethni's condition. So just buzz off right away before I lose it completely!" Imlie said, making Aditya look at her with admiration and Satyakam look at her with pride.
Seth nodded his head and rushed away while all the others clapped at her bravery.
"Dadda, you're okay na?" Imlie asked hugging him
"Of course bitiya. Sher ko kya ho sakat hain?"
(What can happen to a lion)
"Yes that's there too" Imlie said and giggled.
"Come let's go home"
"Yes Dadda"
As Satyakam moved ahead with one arm around Imlie, he looked at Aditya from the corner of his eyes.
"Who is he? With the camera in the hand, he can be a police spy. I'll have to see what to do about him as soon as possible" Satyakam thought as he moved ahead.
Love,
Pratyusha
YOU ARE READING
Lakeerein - Ties That Bind Us
Fanfiction------ Can Be Read As General Fiction ------ One night. One event. Lives of two people altered completely. When Aditya Kumar Tripathi, Chief Executive Reporter at Bhaskar times stepped into Pagdandiya and met Imlie, he did not know how his life woul...
