THE CURSED BEAUTY

C-16

"Yeh ladki aapko pita ji kyu kahegi kaka?" Anirudh asked bewildered. Did his uncle marry secretly and this girl is his daughter? Did Anirudh had a new cousin which he didn't know of, all these years? Was it possible that his kaka all of a sudden produced a daughter out of nowhere? Just out of thin air.

"Kyunki hame pasand nahi ki hamare ghar ki ladkiya hame hamare tamke se bulaye." Anirudh's uncle said eyeing the girl teasingly. The girl hung her head down in shyness.

"HAMARE GHAR KI LADKI?" Anirudh mused out loud. Was what he thinking true? Did his uncle really had a najayaz aulaad (illegitimate child)?

Anirudh signaled his uncle to bring his ear near to him, as if trying to tell him a secret. Ram dev was confused but he did so anyways.

"When did you had a daughter kaka? Is she my cousin that I must know of? Why doesn't she live with us in the haveli? I mean how can you knock someone up with your child and does not even provide them social or financial security?" Anirudh whisper asked in one go.

Ram dev's eyes widened in realization. Did his nephew just accuse him of having an affair and producing child out of it?

"ANIRUDH" Ram dev hissed embarrassed.

"She is not my blood. She is just someone dear to my heart. I assure you I did not have any illegitimate relationships behind your back" his uncle said in a low, menacing and deadly voice. Anirudh breathed a sigh of relief. Thankful of the curtsy of his uncle, this dramatic and snarky irritating girl was not his cousin.

"But why were you both fighting so loudly? Answer me!" ram dev demanded.

"Woh – woh- bade thakur "the girl tried to explain, stuttering. She felt intimidated by Ram dev's sudden change of attitude.

"mai batata hu, kaka" Anirudh said anoyed. He wanted to be out of this mess as fast as possible.

"Ha tu hi bata de. Kyunki dimaag toh tera hi chal raha hai. Anirudh" his uncle said sarcastically, also referencing how he doubted his uncle's moral character.

Anirudh ignored his kaka's sarcasm and said "this girl accused me something I did not do and was making a scene to embarrass me!"

"hawww bade thakur! "

"Pehle  toh inhone mere upar poori sindoor ki thali gira di" the girl said accusing. She also faked some tears for dramatic effect.

"maine uske liye maafi mangi thi" Anirudh defended himself quickly. But the girl glared at him. She looked at kaka with puppy eyes.

"aur baad mein na jaane kya angrezi mein gaali de rahe the. Ekdam un gore afsaro jaise" she cried melodramatically while  Anirudh's glared at him.

 "aur baad mein mujhe tang karne ke liye kehte hai , ki meri jaan - pehchaan hai inse. Aur sawaal bhi pochenge." She remebered how Anirudh told her on their previous meeting that he was a lawyer.

she had also heard from somewhere that lawyers did ask a lot of questions and that too scarily. Lawyers according to rumors were really clever people which molded words into something benefical for their own use. 

"Kaka, mai-"Anirudh said

"aur itna jor jor se , dara dara kar ghoor bhi rahe the. Bade thakur,  shotti" she held a pinch of her skin from the neck swearing to god.

"pehle toh maine isse koi gaali nahi di. Gusse mein kuch English ke shabdh nikal agye , jo yeh samjh nahi paayi"Anirudh dangerously said. His anger started to build up. This girl was falsely accusing him to escape out of the situation and make fun of him.

"doosri baat. Mai iss ladki se pehle mil chukka hu . issi mandir mein." This caused ram dev to frown. When did Anirudh meet her? As soon as he returned from London his mother met with an accident. He was grieving the entire time for her death. Kaka could not understand the timeline, when they met.

" aur rahi baat. APNE SAWALO KE JAWAAB TOH MAI LE KAR HI RAHUNGA" He roared. Anirudh wanted to get over with this conversation. They were her to do puja for his mother. Not for some chit chat.

"asie hi-" the girl started gain. "aise hi zor zor se baat kar ke darate hai yeh mujhe." And eyed him. She quickly hid her body behind kaka's and said,

"vilayat( foreign) mein aisa kya khilate hai? Jo aadmi itna gusse wala ho jata hai? Ekdam rakshas jaise?"

"Tum mujhe- "Anirudh started yet gain but this time, Ram dev was the one who was really angry.

"BAS AB CHUP HO JAAO" He shouted authoritatively making both of them flinch. "TUM DONO BACCHE HO? JO AISE BACCHO KI TARAH LADAI KAR RAHE HO? "His loud voice even caused the rest of the Roy Chaudharys to gather around them. The common people were already enjoying a good show. 

"YEH MANDIR LADAI KARNE KI JAGAH HAI? "

Both nodded their heads in a no and hung down their neck in sorry. Batuknath and Somnath were enjoying their dada getting scolded whereas Shyaam dev just watched everything in silence.

 But kaka was in no mood of stopping. He continued to lecture both of them. Even after 20 minutes when he was going as good as new, Anirudh's father interrupted. "bas kariye da (brother) bechari bachhi dar jayegi."

"ha kaka. Dekhiye na . kaise murjha gaya hai inka chehra" batuknath pointed towards the girl.

'Sabko toh iss ladki ki hi padi hai. Koi mee baare mein soch hi nahi raha' Aniurdh thought.

Ram dev finally stopped. And took a deep breath calming himself down. He turned to look at the girl and softly patted her head. His eyes held unknown emotion.

"aage se aisa tamasha nahi chahiye hame , Anirudh. Yeh vilayat nahi toh tum kahi pe bhi kuch bhi bolne lago. Har cheez ki sahi gajah , sahi samay hota hai." He calmly said. And Anirudh nodded obediently. 

"yeh aapke bhateeje (nephew) hai, bade thakur?" the girl asked quietly.

"Ha. Yeh hai Anirudh Shyaam dev singh roy Chaudhary. Hamara bhateeja. Aur hamare roy Chaudhary sampatti ka waris aur malik. Yeh aage jaa kar banenge tum sabhi ke Thakur shorkaar!" Ram dev announced to everyone present in the temple.

The people in the temple joined their hands in front of Anirudh. Some even started touching his feet, calling him thakur shorkaar. This made Anirudh uncomfortable but he decided to remain quiet and let his kaka deal with the situation. Truthfully, after his uncle bashed him, he was scared that if he did anything uncanny, he would again be showered with his lectures.

"Aabhaar, thakur shorkaar" the girl said sarcastically and joined her hands in greeting.

Now she gives me greetings. A few seconds ago she was ready to bite my head off. Anirudh thought.

"Why are you guys all gathered in the temple today, bade thakur? If I may ask" she asked quietly.

Somnath shook in misery and tried to compose himself and batuknath ran away, not wanting to cry in public. Shyaam dev turned his head away and walked inside the temple.  Felling His wounds reopened again.

He had to say, Anirudh's banter in temple temporarily made him snap out of his sadness and enjoy their cute allegations on each other, but the question pushed him into mourning again.

The girl saw their expressions and made a confused face. Why was everyone crying? Did something happen? Did she ask something wrong? She glanced to look at Anirudh whose hands were tight in a fist. His face expressionless but his eyes held pain.

A/N ; WHY DO YOU THINK RAM DEV SINGH ROY CHAUDHARY LOVES THIS GIRL SO MUCH? DO THEY HAVE  A CONNECTION? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS