Teri Lakeerein

2. And Her

After the intense stare off, she passed him a small smirk and taking a step back waited, as a young man dressed in white rushed forward and placed a red turban on her forehead. She turned to face her people then, and while swinging the tail of her turban over her left shoulder, seated herself on her seat.

The seat of Sarpanch.

The seat of Village Head.

The seat of Karishma Singh.

Finally, everyone in attendance settled down too, with Dayal singh glowering at her from his khaat, kept right on her left side.

"Billu!!" Her voice bellowed, as a short dark man dressed in formal shirt pant, walked forward, with a file tucked in his armpit while with the other he adjusted his glasses.

This was the Secretary that state had appointed to keep a track on the panchayat proceedings. He had come here a mere 6 months back and had perfectly molded himself into the ways of this firebrand of a sarpanch.

Accompanying him was a young girl, who looked not a year older than 18 at best.

Billu then stood by Karishma's right and spoke out loud, " Bhimsen ki putri, priya, panchayat ke paas ye fariyaad lekar aai hain ki Ramprasad ke putra, Mohan unn par vivah karne ka dabav bana rahe hain. Aur.."

"Ruko Bille", The Sarpanch interrupted rousing from her chair and walking over to Priya.

"Poorna kahani zara vistar se batao, Priya".

And Priya started, "Mohan aur main vidyalaya main saath main padhte thhe, phir jis din, hamari baarvi ki aakhiri pariksha hui, mohan mere ghar baba ke paas shaadi ka prastav lekar aa gaya. Maine inkaar kar diya kyuki mujhe abhi aage padhna hai aur-

"Ke karegi zada padh likh ke!" Dayal singh shouted in between, making Priya flinch.

"AMAA BHAKKK!" Twisting on her feet, Karishma singh roared at the man, "Uska marji, tumse matlab!"

"Ae ladki tum-

And before he could complete, Karishma moved in closer, her finger pointing threateningly in his face, "Isse jada na bolna varna maiya kasam, bolne layak nahi chodenge. Cheta rahe hain, imtehaan na lo, hamare sabra ka!"

Turning away then, she flashed an encouraging smile at Priya and urged her to continue.

"Mujhe aage padhna hai aur nahi karni mujhe shaadi. Baabuji ke inkaar karne ke baad bhi Mohan nirantar mera peecha karta raha, yaha tak ki inke dost, bhi mujhe bhabhi ji bol rahe thhe. Mujhe nhi acha lagta ye sab!", And with that, Priya broke down into tears.

Absolutely enraged, Karishma singh rushed over to Mohan and placed a befitting slap across his face. Catching him by the scruff of his tshirt next, she yanked him forward and threw him right at Priya's feet.

Billu flinched. That slap needed not to be remembered by him.

"Jab mana kiya isne, toh kaahe tang kar rahe ho bey!"

Mohan, as young he was, started crying too, at Karishma's fiery gaze, "Main bas Priya ko pasand karta hu.."

"Par main nahi karti!" Priya replied pat.

"Ek toh koi ladka tumhe prem dikha raha hai warna aurat sar ka taj nhi per-

Karishma Singh closed her eyes in annoyance, and in the next second, her hand moved. The caustic remark, halted as a dagger whizzed straight past his head and dayal singh gulped.

"Chookenge nahi agli baar!" Karishma warned and seated herself back.

"NO MEANS NO! Ladki ki na ka matlab na hai. Gaanth baandhlo sab. Jo ab, aaj ke baad mujhe shikayat mili aisi kisi bhi paristhiti ki, hum vada karte hain, jitna uss ladke ka umra nhi hoga na, usse jada tukde karenge uski haadiyon ka. Aur ye toh poora sitapur janta hai, ki karishma singh apna vada ka kitna pakki hai!"

"Mohan, jabardasti rishte nhi keval zanjeerein bandhti hain. Hum aasha karte hain ki tum priya ke faisle ki izzat karoge", Karishma concluded softly rising from her seat.

Mohan nodded, picked himself up and bowed his head in front of Priya, promising not to trouble her ever again.

"Theek hai phir. SABHA SAMAPT! Shubhratri", Folding her hands over her head in a gesture of greeting then, Karishma started to walk off towards her bike.

Kishan, Kiran and another two men then loaded themselves into a black safari jeep, and followed after their mukhiya's bike, as she sped away and towards her bhavan.

Billu, the secretary, too decided to walk towards his house, which luckily wasn't too far.

He had come a long way really. In his initial days of posting by Karishma singh's side, he could hardly believe his eyes. Never would a day pass by where sarpanch Karishma would not slap someone. He had been quiet horrified at first and had warned karishma to mind her behaviour for he could report it all. She had never been fazed by his threats though and he had never acted on it. Because, the villagers, especially the women had requested him not to complain about her methods.

She was their voice in this patriarchal society. It was the fear of her punishment that would make many rethink their actions. And many a man who had simply been following along the norms out of sheer pressure, were emboldened to rise above and follow their hearts.

Karishma Singh was the backbone of this village.

Her famous 'bhaukal' was a must, if she were to usher in a change, in this backwater place, where reform was far slower than was in the cities.

Wasn't that the reason, why a 23 year old woman was the Sarpanch of Sitapur, the village famed for being administered by khandani dabangs, with immense property and power at their disposal.

Karishma singh wasn't born with any of it.

She had carved herself into becoming it.

To be the Saviour of this village.

Of Sitapur.

NOTE- The Sitapur village in this story is fictional and has no reference to the real one. Also I did conduct some research into panchayati raj, but I may end up taking certain creative liberties. 

Also to maintain the essence of rural area, I wrote the dialogues in hindi. If there happens to be any issue with that, I can, going forward write it in English, though to maintain Haseena's and Karishma's personality, hindi will be used mostly.

Well, that's all. Thankyou for your invaluable time.

Till Next Update (Which by the way is what you all have been actually waiting to read ;)