5. ON HIS WAY!

Nandini is getting ready in her room for the wedding, she didn’t want it to happen. Apart from that, she is looking extremely gorgeous in the bridal dress. Her innocence is making her look prettier than ever. Everything is perfect but her genuine smile is replaced by the sad one. Her eyes are also deprived of the shine that they always hold. Keeping all the sadness aside she focused on her father’s happiness and prayed, “Ayyappa, please do something. I don’t want to marry right now. I don’t know why but I can’t feel good about the thought of this marriage but at the same time, I can’t do anything. I can’t let my father down. But I trust you, I know you won’t let anything bad happen to me. I am your favorite child I know.” She grabbed her god’s small idol in her hand which is smaller than her palm, just a few inches long, and went on, “Still, if this wedding happens by any chance then I will accept it by all heart taking it as your wish for me.” 

There was one more reason for her sadness and that is because no one till now wished her birthday. On the other hand, Alya is packing every piece of jewelry that her father bought for her wedding with some cash that she stole from her father’s locker for today. 

Here one daughter is doing the marriage for her father’s sake and on the other side, the other daughter is all ready to run away. What a courtesy! 

After collecting every precious thing Alya barges inside Nandini’s room hiding her face from everyone, making her scared. “Di…” Nandini whispered seeing her sister all decked up in clothes from head to toe. 

Seeing her sister yelling her name Alya shrieked timidly and continued, “Nandini don’t call my name so loudly. I just came here because I can’t jump from my window as it leads to the front gate and at this point, I can’t use that. So, I come here to use your open passage to jump which meets the back door.”

Nandini nods in understanding and follows her to the gallery. She stood silent until Alya threw her bags down and was set to jump but she grabbed her hand just a second ago to say, Pleadingly, “Di, you are not doing right! You have one last chance, just think about it once more for me… for me please.” 

“Nandini, How many times I made you understand that I will not marry that f*cker in any circumstances! Why can’t you just understand my simple words?” Alya said irritatingly while pulling her arms back from her hold, arrogantly. 

“Di, I am not telling you to get married to that boy but you can try to persuade dad for Dhruv rather than running away like a coward. If you love that boy then fight for him with everyone rather than running away from the situation.” Nandini put her point of view in simple words in front of her to change her mind. It’s a fact she doesn’t know about the feeling called love but she is mature enough to understand that running away is not a solution for any situation. Keeping her calm she went on, “If I were at your place then I would try to change Dad’s mind and would even ask my lover to help me in persuading dad for our relationship. And if my boyfriend loves me truly then, he would help me rather than waiting for me at the station leaving me here to handle the problem myself.” 

“What are you trying to say, Nandini?” Alya asks furiously and pushes her roughly on the door.

“Di,… I was… just…” Nandini stammers seeing the rage in Alya’s eyes that scared the hell out of her. 

Alya grabbed her throat angrily which brought fresh tears to her eyes and continued, “Don’t you dare to point at my love, Nandini, or else the consequences won’t be good for you. And how can you advise me regarding love? Have you ever fallen in love with anyone? Did you ever feel that emotion? Then, who the hell are you to teach me how and whom to love?” 

Nandini just barely murmured a sorry until Alya pushed her back making her collide with the glass door and jumped from the passage. She comes back into her room with disappointment and looks at her neck which turned into a deep reddish shade because of Alya’s hold. She caresses the marks only to let out a slight wince at the end. She looks at her god’s idol while saying in disappointment, “Ayyappa, what is happening with me? I always try to help everyone but why don’t they understand me?” This innocent child is unaware of the cruel society and her fate too which is going to see a dramatic turn. 

Before she could treat her wound, someone knocked on the door, and in fear she draped the dupatta on her head which ends just above her chest, hiding her face under it while murmuring, “Come in…” 

A lady in her 40s who was draped in a beautiful saree with the marking of her married symbols like nuptial chain and vermillion walks inside while smiling a little. “Oh! Alya, you are ready, I am impressed!” Saying this she looks around while waiting for Alya’s reply but continues after not getting any response. “By the way, Where is Nandini? I came here to ask…” She stops abruptly seeing how Alya is fighting with her fingers which are not so her. “Are you nervous, Alya?” She asks suspiciously.

PALAK MURTHY

DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF MURTHYS’. MARRIED TO THE ELDER SON OF MURTHY, SANIKET MURTHY. LIKE A MOTHER FIGURE FOR NANDINI AS ONLY SHE IS THE ONE WHO GIVES HER RESPECT AND TREATS HER LIKE A HUMAN. SCARED OF EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE AND ALWAYS STAY SILENT.

“Yaa… Bhabhi!… I mean to say… Babes!… I am fine!…” Nandini corrects herself and palms her face because she made a mistake by calling her Bhabhi while Alya always calls her Babes. She just wished that her Bhabhi didn’t get any idea about anything or else their plan would fail. 

But she is unaware of the fact that her Bhabhi is smarter than an 18-year-old girl who is as innocent as a kid. “Nandini…” She called Nandini in a high-pitched tone and got a reply in an instant. 

“Yes, Bhabhi!…” Nandini bites her lips as she just got caught by her dear Bhabhi. 

Palak looked at her with astonishment and removed her dupatta, revealing her face. She gasped in horror as soon as she found that Nandini is the one who wore a bridal dress, not Alya who is supposed to be getting married. “Nandini!… What are you doing in Alya’s dress? What is happening here?” 

Nandini tries to quiet her Bhabhi but she is not able to keep her in a sane mood. Palak is asking question after question while Nandini says in a terrified voice, “Bhabhi, I will tell you everything but please… keep quiet. I can’t let anyone know this or else we would be in huge trouble.” She hissed timidly and made her sit on the bed while she poured water for her and ran towards the door to lock it from inside. 

Palak pushed the glass back and asked angrily, “What is happening here, Nandini? I don’t want water, I want my answers!” 

“Bhabhi, I will tell you everything but please calm down first. Have some water and cool down.” Nandini tries to calm her Bhabhi who is getting out of control. 

Palak acts like a stubborn woman and looks at Nandini for an explanation. Nandini tells her everything from the beginning and her decision about getting married to that stranger in place of her sister Alya. As soon as this pretty information reached her ears, Palak shouts on top of her tone, “Are you mad, Nandini? Did you even know who the boy is or what he does for a living?” 

Nandini nods in denial and looks down at her lap, making her angrier than ever, “You are seriously mad!…. Mad girl!… You are marrying that boy just for your father’s sake but, did you think about yourself? Did you just give your heart a chance to acknowledge this?” Nandini looks at her with a bewildered expression while she goes on, “Nandini, He is a criminal! He is marrying Alya just for money which he got from…” She stopped abruptly and shook her head, making her confused. “Leave that!… But I don’t understand if Alya is not going to marry that boy then, why did she agree with the proposal in the first place?” 

“Now, it doesn’t matter, Bhabhi. It’s too late!” Nandini said disappointedly and stood up to fix the dupatta on her head leaving all hope to get out of this situation while her Bhabhi looked at her sympathetically.  

At the same time on the other side, Manik and his gang are preparing themselves for a task that seems so silly to them. Like a captain of the ship, Manik asks to check the list. 

“Is the car ready without the number plate?” 

“Yes, Boss!” Kaushal answers. 

“Our masks?”

“All ready!” Kaushal answers again showing him the three black face masks which they will use to hide their face. 

“Guns loaded with bullets?”

“Check!… one second, but why will we need guns? We are going for a kidnapping, not for murder.” This time Aditya answers and asks a question to lessen his confusion. 

“If the girl would give us a hard time then I wouldn’t wait for a second to shoot on her leg,” Manik answered Aditya in a firm tone. 

“Hey, you can’t do that. Amir will kill us. Don’t you remember that we have to keep that girl safe?” Kaushal said sacredly. 

“I don’t care!” Manik responds and storms out from their hiding place. He comes out and takes a deep breath to relax his heart which is doing a marathon on its own. He lits a cigarette and puffs 4 to 5 times giving peace to his furious heart and rubs his chest above his heart while continuing, “What is happening to me? Is this a signal for something bad or worse?”

To be continued…