INDALI'S P.O.V:-
My hairs were still half braided as I ran down the stairs to open the door. As I neared it I stopped to catch my breath and to compose myself before I can open the door. Taking a deep breath I steadied myself for whatever there was to come.
There were women. All over my verandha. I acknowledged them by folding my hands ,"Please come in" I said as I stepped aside to let them in. But none budged and stayed rooted to their places. I blinked a few times and came out into the verandha instead.
"We don't want you to open the school for our girls" a middle aged women said with a steady voice from the little crowd that has been gathered. There was a moment of pause. All I could hear was the breathing. I slowly shooked my head and said ,"But why? Don't you want your girl child to be educated?" I asked in a composed voice.
"Educated? Then who will marry them? Who will want them as their bride?" Another women questioned me back. "There are men who want their bride to be educated. Yes there are plenty" I said looking right at their eyes.
"No. No one want their bride to be more educated. No one will marry our daughters."
"You don't know anything"
"They will die all alone."
"How will she know!! When her own mother has died.Who will give her this basic knowledge on society?" And that is when the hell broke loose.
The ranting was still going , I slowly walked towards the swing that my father tied for me long back. As I walked towards it the ladies gave me way. I stood infront of it , tugged the rope hard for a few times before I took a seat and looked back at them.
"See how she is sitting all like a maharani. No shame."
"Chi chi. I am sorry for her late husband"
My raged filled eyes met theirs and they all stopped all at once. "I do not care. I do not care if you send your daughter's to the school or not but I will , I repeat , I will open this school. Coming back to what my parents have taught me or not then I am well aware how to manage things on my own.
And my late husband well because of him and my father you're still under the zamindari otherwise you would have been under the Angrez a long ago. And I think what those angrez must have done to you all? Left you starving? Yes."
They all looked at each other but didn't uttered a single word. I continued,"you don't want to send your daughter's to school it is fine by me. I wanted the welfare but if you don't want it then it's okay. I will make the girls who travel all the way to Calcutta to study to come to this village instead for their education." I said as I leaned back on the swing.
"How can you be this besharam? God is not happy with you that is why he took everyone away from you. Do good deeds there is still time." I didn't said anything I stood up and walked up to my door "The hell can break loose and I'll still open that damn thing. You all can leave.The school will open and no one can stop it. When I say no one then I mean it." I said as I closed the door. I stood there listening to all the high pitched murmuring which where penetrating these closed doors and were reaching my ears. I turned around and sat by the doors.
Silent tears fell from my eyes as I recall everything that they said.
"How can you be this besharam? God is not happy with you that is why he took everyone away from you."
"Chi chi. I am sorry for her late husband"
"How will she know!! When her own mother has died."
I fell there and let the tears flow on their own accord. I was too tired to stop them. Too tired to wipe them. Too tired to scream.
I just let them flow.
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Later in the evening I was preparing myself to go and see the land where the school was about to be built.
"Barite keu ache?" (Is anyone home?) I heard someone calling from the verandha. The voice was somewhat known but I couldn't get a hold of it and slowly walked towards the verandha. When I reached the verandha I saw Gopi kaka waiting there.
The most loyal advisor and manager of my father. Gopi kaka stood by my father all the time. When I reached the door i folded my hands and bowed my head a bit and he reciprocated and I for a moment was taken aback , I rushed to him and said ,"No no kaka what are you doing don't bow down infront of me I am like your daughter, please."
He smiled and replied ,"Beti you are our zamindar sahiba now we commoners and meant to bow infront of you."
"Kaka no. I am a villager too , moreover you're my kaka please don't do this." I said smiling as i touched his feet.
"May lord provide you with long life" he blessed. And I asked him to come in.
"Kaka how come you're here?" I asked as we took a seat in the living room.
" Beti I'm here to ask for some favours." He said as he tried to find a comfortable position in the cushioned chair. I nodded my head , encouraging him to go on.
"Beta after Thakur Sahab passed away I was fired from my job." He said looking everywhere but me.
"Binod Babu said he can handel everything by himself and doesn't need me anymore. And that's when I opened a shop to feed my children's. Everything that I had saved from my salary went to the shop in the hope of I'll be able to satisfy my family's hunger but everything went downhill. I faced big loss." He said looking down but kept going.
"I heard you're opening a school if you can give me some kind of job there then I'll be greatful to you always." I sat there thinking for a while but he took it the other way around.
"Any kind of job will do. I can sweep the classrooms or can even be a peon. Do consider this please." He said as his voice shooked. My voice betrayed me. I was opening and closing my mouth but couldn't form a single word.
"I understand Indu if you don't have any job for this old soul. You're not bound to give me any kind of job just because I had some good relations with your fath-"
I cut him off as i said ,"No no kaka , I was thinking something else. And what do you mean by old soul? You're very young." And listening to this he laughed.
"Kaka I was thinking if you would like to take up your previous position." Listening to this his downcast head snapped back to me.
"What?" He asked in a hush voice.
"You don't have any pressure. You know these people better than me. You can guide me throughout. I know there will be a bit of workload but if you want a job in the school then I can provide you with that but you as an advisor will be my biggest asset. If you don't-"
"I accept this offer Indu beti. I do. Thank you so much." He said as tears filled his eyes.
I reached for his hands and tried to calm him down. He smiled at me and asked ,"When can I start my job zamindar sahiba?"
I smiled a bit and said ,"We will start in a few days. We have a bigger problem on our way and we have to solve it as soon as possible."
He frowned "what problem?"
"To get permission for the school." I replied as my mind wandered into the lanes of worst possibilities.
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(FLASHBACK)
"I heard you didn't cooked today." Binod said as he entered the room.
"I did yes. I-I did half of the chores but I was not feeling well so-"
I never got the chance to complete my sentence when a tight slap landed on my face. And I fell there , eyes closed.
"AND DID I MARRIED YOU JUST SO YOU CAN REST AND LET MY MOTHER DO ALL THE CHORES?" He asked . No , he yelled.
I was shaken and was scared. I shooked my head timidly. He came forward and grabed a fistful of my hair and yanked me up. I hissed and twisted my face in pure agony and pain.
He came near my ears and he whisper yelled ,"When I say you'll do all the house work then you do. You got it? It doesn't matter if you're ill or if you're on your death bed. You do as I say. Understood?"
Hot tears streamed down my face as I nodded again. He tugged my hair once again as he said ,"USE YOUR WORDS BIT*H. USE YOUR DUMB WORDS."
"Yes" my voice came shaky.
He pushed me hard and I again fell on the floor. There he came and kicked my stomach , once , twice and thrice and left the room altogether. I layed their clutching my stomach.
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Hello hello cuties. It's been lonnggg. How are you guys? Here I'm up with another chapter. Do lemme know if you guys liked it or not.
XOXO
Lekhika❤️
