Unbinding Tradition

119. A great start 😄

Everyone; I will try to upload the pre written chapters today as much as possible cuz from tomorrow onwards I will be going on a long break.

So now it's your responsibility to show your love and support by leaving as many comments and votes as possible!!! 😊💜

ENJOY!

A month had passed, and in that time, the silent revolution Tae had once dreamed of had begun to find its feet.

The village, once dusty and slow-moving in its ways, was now beginning to stir with a new kind of energy-the energy of change.

Admissions had begun.

Each day, Jungkook and Tae watched as barefooted little boys ran in with torn bags and wide smiles, the sun tanning their cheeks and curiosity glinting in their eyes. Boys, they expected. That wasn't new.

But what stopped them, what made their chests lift just a little with hope, was the sight of girls-few in number, yes-but present.

Wearing oversized frocks, dupattas awkwardly pinned, eyes lowered but steps firm, they walked in beside their mothers, clutching registration forms printed on recycled paper.

Tae- Look at that, Sa. That girl's mother... she's carrying her youngest on the hip, but she came walking from two villages away just to get her daughter enrolled. (she had whispered to Jungkook during one of the early registration days)

Jungkook, arms folded, eyes shaded under his dark sunglasses, simply nodded.

Jk- If we give them the tools, they'll carve their own way. We just need to start.

And start, they did.

Tae and Sumi, hand in hand, had taken to the narrow gullies and broken bastis of the village with determination. They stepped over cow dung and through low doorways, sat cross-legged on mud floors, and spoke directly to the women.

"Kanya padhegi toh parivaar roshan hovega, aage badhega."

Tae told them. If their daughters went to school, they wouldn't just change their lives-they'd change their homes.

When she explained the mid-day meal, the free books, and small cash allowance-some eyes lit up. Others hesitated. But hope does funny things to a weary soul. Slowly, the tide turned.

By the end of the week, the school had names. Girls' names.

Boys would be taught by educated, unemployed village youth-handpicked by Jungkook himself after rigorous interviews under the old neem tree. Girls? Tae had made her stance clear.

Tae- If I'm asking people to trust us with their daughters, I have to stand there myself.

So she and Sumi would take the lead. Teach, guide, build.

And Tae? She wouldn't just be a teacher. She was appointed the Principal of the newly established village school.

Her name was now carved not just on her husband's heart-but also on a wooden board at the school's entrance:

"Principal: Jeon Taehyung."

---

Today was the day.

The first day of school. And Tae stood in front of the old mirror in her bedroom. Not in a traditional lehenga. But in a simple, crisp saree. Cotton, dignified, powerful in its simplicity.

Her mangalsutra nestled against her chest. Sindoor, bright and unwavering, sat proudly in her parted hair.

Her long hair, once braided like the girls she was about to teach, was now tied into a no-nonsense bun. The kind that said: "I'm not here to please. I'm here to teach."