Gowrigaatha - A love story [Completed](The story of Gowri)

4. How it began

Kaniyankara was tense for the rest of the week. The ill-thought-out entry of Sukumar into Kalarikkal home had made the entire village scared of repercussions. It reminded them of what had happened three years ago when an issue cropped up between the two families that ended in armed fights and the destruction of property. But this time, cooler heads prevailed and there wasn't any unpleasantness other than what happened that day. Slowly things went back to normal, but it was only the following week that Gowri was finally allowed to go to the library and by then she had read all the books twice.

Vasudev was surveying his fields by walking across them and found himself behind a girl with long hair on the stubby mud embankment used as walkways, that separated plots of paddy field into manageable portions.

"Excuse me, could you please walk" he requested, but did not get any response. That was because, right in front of him was Gowri, who felt adventurous and chose to take a different route. Due to her ignorance of who owns what in the village, she ended up right in the middle of Paarakkal family's paddy fields, staring straight into the eyes of a bull that was leisurely chomping on the paddy.

Alarmed at not getting any answer Vasudev stepped into the wet paddy field and crossed her to look at what was happening only to find a bull blocking the way and a rather petrified-looking Gowri. It took a herculean effort from Vasudev not to laugh at her.

"It's just a bull, you can shoo it off," he said to her.

She turned to look and him and got even more scared, who should she be afraid of more, the bull or Vasudev Paarakkal?

Seeing her tensed face, Vasudev said, "relax, I'll do it". He then proceeded to chase the bull that lazily went and sat on the paddy field to the side of the embankment. Vasudev was in no mood to go after it, thinking once he crossed the fields, he would get some labourers to chase it off.

He then turned to the scared girl and said, "Follow me if you are afraid". But in his brain the devil was working, this city girl was not used to animals, so he decided to scare her. As they came to cross the bull he deliberately slowed his pace, so much so that Gowri who was so afraid of him, poked him with her books and said, "Walk faster".

Vasudev laughed and picked up the pace and they walked until they reached a t-junction on the embankment, with Vasudev picking the left side and Gowri picking the right.

"You are a terrible person," she said to him as they stood facing each other before they went their ways.

"What? I saved you from a terrifying bull!" teased Vasudev.

"Yes, you did, then you proceeded to scare me. That's not nice", she said to him. "Just because I am scared of it, you took advantage to tease me. Achachan was right, your family has no principles".

"Did you just insult my entire family? Wait, I will come to your house", he said to her in anger.

"For what?" asked a scared Gowri, did she just initiate a war between the families?

"I will come there..... and tie a bull in your yard. That's enough to scare the Kalarikkal family" said Vasudev with mock anger.

"Get lost!!!!" shouted Gowri and ran away, and even from a distance, she could hear Vasudev's hearty laughter.

"This family is full of infuriating people, I think it is their trait", she thought.

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4 years ago

It was her third day as a student in the engineering college, Civil department. Gowri was walking to her class in the morning dressed in black jeans and a blue top carrying a backpack, when she was accosted by a group of three boys who stood, leaning against a pillar near the parking lot.