Adhiyal Ishq

4. The Dewangans

His veiny arms were hidden under the shirt, but his biceps were ready to tear through it. He crossed his arms over his chest, resting his right ankle on his left knee, sitting full of pride and enticed by the challenge proposed to him. "Tumhe mujhe challenge nahi karna chahiye because I love a good challenge and I haven't gotten one in quite a while, so I got to accept it. You pulled me closer, quite the opposite of all the pushing away you were focusing on."

The girl in front of him looked at him with her eyes narrowed in disbelief, trying to assess if the guy was serious or joking to get rise out of her.

Guess what? He was damn serious!

Yashashvi Bhawan was the residence of the Dewangans, an upper-middle-class family that was well-known for its overachiever family members. Yashashvi Bhawan was located in a posh area fitting for its residents. It was a minimalistic-looking two-story modern house, with a sleek exterior and big glass windows and rooms enough to cater to the family of four. With a small lawn and mini-kitchen garden to pass the time, this modern architectural piece was the cozy hub of one of the state's well-known treasurers, his lovely wife, the eldest daughter who ranked AIR 2 in the CA exam, and his younger daughter who was a professional Taekwondo player.

People used to turn their heads when passing by the house because it was well known to be the house of the most honest and ruthless treasurers they had ever seen and he was surrounded by feminine energy all the time. But did the softness of the females rub onto him? No more like females of this house were too rowdy just like the head of this cute small family which would decrease in number as time passed.

The strict and hot-tempered head of this house was none other than Shri Agni Singh Dewangan. People say that one acts opposite to his name but in this case, it was so not true. Agni was a walking talking fireball. Being in the field of finance and management he came to realize that sweet talk can only help a little and people need to be scared and intimidated if they need to get their work done.

"Badi beti hai vo meri and uski age ho chuki hai. Abhi shaadi nahi hui to kabhi nahi hogi."

(She is my eldest daughter, and she is of age. if she doesn't gets married now then she never will.)

Agni was a strict and stubborn man which was reflected physically on him. At a height of 5'11, he was an average-looking Indian uncle in his near sixties with a slight pot belly, strong arms, and thin hair that was falling at the speed of sound, if not the light, quite apposite to his proper and trimmed thick bushy beard that was jet black due to periodic coloring at Sundays or when he started seeing white strands in the mirror, and a furrowed angry look at most of the times and when not then it was quite and calm but not peaceful. 

He was not so rich, to begin with, but managed to sustain his family of four with the help of his sweet and lovely wife. He worked hard and invested in his daughters out of love and responsibility but some days his sense of responsibility would overtake his love and feelings resulting in him being distant at instances.

Shrimati Vaishali Agni Singh Dewangan, a mother to two daughters and the polar opposite of her hot-headed husband was a lady with a youthful look and a naturally well-maintained body. She was a bubbly and friendly lady who always had a smile on her face and always maintained a good relationship with everyone. Unlike her husband, she was rather more tolerant of people and their bitter words, no matter how much the other person's words hurt her she used to laugh it off, unlike her youngest daughter.

"Ladki hai isiliye age ki baat ajati hai, ladka hota to badme bhi shaadi ho jati. But mere bache ladko se laakh guna behtar hai. Usko axe rishto ki kami bilkul nahi hogi."

(She is a girl that's why age is a problem, if she was boy then she could have gotten married later. But my kids are thousand times better than any boy. She won't have a scarcity of good proposals.)

Vaishali was 5'5 with fair skin which was now a bit tanned due to all that taking care of family and the kitchen garden. Her face was radiant and bright quite opposite to the dark complexion of her husband which made people joke about how her husband is so lucky to have such a beautiful wife. But instead of being angry and yelling about it, this was the only time when Agni used to laugh and boast about how his wife really was the best one, he could find, making Vaishali fluster and smack his arm playfully. 

Her hair was shoulder length and always tied low with a mini claw clip. Smile lines were prominent due to all that continuous smiling and laughing as she joked with people around her. She was used to hearing how she gave birth to two daughters and oh it was a pity that she didn't have a boy, but this all never made her less proud of her daughter and made her believe in them even more until one day they did make her proud and made ever so happy Dewangan cry tears of joy.

The youngest Dewangan was a free spirit with lots of energy and a loudness to her. Advika Dewangan was a professional Taekwondo player with her own Taekwondo Academy where she used to train kids and refine their skills. Advika was also hot-tempered like her father was also very emotional like her mother but the 'chaotic part' was her own personal trait. Whenever people used to taunt or pity Dewangans for not having a son, the whole family used to look at Advika and hold her back from throwing sarcastic and rude remarks at the opposition. She was a rebel at heart and did what she liked, like opting for ARTs stream when her father asked her to take science, going out and traveling while her mother used to call her to reach home on time, and doing whatever she felt like instead of listening to others.

"Didi ki pasand ka ladka kahan milega? Use to koi ameer, handsome, mature and loving admi chahiye tha love marriage karne ko. But madam ji ne na love kia aur ab marriage vala part bhi doobta dikhai de raha hai. Mummy mujhe uski shaadi mein lehenga pehnna hai yaa!"

(Where will we find a guy of her liking? She wanted some rich, handsome, mature and loving man for a love marriage. But madam didn't fell in love and now the marriage part also seems sinking. Mummy I want to wear a lehenga in her wedding.)

Advika was a beautiful free-spirited street-smart girl with long straight silky smooth black hair, big eyes with faded dark circles, and a slim body just like her mother. She had muscular arms due to going gym and strong legs by years of Taekwondo training. She was a mix of her mother's and father's complexion giving her skin a sweet shade of cappuccino while her lips were big and pink. 

She was taller than her mother by an inch yet shorter than her elder sister. While Advika used to indulge in feminine activities like dancing in front of the mirror while getting ready and lip-syncing to songs as she made snaps to send, as soon as she was with her friends and family her inner masculine traits would flare with a great intensity. But that was the captivating aspect of her making the center of attention resulting in a giant friend circle.

These three Dewangans were taken care of and looked after one other person who was desperately needed at times. She was the one who was second mother if Vaishali was absent, she was the second head of the house and hot-headed person after Agni, who needed someone to hold her back because of her good self-restraint in intensely irritating or infuriating situations (Sarcasm). She was the one who used to lecture Advika and put her in place when needed, refraining her from making dumb decisions. The all-rounder, the perfect golden kid of the family – APARNA DEWANGAN.