Chapter 2
It was late in the evening when dutta was driving back home that he heard distant rumble of thunder. It was so faint that he thought he might have imagined but gradually it became distinct. The speed at which dark clouds appeared in the sky, amazed him. Soon he could feel cool wind blowing from the darkened sky.
His gaze fell on the nearby Ganpati temple that had been built by his great grandfather. At this hour of the day, it was quite crowded and not to mention beautifully decorated. Was it some festival today? He tried to think hard but failed to remember. Bringing his black sedan to an abrupt halt he immediately got out of it. He didn't know why but somehow he was curious to know what was happening in the temple. Taking off his shoes he started climbing up the marble stairs. Halfway up it struck him today was nakusha's marriage. He himself had fixed it a week back with suresh and arranged everything. Like her , suresh was also a hardworking and sincere worker. He was the only child of his parents and dutta hoped that he would keep nakusha happy. The piece of land occupied by roopa was transferred to suresh and his family without charging anything in return. dutta believed that from now on his land would not be wasted and nakusha and suresh would together manage to earn a decent living out of it.
It was time to celebrate and people had gathered still it didn't seem like everything was fine. His brows were drawn together. Why was everyone talking in hushed voices. He pushed through the crowd and stepped ahead. An uncanny feeling tugged his heart. The atmosphere instead of being rejoiceful was dark and heavy.
Purohit ji was sitting near the holy fire but where were nakusha and suresh? He looked around and found grim and sullen faces. What the hell was wrong here?
" kya ho raha hai yahan?" his deep and angry growl caught everybody's attention. From a distance Roopa shoved past the group of people, wailing loudly and beating her chest hard.
" bhau , hum barbaad ho gaye ."
Dutta flared his nostrils at the sight of her. why was she still around? And tonight what cheap trick she had under sleeve? He raised his finger to shut her up, he didn't have the patience to tolerate her nonsense. However she continued to cry loudly. Dutta turned to his men and yelled.
" koi mujhe batayega ki yeh shaadi kyun nahin ho rahi?" the irritation of being oblivious to what was happening around was rising with every passing second.
One of his men approached him with lowered head and took him behind the temple. He stood there quietly as dutta glanced at suresh's parents who were howling and moaning. A body covered with a white sheet laid before them. Dutta clenched his fists and swallowed the lump formed inside his throat. Suddenly the rumbling of thunder and howling of wind increased in the background. The white sheet flew away exposing the identity of the person who lay there. Dutta wrinkled his face and squeezed his eyes shut. He shook his head in disbelief, no this was not happening.
But it was true.
Suresh was dead!
When he opened his eyes he glared at his man , he came forward to narrate the whole event. Suresh and his parents along with the villagers were happily walking down to reach the temple when a truck from nowhere came and ran over suresh. The driver was drunk and lost control. The villagers surrounding suresh scattered in the nick of time to save their lives however unfortunate suresh failed to do the same and got hit by the truck. To make matters more miserable the drunk truck driver was dutta's employee carrying gunny bags of food grains to be sold outside Patil Vadi.
Dutta sighed deeply and shook his head in dismay. By fixing this alliance he had thought this would be in the best interest of everybody. Nakusha would finally settle down with a nice guy and start a new life. He would get rid of this malicious roopa and needn't worry about his regular rentals. In a nut shell, things would be fine! However , now they were nowhere close to being fine. He glanced at suresh's hysterical parents one more time. Losing their flesh and blood wasn't easy for them. But they were not the only who had lost someone today. Someone else was also there. He looked around pensive and found nakusha dressed as a bride sitting in a corner, looking lost, forlorn and wounded.
Flashes of lightening lit up the darkened sky followed by cracks of thunder as nakusha leaned her head against a pillar. Folded knees drawn close to her chest, tears trickled down her eyes. She couldn't pin point the actual reason behind her grief. She barely knew the man who had lost his life, however once again someone had just stepped out of her life even before really making an entry. Once again she had lost an important relationship even before it could actually culminate into one. The desire to have a family had always been a dream and tonight like any other dream this one too shattered before her eyes leaving her devastated and crestfallen. She slowly blinked and wondered that why did she even dared to hope that she could ever be blessed with happiness when throughout her life she had suffered and only suffered. When life didn't change back then , then why would it change now? the truth remained unchanged, she was cursed to live alone!
" inko har mahine kharcha pahunch jaana chaiye." Dutta instructed kale, the least he could do was bail out the family financially after reverting his eyes from nakusha. He didn't know why but seeing her distraught tugged his heart.
Wiping the tears with the back of her hand, Roopa came from behind and found dutta monetarily assisting suresh's family. Her eyes gleamed with hope. This was god sent opportunity to extract more money from him if not then at least she could emotionally blackmail him for not letting her leave PV with her husband. After all how long would they survive on those Rs. 50000? Glaring at nakusha, she began hitting her forehead and clutched nakusha by her arm.
" arey, teri toh kismet hi phooti hai." Dutta turned around on hearing roopa's screeching voice.
Roopa grabbed nakusha's shoulders and shook her violently," pehle apni ayi ko kha gayi..woh kam nahin tha jo aaj shaadi se pehle apne pati ko bhi kha gayi?" her nails dug into nakusha's flesh but she didn't wince. Her body felt like cold rubber. Her arms hung heavy and lifeless at her sides. All these years she was cursed and held responsible for taking away her mother's life and from now on she would be blamed for killing her groom. She was truly ill fated!
Roopa turned her neck to look at dutta, to gauge his expressions. He stood there still, his jaw a hard line and his lips set in a slash. Her cruel words were definitely making an impact on him. She twirled nakusha and wailed," aisi mahnoos kismet aur aisi shakal ke saath kaun karega tujhse shaadi ?"
Dutta's turned wide eyed as for the first time he saw nakusha's uncovered face. There was a long and ugly scar on the left side of her cheek. Apparently she always kept it hidden by wrapping a dupatta around her face or a long strand of hair fell on that side of her face. He had never seen it as he never felt the necessity to throw her a second glance. To him she was always a diligent and earnest worker, beyond that he didn't care.
Now even tears failed to hide nakusha's real face. She felt exposed and naked before the people gathered. Her head hung low in shame and embarrassment.
Witnessing the stunned look on his face, roopa sniggered inwardly. Playing her last card carefully, she dragged nakusha to dutta and cried before him," bhau mere pass na ab zameen hai na paise..kaise sambaalegi main is mahnoos ko?" dutta wasn't nave to not understand the real meaning behind her accusations. Indirectly she was blaming him for everything. Had he not decided to take away her land and fix nakusha's marriage with suresh then probably all this could have been averted.
Roopa turned briskly, gripped nakusha's hands and coiled them around her neck and began strangling herself.
" mujhe kyun choda hai ? mujhe bhi aaj maar de..aise jeene se toh mar jaana achcha hai." Nakusha's face creased in pain. Why was this happening to her? why did her dark cursed shadow follow her everywhere? Instead of Roopa she wished she could die this very moment and spare everybody from this misery.
A while later she saw dutta coming from behind, clutching her hand and freeing it from Roopa's grip. She lifted her lashes as her gaze travelled from his hand which was firmly holding hers to his face which dared not give away anything. Roopa faked choking and looked at him with anticipation. With bated breath she waited for him to speak up. The hope of extorting some extra bucks from him tingled her stomach.
" main karunga nakusha se shaadi."
The hushed whispers suddenly died. The thundering of clouds grew louder and louder. The trees bent precariously to one side as though they were going to fall over or get blown over away like feathers. The storm was in full swing as pouring rain crashed down.
Roopa thought her eyes would pop out of their sockets. She wasn't expecting this from him in wildest of her dreams. He couldn't be serious. He was offering to marry nakusha? Not even offering he was simply announcing his decision. Had he lost his mind? She gathered courage and opened her mouth to protest," Lekin bhau..aap kaise.." one glare at her was all that it required to shut her filthy mouth.
Nakusha stared at him in disbelief. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears, she almost couldn't make out his words. His cold and determined eyes looked back at her, piercing her heart and soul. No, he couldn't do this. He couldn't tie himself down with her. She was no match for him. It wasn't his fault that suresh had died just before the wedding, what if suresh had lost his life the next day? Would he have still done the same? Fresh tears glistened her green emeralds as she slowly shook her head in disagreement. He didn't have to do this.
He didn't care whether she approved or not. He may not be entirely responsible for this situation but somewhere he was. Unconsciously his decision and the truck driver employed by him had destroyed her life. He couldn't make suresh alive and give back the son that his parents had lost. But he could save nakusha from facing hell. Not just for her sake but for his peace of mind as well. He was Dutta Shriram Patil, responsible for the welfare of the people of PV. He couldn't simply show his back and walk away. He wasn't raised like this by his late parents. He couldn't afford to tarnish his family's reputation and for that today he was supposed to pay a huge price but he wasn't backing off.
Without justifying his sudden decision, he dragged nakusha to the wedding mandap. Once again he had established control over the situation and the people around him. The holy fire was still burning and purohit ji stood up immediately on seeing him.
" shaadi ke mantra padiye." Purohit ji stiffened at the autocratic bent in his tone. Then as instructed began chanting the wedding mantras.
Nakusha watched in miserable silence as one more time he went ahead in taking the most important decision of her life without bothering to consult her. There was no room for discussion, simply orders were expected to be followed.
Purohit ji handed both of them garlands to exchange. Nakusha hesitantly lifted hands to put the garland around his neck. She couldn't bring herself to raise her lashes and look into his eyes. Just to safeguard her honor he was sacrificing his life. She felt so small before him. He noticed her trembling hands. She was a bundle of nerves. And if she along with everyone gathered around here thought that all this was easy for him then they were hugely mistaken. Even though he was in his early thirties still settling down in life was the last thing on his mind. For years he refrained himself from getting emotionally involved. Relationships were not meant for him, they always left his heart hollow and empty.
After exchanging the garlands they were asked to walk around the sacred fire. With head downcast, nakusha followed him behind. With every step she was entering into a new world. A world that was unknown to her. A world that belonged to him, where he ruled and she was unsure whether she would be able to make a place for herself. Purohitji explained them the meaning of every vow but dutta doubted he paid attention. The mantras, the vows and their significance, all were falling on deaf ears.
Thereafter, he was told to tie a mangalsutra around her neck. Dutta shot purohitji a puzzled look and asked," kahan hai?" he wasn't carrying a mangalsutra with him then what was he supposed to tie? Purohitji looked around helplessly, a ritual was a ritual , he couldn't change or skip it for him. Dutta shook his head and thought for a moment then took out the gold chain he was wearing. The chain belonged to his father and meant a lot to dutta. He stared at it with longingness , he didn't have the heart to share it with someone else. But then on second thoughts he would be now sharing his whole life with her, the chain was just a part of it. Leaning over he reluctantly tied the chain around her neck. While doing so, his warm fingers brushed over her cold skin and she stifled a tremor. In the end purohit ji offered him some vermillion to fill it in her parting. Nakusha closed her eyes as the last ritual was performed. This was it. He had marked her as his!
The people of PV cheered for their dutta bhau and showered the couple with flower petals. Nakusha stared at the Ganpati idol before her, this place was special for her , He was special for her, with no family and friends , He was her only family and friend. She often came to this temple to share her feeling with Him. Whenever the going got tough, whenever the taunts and the humiliation reached a point beyond which she couldn't bear, she would come here and bare her heart to Him. And He would hear her out silently. Even today He was silent. Silent to this biggest change in her life!
Roopa eyed nakusha with pure hatred, she had completely foiled her plans to get money / land or both from him. Not just that, now nakusha would be leading a respectable and luxurious life whereas she would be wandering the streets and sweating out to make both ends meet. She burned in jealousy.
The storm had subsided and it had stopped raining as well. The sky was clear, no longer overcast with black clouds. The trees and plants appeared bathed, fresh and green as though new life had been infused in them. A pungent odor rose from the wet soil.
Exiting the temple, dutta and nakusha stood at the top of the stairs as a married couple bracing themselves for a new beginning.
Thanks for reading
Rose
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