Bairi Sanam: The hate of a lover

Chapter VII: Samjhauta

Ketaki

I ran towards the handpump that was at some distance from the house with his shirt and a bar of soap in my hand. Pushing down on the handle with one hand, I held his kurta under the water with the other. After it was completely drenched, I kneeled down on the cemented surface and rubbed the bar of soap over it, trying my best to remove all the stains. Getting up, I poured some more water on it to let the soap out and wriggled it using my both hands to remove all the excess water. I held his shirt from the shoulders in front of me, which was free from all the mud now and it brought a smile on my face.

I quickly ran back home and changed into my same type of clothes, which was a white skirt, white blouse, and white dupatta with a waist chain before leaving for his house. To my luck, the blouse had buttons so I could easily fasten it up at front and turn the blouse around in place over my chest. Since now I was aware that he was Sarpanch's son, I knew where he lived.

As I was walking down the street, I noticed few men standing on the side gawking me. I lowered my head and kept walking ignoring them.

"Oye hoye, kaha chaldi?" Kallan spoke in the most disrespectful manner that made me disgusted to the core.

(Where are you going?)

"Why don't you run away with me just like your mother did?" One of his other friends said, making me halt on my steps. I fisted his kurta that I was holding in my hand to control my anger. Shaking my head, I began taking steps again when one of them held my hand from behind. My eyes fell on his hand gripping my wrist that was enough break the ban of my silence. Turning around, I slapped him tightly and his face turned the other way. When he lifted his face back up, I noticed that his cheek had turned red which gave me a sense of satisfaction.

"Don't you dare touch me again Kallan, I'm warning you," I bellowed pointing my finger at him before walking away. It wasn't their first time catcalling me. And not just me, they do it to every other woman that passes by but what they don't know is that I won't just tolerate their behaviour quietly.

"If I wasn't in a rush today, I would've shown them that when a woman chooses to fight, no one can win against her," I said under my breath while increasing my pace.

It took me some time to walk to the Sarpanch's kothi but I reached there before the skies turned into night. It was even painful to walk towards Rajwant's place, but I had to do this for myself. I captured the enormous house that was spread in several acres of land and neared the black metal gates. My eyes fell on him, who was sauntering in his garden when he suddenly looked towards the gates. He spotted me there and began walking towards me.

"You?" He asked from the other side of the gate, and I could notice a hint of irritation in his tone.

Don't be afraid Ketaki, he's nothing in front of you. You've dealt with worse people.

I forwarded his shirt through the gap between the gate and gathering all my strength said, "sahib, your kurta."

He looked at it for a moment before snatching it away from my hand and I flinched at his sudden act. He turned around to leave when I called him from behind.

"Sahib," I yelled, and he stopped.

"What?" He asked without turning back.

"Sahib, I wanted to talk to you about something," hearing this, he turned around and walked up to me. He opened the smaller gate to come out and stood in front of me, crossing his arms.

"Bolo," he said, showing no interest in listening to me.

(Say.)

"Sahib please don't take away that land. If you want, you can buy any other piece of land we own, just not that one," I pleaded.

"And what if I don't agree?"

Tejasvin

I frowned, recognizing the same woman I encountered earlier today. She forwarded the white piece of cloth that she was holding, and I soon realised that it was my kurta. Opening the gate wide open, I stood in front of her with arms crossed against my chest.

"And what if I don't agree?" I said raising my one eyebrow.

"Please sahib," she said with such politeness that I forgot to look away from her face for a moment.

"Please," she said again, and I moved my eyes away trying not to be persuaded by her pleads.

"Why would I? You ruined my clothes hmm?" I said and she kept looking here and there to avoid meeting my eyes. She bit on her lower lip, looking for the right words to say as I began taking slow steps towards her. She began taking steps back with every step I neared her, eventually colliding into the gate behind her. I gripped the bar of the gate near her head with one hand while fisting the kurta in my other hand and she squeezed her eyes shut.

I didn't know why this was affecting me so much. It's not like I cared much about my clothes. It was only the soil that I've always played in but the way she talked to me did something to ignite this anger.  

"Why would I?" I asked again and she finally opened her eyes, pouring innocence through her brown orbs while mine radiated anger.

"Sahi— sahib that was a mistake. I'll do anything you want but please don't take that land away," she stuttered due to the proximity and the anger in my eyes.

"Anything I want?" I asked raising my eyebrow at her again and she scrunched a little against the gate and nodded.

"Fine then. Go back to the same farm you came here for and stay there tonight since you care about it so much as a punishment for ruining my clothes," I asserted.

"WHAT?" She questioned with her eyes wide open. "Why do I need to do that? What sort of punishment is that?"

"Do you want your land back or no?" I said slamming my hand against the gate, making her shudder. 

"Fine," she bellowed looking straight into my eyes without any ounce of fear. "If that's what you want, I'll do it. But in the morning, you'll tell chacha ji that you no longer want that land," she said snapping her finger at me.

"Deal, but I'll find out if you tried to go home in between. So don't try to act smart," I said removing my hand from the gate and taking a step back. Without wasting another minute, she left from there. I watched her walk away in anger and she kept turning her head back every now and then while mumbling something, which I could tell from her face that it wasn't anything pleasant about me.