FF : Tere Mere Darmiyaan LAST PART pg-87 dt.10.10.14 - Page 4

Chapter 1

The splashes of lemon yellow sunlight dotted the fields. The surrounding forest cast deep shadows that touched the December morning with coolness. The ankle high field grass licked his shoes with morning dew. An occasional grasshopper skittered from its hiding place to whir around his legs as he continued to walk through the paddy fields.

The farmers cutting the crop, immediately rose to their feet and greeted him with bowed heads and folded hands. With a curt nod and hands slipped in his pockets he acknowledged them. His dark eyes ran through the large acres of patil vadi land that belonged to his family which he inherited later on. Now he was the sole owner and caretaker of Patil Vadi. Majority of the families of this region worked on his fields as tenants and paid him revenue either in cash or sold away their produce at the price fixed by him. He supervised cultivation and took personal interest in land management and improvement , for which he also lend money on interest to the cultivators.

Today was revenue collection day. He stood under a tree with his men and looked over the whole collection process as tenants lined in a long queue to pay their dues. Non payment or underpayment irked him considerably. Excuses of any kind be frivolous or genuine were hard for him to accept. Yes, he was shrewd but he wouldn't be in the position he was if he wasn't.

" ho gaya sabka?" dutta asked kaale who was maintaining the accounts. Kaale nodded his head and replied," haan bhau, sab ne de diya ...lekin..".

 Dutta knotted his brows and glared, his face set in a hard line," lekin kya?"

" bhau , usne aaj bhi kuch nahin diya."

Dutta's pursed his lips in annoyance, he'd enough of her. it had been nearly a year since she last paid anything and on top of that every month she would be the first one to borrow more money. Her debts were touching the sky.

The cool breeze rushed past nakusha sending a chill down her spine. Wrapping her faded cotton dupatta securely around her face like a scarf, she crouched to milk the cow. She covered her hands around two teats , squeezed the base of each teat after gently clamping them between her thumb and fingers. When the bucket was half full she stood and picked it up to carry it inside. She had barely taken a few steps when she felt light headed and held the wooden fence with her free hand to steady herself. In this bitter cold she was hardly given woolens to keep her warm. Her whole body was burning with fever. She took deep breaths and decided to move again, there was too much work to be done. However exhaustion took over and her legs gave way. She stumbled on a stone and the bucket fell from her hand. The milk was now soaking the ground.

" satyanash !" she heard the shrilling voice of Roopa, her elder sister, in fact her step sister from behind. Roopa was tall, skinny, had a pair of large brown eyes, small nose and a dirty mouth that could without getting tired curse nakusha  day and night. She didn't give nakusha a chance to explain and grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Nakusha winced in pain and held the dupatta firmly that was covering her face.

" subha subha nuksaan kar diya ..mahnoos."

Tears bloomed in nakusha's eyes and she closed them. This was not the first time she was abused , physically, mentally and emotionally by her sister.  It had been twenty years and still not a single day passed when she was not reminded that she was ill-fated and unlucky for the family. When Roopa was only ten, her father ganpat had remarried for the sake of his motherless daughter. However his wife lost her life while delivering nakusha. Since then nakusha became their object of hatred.

" ek kaam theekh se nahin hota..haath toot gaye hain kya?" roopa screamed near her ear and continued to fist and pull her hair.

" taayi , main.." nakusha parted her quivering lips to reply but before she could do so , roopa twirled and slapped her hard. Nakusha felt stinging pain across her cheek and her whole body ached as she fell on the ground.

With watery eyes she attempted to lift herself when her eyes fell on a pair of black shoes. Someone was standing before her. She pushed her head to look up and found his dark and burning eyes staring right back at her.

" sahab." She whispered in surprise. Dutta wrinkled his nose and clenched his fists in disgust. She had no idea what he was thinking. His heated gaze travelled from nakusha to her sister.

" yeh sab kya ho raha hai?" His voice was crisp and commanding. Clearly his raging eyes were seeking an explanation. Nakusha slowly stood up on her feet and lowered her head as her green emeralds scattered the ground.

Roopa paled and went wide eyed on seeing Dutta shriram patil at her doorstep with his guards. She at once joined her hands and fumbled with her words.

" bhau , aap yahan?" her tone had totally changed. It was no longer loud, instead it was soft and astonished.

" saal se uppar ho gaya hai..tere ghar se na anaaj aaya hai , na paisa." Kaale informed her in exact words while holding the accounts register.

" isliye bhau ko aaj khudh yahan aana pada." He emphasized on his last words. It wasn't everyday that dutta went door to door to collect rent. Roopa pressed her lips anxiously, shifted her eyes from kaale to dutta and immediately came up with a reason for nonpayment.

" main kya karti bhau, saari fasal mein keeda lag gaya."

Dutta narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows, what rubbish was she talking? He glanced at kaale who interrupted," poore gaon ko dawai (insecticide and pesticide) ke liye paise diye the ..phir teri fasal ko keeda kaise lag gaya?" Roopa felt her mouth go dry, it was true that she got money to spend on insecticides and pesticides but actually she had spend the money elsewhere. Where, she could not tell.

" bhau woh paise toh mere pati ki dawa daaru par kharch ho gaye."

Nakusha's head shot up instantly, roopa was shamelessly lying through her teeth. Like always whatever they managed to earn or borrow was wasted by her brother in law, either he drank till he broke or he lost every penny in gambling. To make things worse, Roopa never stopped him even when they were neck deep in debts. Nakusha eyes dropped on dutta. She glanced at him helplessly from under her lashes, could she afford to tell him the truth?

 He met her soft and innocent gaze. She didn't have to say anything, he knew her sister better. He kept staring at her and finally she had to look down. There was no way she could compete with his level of intensity.

 Noticing the way they were looking at each other, roopa feared that nakusha might spill the beans and ruin everything.

" thoda waqt aur dedo bhau, main saara karza chukka degi." She once again gave a false promise. Dutta shook his head, he had already given her ample time, now he couldn't wait more. Roopa rushed and dropped herself to his feet. He stepped back as she begged," bhau, mere par taras khao..main akeli jaan ghar sambhalti hai aur din raat kheton mein bhi lagi rehti hai." The more she opened her mouth, the more she sickened dutta with her lies. Not only he but everybody in the village was aware that nakusha was the sole breadwinner of the family. In fact he had himself several times seen her slogging in the fields and it was a pity that her hard work went down the drain.

Roopa raised her head and found him unmoved, his face was unreadable and her tears were not succeeding in melting this stone. She looked at nakusha who was standing like a statue. It infuriated her. Here she was pleading and begging before him to have some mercy on them so that she could buy some time and nakusha was doing nothing to help and support her. She cursed nakusha under her breath as she stood up.

" thoda toh reham karo mere par..itni zimmedariyaan hain mere sar par." She glanced in nakusha's direction and continued," is ..is mahnoos ki shaadi bhi toh mujhe hi karni hai." Roopa loathed the sight of nakusha, she hated her from the core of her heart as she continued her rattling," paida hote hi apni aayi ko kha gayi ..kaun karega isse shaadi?"

Nakusha swallowed a sob, every person in this village knew about her past. Their taunts pierced through her ears and their hostile behavior shredded her heart. She was often openly humiliated but today with dutta and his men gathered around she felt raw and cracked open. Tears clogged her throat.

Roopa pounced on nakusha and grabbed her dupatta as she cursed her more," agar itna kaafi nahin tha toh ..yeh.."

" bandh kar apni bakwas." Dutta finally growled through gritted teeth. Shocked roopa clamped her mouth  and dropped her hand seeing him enraged. She dared not utter anything. Dutta cringed at her words, it appalled him to see her so brutal and heartless to her own sister. He turned toward kaale and took some bundles of notes then threw them at roopa's face.

" tera aaj tak ka saara karza maaf." He declared and instantly witnessed greed and malice floating in her eyes. Surprised and overwhelming smile spread across her lips. Her false tears and painful story had worked wonders. He agreed to forgo all the debts! What more could she ask him?

Nakusha heaved a sigh in relief, the respect that she held for him in her eyes touched new heights. He possessed a rough and cold exterior but beneath that had a heart of gold.

" bhau, aapka..." Roopa tried to express her gratitude but he raised his finger and silenced her at once. He wasn't finished yet.

" yeh pachaas hazaar le aur apne juaari pati ke saath dus dino mein patil vadi se dafaa ho jaa." He snapped his fingers indicating that his order needed to be urgently complied with.

Roopa's face drained all color , her jaw dropped and eyes threatened to fall down. By giving Rs. Fifty thousand he was throwing her along with her husband out of Patil vadi ! where would they go and what would they do ? No, he couldn't be so ruthless. She glanced worriedly at nakusha and him. She opened her mouth to protest but before she could do that and use nakusha as an excuse, he made everybody around speechless. His voice sounded a little edgy.  A lot more than a little, actually.  Everything was edgy with him.  And commanding.  Like he told you what to do and you didn't dare argue.

" raha sawaal nakusha ki shaadi ka..toh samajh ..."

 He looked at nakusha as he spoke completed his sentence," ho gayi.".

 Nakusha shot him an uncomprehending look. Her heart pounded loudly inside her chest and cold sweat broke on her body. Her mind failed to understand what he'd said. She could only stare spellbound!

Was this really true?

Thanks for reading 

Rose