"It's been sometime over a day Sarpanch Kaka. Can you please give me Jamai Babu's phone number so that I can speak to my gudiya" Meethi requested with tears in her eyes.
"Ya ya go and talk" the Sarpanch said distractedly, busy in watching the movie being played on the screen along with the other villagers.
"Number Kaka? What's his number? If you don't give me the number how....." Meethi said agitated but was interrupted by huge shouts of the Sarpanch and the villagers over some scene in the movie.
Thoroughly frustrated and angered, she went and pulled the screen down, causing the entire set up to stop working.
"What the hell is wrong with you Meethi? Are you out of your mind? We had set it up with great difficulty" the villagers screamed.
"So? You're frustrated over this lifeless thing falling down and getting ruined, frustrated over your little efforts being wasted huh? What about me then? What about my frustration and agony over my daughter being treated as an object and married off, ruining her life? What about my efforts of bringing her up, seeing those dreams in her eyes only to see them all fall apart one day? What about my daughter's efforts of studying hard and smiling despite whatever this society has thrown at her? You expect me to be concerned over this stupid movie and you people aren't even bothered about my daughter's entire life that has been ruined! Completely ruined! Answer me all of you - what do any of you know about Jamai Babu? Do you know his whereabouts, his life, if he has loved someone or not, how is he as a person, about his work, his family? Do you know anything about the man you wedded off the daughter of this village to? All of you had come to her marriage as if it were some show going on, commented on her character and life, assured me that this was needed for the better, isn't it? Now what happened to that "concern" of yours? Answer me now, where is my daughter? Where is my daughter?" she screamed and collapsed on the ground wailing.
"What are you even saying?" a stern voice boomed in the entire atmosphere which had only echoed with Meethi's words all this while. Chills ran down through spines as they turned to see Satyakam while Meethi looked at him, a mix of hope, relief and guilt visible in her orbs.
"Satyakam" she whispered tearfully while his heart which had stilled in shock at her words for a moment, twitched in agony at her broken sight. He moved towards her and gently helped her onto her feet from the ground.
"What is this I'm hearing Meethi?" he asked gently.
Meethi looked down and whispered
"I'm sorry Satyakam. I-I couldn't st-stop them! I couldn't protect her"
She then went on to fill him in on the details of everything that happened.
___________________________________________
He clenched his fists, immense anger building up within him. He glared at the Sarpanch who was cowering and the men behind who were shaking like autumn leaves in the storm.
"We just abided by whatever law you have made for the village Satyakam. Agar koi aurat kono mard ke saath raat bitaati hain toh unhe byaah kareke padat hain" the Sarpanch managed to utter.
(If a woman spends the night with a man, they'll have to marry!)
"Raat bitaave aur raat guzaare me phark hot hain Sarpanch Kaka! Haan uu donon jungle ma phas gaye par eeka yeh matlab naahi ki donon ke beech kachu hua! Hum Sita Maiyya ki saugandh khaate hain. Uu donon ke beech kachu naa hi hua!" Meethi screamed.
(There's a difference between spending night together and spending the night sleeping with each other Sarpanch uncle! Yes the two were stuck in the jungle due to the storm but that doesn't mean something happened between them! I swear on Sita Maiyya, nothing has happened between them!)
"The law was made to protect the daughters, not to push their lives to ruin this way! He may be a good man but will his family accept my daughter? My daughter had dreams. She had other wishes. But all of that got crushed because of you people! I have made this law right then why wasn't I informed before this was implemented on my daughter? Don't you all know what Imlie means to me? Even if she dint, this isn't what you should have done. Marriage is a holy bond. Tying two people against their wishes is nothing less than a sin. Let me find my daughter first. I'll look at all of you later on!" Satyakam thundered and left from there, pulling Meethi gently along with him.
His chest burned with fury, disbelief and hurt. He felt a failure as a father who set out to protect the girls in all villages around but couldn't save his own daughter from this disaster.
"Don't blame yourself Satyakam! If it's anybody who has to feel guilty, it is me. I acted like a coward and dint even protest against this disaster. I dint stop this from happening to my daughter" Meethi uttered brokenly.
"You were at fault Meethi. I can't lie to you and say no. But let go of it now because there's no use of crying or blaming yourself over what has already happened. We should now focus on finding our daughter instead. I'm leaving for the city right away. I have a few contacts there who can give us Aditya Babu's address and number"
"I'll also come"
"No you'll stay here! I can't risk taking you there considering the police are still behind me" he said sternly.
"Please Satyakam. I want to see my gudiya. I can't stay without taking a look at her once to make sure she is alright. The last I saw her, she was burning with fever and hurt. I want to see with my own eyes if she's fine now"
"But Meethi ..."
"Please Satyakam! Please" Meethi pleaded, tears rolling down her eyes.
"Okay! Pack your stuff then" he said wiping her tears to which she smiled and ran from there.
*Typed in haste. Pardon the mistakes*
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...
