Rewrite the Stars

07 | s e v e n

"YOU ARE TOO SLOW!" Nikhil barked. Sahasra was sweating — she was doing bear crawls, her legs almost giving away. She felt that Nikhil was being too tough on her. Yet, she kept on going, thinking that if she wanted to be in the Air Force, she had to go through such struggles.

"Are you sure about being in the Air Force? Can't even move your legs properly, what the hell will you do when you go there? I told you: THIS IS NOT BUNGEE JUMPING!" he snapped and shouted at her.

Sahasra was furious. Yes, she had difficulties while training with her previous coach, but Nikhil — her husband — was removing his personal anger on her, and it was very evident.

But this is going to help me build my physical fitness, right? She thought and kept going without protest until the session was over.

"Your diet should change," he said at the end of the session.

"I already did," she snapped back.

"DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE AGAINST SENIORS!" he ordered. "I want 20 more pushups."

"Excuse me what?" Sahasra said. She was exhausted like hell — she had already complete 50 pushups with bear crawls, squats and lunges.

"What did I say about—" Nikhil started to scold her again, but Sahasra came forward and held the collar of his shirt.

"I thought you would be fair and treat me like a real coach, BUT I WAS SO WRONG. You are removing your personal anger on me, and anybody can see it! I thought you had changed your attitude towards me after you apologized — but no! You haven't changed one bit Nikhil! I wanted to be genuinely coached by you, but all you're doing is torturing me. You know what? I will do those 20 more pushups just to prove what a revengeful bastard you are!"

Saying that, she pushed him and went to the ground to give him his pushups. She was going to faint, but she kept going until she was done.

I hope this 'torture' is of some use to me, she hoped.

She laid on the ground, punching it with her fists in anger. She went beyond today, only because Nikhil was crossing his limits and removing his personal anger on her.

"Get up."

She looked up and saw Nikhil. She stood up in a jiffy, pushed him saying, "You won't order me to do things anymore. UNDERSTAND?"

Before Nikhil said anything, she hurried home without looking back. Maa was awake when Sahasra came in, and she understood something was wrong. Sahasra's face was very furious, and she had hot flush tears in her eyes. From her expression, Maa understood that it had something to do with her son.

Nikhil came in after a while, not meeting his mother's eye. When he was going to enter the room, Maa stopped him.

"Nikhil stop! What did you do?" he questioned him.

"Nothing, maa. I was training her and she was showing tantrums. I don't think she can get in."

Slap!

Nikhil covered his cheek with his palm. Even though his mother now came under the category of 'senior citizens', her slaps were damn hard — even for an army officer.

"Maa—" he started but his mother interrupted him.

"Nikhil! What do you mean she can't get in? I have seen her hardwork and dedication daily, and I BELIEVE that she can get in. You're not accepting this fact because you think that she's better than Varnika! And let me tell you, SAHASRA IS BETTER THAN VARNIKA!"

Then she stormed off and went to console Sahasra.

"What did he do, beta? He was harsh on you right?" Maa patted Sahasra's back.

"Maa, he's removing his personal anger on me. I didn't do anything wrong — infact, I did everything he asked me to do, even if she crossed his limits. We got married due to family pressure and now—" she vented all her feelings out.

"Sahasra, I'm very, very, very, sorry. I and your mother forced you both for marriage, and now we regret it. Now let me tell you something honestly — he always says he loved Varnika, but he married her because she was in the army and because it was convenient . I doubt he knows what love is. Just because their aims were similar and they worked in the same environment, he named their friendship as love."

"It's not your fault maa," Sahasra said and hugged her mother-in-law.

"Don't train with him again, okay? Do what you feel best. Take rest today, and watch a comedy movie or something to uplift your mood. And if it makes you feel better, let me tell you — I slapped Nikhil for his deeds."

"You did what maa?" Sahasra looked up, and laughed. "Slapped him? I wish I had seen that!"

Maa laughed with her as well, "Next time, I'll slap him in front of you. Promise."

Then she got up and left Sahasra to rest. She was still furious with how her son had treated Sahasra, so she went up to him to scold him again.

"I didn't get you married so that you could make your wife a target of your frustration, the venthole of your problems. You could've refused, we didn't put a gun on your head right? You never listen to me, so why did you agree on this thing?"

"But maa—" he tried to speak but his mother raised her hand, signalling him to shut up.

"Don't backanswer elders — this is what you told her right? Khud rules follow nahi karte, and you told her to follow your orders? From tomorrow Sahasra will train by herself — khabardaar agar tu usse batameezi karega!"

Nikhil hung his head.

"You know what? Your dad would have been ashamed of your actions. Yes, he was a disciplinarian, but did he ever went out his anger on you? Or me? He always treated his family members with love and care. If you want to vent out anger, do it — but not in my house and definitely not on Sahasra."

After that she stormed off to the kitchen. She had enough.

Nikhil stood there with his head hanging down. It pinched him when his mother said that his dad would've been ashamed of him. He looked at his father's frame with sadness.

"I wish you were here to guide me, dad," he said in a low voice

He looked at the watch again. It's all your fault Varnika, he thought.

――"💌"――

Vote and comment if you think Nikhil's mother did the right thing.

By the way, why do you think Nikhil keeps saying, "It's all your fault, Varnika?"