The food was ready and she placed all of them neatly on the dinning table. She then went in and got the cutlery as well and placed everything properly. Once done, she informed Aparna who said she'd call the rest of the family after which Imlie moved back to the kitchen.
"Everyone shall be at the table except Adi. He prefers eating alone. You do one thing, I'll serve the others. You go give his food and come" Aparna said coming inside the kitchen in some time to which Imlie nodded reluctantly. She served food into a plate for him and placed a single motichoor laddoo at the side.
"Arey wah! You've made motichoor laddoos for something sweet. Really different choice Imlie because most of us prefer preparing Kheer" Aparna said impressed.
Imlie smiled and said
"In Pagdandiya, Amma makes these for every special occasion. I thought I would make them here too"
"Good" Aparna said with a smile to which Imlie smiled back and left to give food to Aditya. Imlie moved out of the kitchen and saw the entire family gathered at the table. She smiled at the sight and moved to give food to Aditya.
___________________________________________
Taking a deep breath she entered his room and frowned on not finding him anywhere.
"Babusaheb toh bijli ke khambe jaisan unche hain. Hume dikh kahe na rahe?" she muttered to herself
( Babusaheb is like talll as a pole. Why am I unable to see him?)
"You? Here? How dare you enter my room? Leave right now and don't ever step into this room!You don't have any rights so remember your place!" he thundered from behind her without even giving her a chance to turn and explain herself. She dint turn towards him when he uttered those words. She just walked ahead, placed the plate on the table and wiping her eyes, plastered a fake smile on her face and then looked towards him.
"I just came to give food to you because Kaki told me. I know what I have and what I don't. You don't have to remind me of anything or what my place is in this house or for that matter in your life as well. I'll never enter this room Babusaheb if that is what you want" she said looking into his eyes with that smile still plastered and walked away from that room. He looked away unable to understand why her expression, her words pinched him.
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As she made her way towards the kitchen, she saw the entire family eating at the table but with an undecipherable silence. Something felt gravely amiss. Somehow something felt incomplete! Unable to make out what, she just stood gazing at the family with warmth.
Nidhi was the first one to spot Imlie gazing at the family. Aparna had spoken about her to which all had nodded.
"Imlie" she called out softly to which all turned their heads towards where Imlie stood.
"Ji?" she answered.
"Come tell us more about yourself"
"There isn't much to tell about myself. I'm Imlie from Pagdandiya and have come to the city for work. I just have my mother and Nakli Nani for a family. Oh and of course, Chuari my goat"
"Nakli Nani?" Harish asked amused
"Yes Kaka! Nakli Nani! She is my mother's step mother unfortunately. God was surely sleeping when he made her!"she said shaking her head as if showing such a grave mistake God has made creating her (which by the way he did!)
"She has a brain which is more smaller than a pea. All she does each day is eat, taunt, eat and repeat. Oh and she is the size of a huge sack filled with potatoes" Imlie explained animatedly, making faces while describing the great personality in her life.
The family errupted in giggles. Even Rupali couldn't help but let out a giggle at the way Imlie described. Seeing the family laugh, Imlie felt content spread through her. A beautiful, genuine smile bloomed on her face at the sight. Now the scene felt right!
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She retired to her corner after the food and house chores were done. Shifting the saree door a bit, she moved in and closed it. Crouching near her potli, she carefully removed Sita Maiyya's idol and looked about thinking where to keep it. That's when her eyes fell on the shelf inbuilt in the wall at the side. A smile formed on her face seeing that. She wiped the empty rack with her dupatta and placed the idol there. She then took out a small chunri she had made for her Sita Maiyya and wrapped it around the idol.
"Kaki se diya maang leti hoon, Maiyya ke aage jalane ke liye"
(I'll ask Kaki for the diya to light infront of Goddess)
She moved out pushing the saree door and ran to find Aparna. That's when she heard something, rather someone's name that made her freeze
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Meethi sat at the corner crying, keeping her head on her knees. Her daughter was gone! Married off to a man who couldn't ever love her because he loved someone else. Would he have dumped her after they reached the city? Where would her daughter be? In what state would she be? She couldn't even contact her! No one knew about Jamai Babu's whereabouts. He seemed a good man but would he accept her daughter?
"Now why are you worrying Meethi when you dint utter one word in protest when all of this was going on? You may or may not have succeeded but you dint even try! You could have saved your daughter if you had shown even this bit courage. But no! You had to act like a coward! Wordlessly you dressed up your daughter like a bride despite knowing this forced marriage wouldn't bring anything but pain! You prayed right that your daughter shouldn't suffer the same fate as you. But what's the use when you yourself don't make any move to assure that? You are a coward Meethi! You are a coward! You destroyed your daughter's life!" her mind shouted. She bowed her head and wept more. That was all she could do because she knew her mind was right!
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...
