INDALI

CHAPTER-1

(3rd person's P.O.V)

16th July , 1914 (Calcutta)

Bengal an important province of 20th century colonial period. Bengal's Calcutta is one of the major trading centre. A port where plenty of things get imported and exported starting from grains to gems, from spices to garments. People have heard stories of a lot of poor getting well off, so in the hope of getting rich many peasants and traders came here with a hope that their good will earn profit like no other and they deliberately ignore the stories of those rich merchants who get exploited and devastated in the same Calcutta like no other. But what they didn't knew that all the tradings will be soon going down because of World War-1.

Far off from the chaos , some 60km away from Calcutta is a village. Many traders , merchants, artisans home is that village. The sun was about to set , the dusk was settling in. After the downpour in the afternoon the village was draped in an earthy smell. On the outskirts of the village was a big Banyan tree, where a group of small children were giggling and playing. Somewhere down the lane some women were having a hearty conversation about their lives.

"Boumaa (Bahu) please come inside" a middle aged woman came out of the house to the verandha calling out for her. "It seems like it's going to rain again" said that middle aged woman looking towards the sky which wasn't orange-red anymore. Huge grey clouds covered the beautiful painting drawn by the nature.

A young woman in her early twenties was sitting on the stairs of the verandha surrounded by 4 little girls. She was giggling and laughing continuously with the four little pranksters, listening to their mischieves. Hearing the voice of the middle aged woman she turned around looking towards her.

Big brown eyes, hairline covered in vermillion, a small red bindi adorned her forehead, small lips and a sharp nose , some hair came out of her bun fanning her rosy cheeks. To Shaanti her Boumaa always looked like goddess Durga.

She smiled at her and said,"Shaanti you go in I will be there in a moment". Shaanti smiled at her and nodded her head and turned to go inside the house, she was about to step inside the huge mansion when she heard her Boumaa ask,"So what did you did?" and a girl replied ,"I threw ink on him" hearing this her Boumaa gasped and rest laughed. Shaanti chuckled and went in.

********************(Scene change)

An old man covered in sweat entered the village.... running. Men and women who were fetching their child back to home looked at him oddly but he didn't cared. He kept running till he reached his destination. And his destination was the biggest mansion in Birbhum.

Standing infront of the mansion he started yelling at the top of his lungs,"Boumaa... Boumaa.." not even caring a bit about his lack of oxygen state. Some servants and Boumaa herself came out of the house hurriedly. Some maids asked him what happened but his eyes were fixed on his Boumaa. His mouth agape , taking large amount of oxygen as if he needs energy to speak. He was sweating and shaking. After a few seconds he whispered with teary eyes ,"Boumaa.. Binod Babu.."

Right then a thunder boomed in the night sky. Some servants flinched at the sudden sound but her eyes were fixed on that old man who was crying and shaking non-stop. She had heard somewhere, after storm always comes a calm but deep down she knew there's no calm left in her life anymore. The ground slipped beneath her feet, she leaned against the door frame. Shaanti came running towards her but nothing mattered. Her life was changed for forever. She knew. INDALI KNEW.

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Hello hello!!

I know this chapter is kinda short but please keep up with it. I won't disappoint you. Some chapters are going to be short and some are going to be long but i will try to keep the word limit around 1000.

Boumaa :- Daughter-in-law

Thank you for reading.

With love,
Ek Choti Lekhika