Omkara did not get a much sleep last night. He stayed at the hospital, and left only when the doctor told him that there is nothing he could do anymore, all is in God's hands now. The moment Omkara hit the bed, he fell prey to exhaustion and entered a world of confusing dreams filled with women: his mother, who transformed into Jahnvi Thakurain, Svetlana who transformed into that girl who rode a bulldozer over his car, his father who transformed into Kali Thakur....no, after a while he gave up, and woke up to escape his weird dreams.
Omkara thought its best not to waste time and get an early start on the day. He cleaned up, packed whatever little of his luggage was there, and got ready to meet Kali Thakur to complete the pending formalities.
It was lucky that people started early in this city. He was curious whether Kali Thakur received news of his wife's suicide, whether he went to the hospital. But the moment he entered the mansion he realized he was deluding himself.
Not only was everyone awake, but there was a flurry of guests. Overnight the mansion was decorated with flowers and fairy lights. There seemed to be servants moving in every direction to complete the wedding preparations. While his wife was struggling to stay alive, Kali Thakur clearly couldn't wait to get married soon.
Omkara felt a surge of anger at Kali Thakur. From the first moment he had met him, he suspected that he was a greedy and evil man, but that he could be so ruthless, disgusted him.
More than Kali, Omkara was disgusted with himself, that he had to do business with such a fellow. But then he remembered the contract; he had signed away his agency when he promised his father to become a businessman in six months. If Omkara failed to get this deal, his first ever deal, not only would he breach the contract, but also prove his father right, that he was worthless, and fail to save his mother's marriage. The entire situation was despicable.
Omkara was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see Kali Thakur coming towards him.
"Oberoi saab! Come, come, I was hoping to have you attend my wedding." smiled Kali Thakur
"Wedding?" Omkara said phrasing it like a question, but his note of disgust clearly visible.
Kali did not miss it either.
"Yes, Oberoi saab, wedding." replied Kali evenly
"Marrying another woman, while a person's legally wedded wife is still alive, is bigamy and a punishable offense in India. Its a crime." asserted Omkara.
Kali looked surprised for a moment, and then laughed.
"Oberoi saab, kanoon sirf aap shehri logon ko liye hota hai. Yahaan ek hi kanoon chalta hai, aur woh hai humaara. Kali Thakur ne jo ek baar keh diya, vahi kanoon ban jaata hai iss zile mein (Oberoi saab, law is only for you city-dwellers. Here only one law prevails, and that is mine. If Kali Thakur has said declared something once, then that becomes the law in this zila)
Omkara was not unaware of the lawlessness that prevailed in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Still, this was an unsavory situation and he didn't want to be here.
"And anyways, a case of bigamy can only be filed by the first wife, and my first wife is not in a condition to complain, neither would she complain against me." Kali Thakur finished smirking slightly.
Omkara had to reign in his temper. It was lucky he had already crossed his arms, because Kali Thakur could not see him balling his fists. Omkara wanted to do something, anything, but he was a pawn in his father's game, and pawns had no agency to take decisions for themselves.
"Just finish the formalities and let me leave. I don't want to be party to this wedding." said Omkara.
This encouraged Kali Thakur further, for Kali Thakur was one of those men who derived maximum pleasure by putting people through pain, he was a sadist, and a cruel one at that.
"Then you must stay for the wedding. I won't hand over the final contract till you at least stay for the pre-wedding festivities. After all you must see my bride, such a beautiful girl, I bet even your city girls would pale in comparison." Kali Thakur said in a mock request.
The girl.... yes, the girl who refused to take his money. The girl who thrashed his car with a bulldozer. The girl who kept his phone safe and returned it to him. Would that girl willingly agree to marry this man, double her age, for expensive jewels and clothes? She didn't seem a girl like that.
But then Omkara remembered what the lady in the hospital has said about that girl being from humble origins, and how she might be a social climber. Riddhima was a social climber. Omkara thought he knew Riddhima well, she was his girlfriend of three years, she brought him out of drug addiction, moreover she was a social and environmental activist. But then she also used Omkara's surname for her agenda and colluded with his father to make Omkara the heir by deceit.
Omkara remembered how that girl came quietly with Kali in the jeep yesterday night, decked in bridal clothes. The girl who could fight him over her shop, was she not able to fight Kali? Or could she not resist?
All these cross-facts did not add up. He was missing something here, what was the truth?
Omkara decided it might be better to stay back for the wedding festivities to figure out the truth.
He nodded his head at Kali Thakur who looked pleased.
"You" Kali called a servant "Take care of Omkara saab, serve him refreshments. If he lacks for anything, I will make sure you never see your family again." Kali Thakur smiled as he ordered the servant.
Yes, it was the right decision to stay back and investigate the truth, thought Omkara, horrified by how Kali ordered his servants.
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Gauri forced herself to sleep last night. After Kali Thakur abducted her and reached his mansion, he lifted Gauri from the jeep and pulled her to one of the inner rooms in the mansion.
Tying her chain to the bedpost of a huge antique bed, he threatened, "Remember Gauri, one false move and your mother will never see the Sun God again. Go to sleep now, I want my Bulbul to look ravishing tomorrow." he smiled his twisted smile as he said this.
Kali Thakur locked the room from outside before leaving.
Gauri tried to find something sharp to cut through the chain, but she came across nothing. Her phone was back in the house with her aunt. She was trapped, but Gauri was not one to give up so easily.
There was nothing much she could do until morning. She decided it would be best to sleep and conserve her energy for her escape tomorrow. Somehow she managed to lie on the bed, and put herself to sleep. She traced the word 'SHANKARJI' with her fingers on the pillow. It was something she used to do as a child whenever she felt scared after listening to stories of ghosts and spirits narrated by an old lady on the village market square. She believed that it protected her from being abducted by ghosts at night. She was abducted by a real life monster now, but she had vishvaas, faith that her Shankarji would save her again, like he did when she was a kid. As long as Shankarji was with her, no one could defeat them. She slept off thinking of escape plans.
Gauri woke up in the morning to find her feet still chained, but a couple of women entering with huge thaalis (platter) of clothes and jewelry. They placed it all around her bed and on the dressing table.
"Get ready, Kali Thakur has told us to pretty you up for some function before the wedding." said one of the ladies with disdain. The ladies left the room to give Gauri privacy.
'She probably looks down upon me, thinking I'm the root cause of all this' Gauri thought sadly. Everyone was going to think so low of her. But she could not dwell on those thoughts, she had to save her mother and escape from this nightmare.
Wiping her cheek of a lone tear that escaped, Gauri got up and freshened up. She changed into the off-white clothes brought for her, and called the ladies inside to help her with the jewelry. While the ladies were decking her up, Gauri ran through her plan again. Yes, that was the only way to get a phone. None of these people will disobey Kali Thakur to help her. She will have to go into the lion's mouth for what she wanted.
Kali Thakur was relaxing with his brothers and friends in his huge chamber, drinking and munching on nuts. A servant interrupted the party to inform that Gauri was waiting to him.
"Arey wah! (wow) Bulbul is herself excited to meet me. Nice! Call her in you fool, what are you waiting for." Kali ordered the servant.
Gauri came in feeling anxious and trembling a little, when she saw all those men sitting and drinking. But then she gathered courage and said, "I want to talk to you, alone." looking at Kali Thakur.
Kali Thakur was taken aback but pleased with her confidence. "Ah! I knew I had chosen the right Thakurain this time. She has the bite!" smirked Kali, as his fellow drinkers agreed.
"You all better leave, my future wife wants to talk to me." Kali said to his brothers and friends. They all got up and left.
Once they were alone Gauri said, "I don't want to get married to you, its against my wishes." with more confidence than she felt.
"But it is my wish that we get married." said Kali Thakur with finality.
"You cannot force me. And if you try to force me, I will kill myself." said Gauri.
"Ah, no, no Bulbul, you can't kill yourself, you have to stay alive for me....and your mother." said Kali, his voice laced with a threat.
Gauri went according to plan, "I will marry you but for my mother. You have to release my mother from my aunt and uncles house. Otherwise, I will kill myself and then you can take pheras (circles around fire) with my corpse."
"That would be very inconvenient for me." said Kali. "Fine, I promise to release your mother. Do you have any more conditions?"
"Yes I need to talk to my mother on the phone. Now." said Gauri, with more confidence than she felt.
"Sure." said Kali. He called up her chaacha and ordered him to hand over the phone to Gauri's Maa.
"Maa, are you alright?" asked Gauri, anxious with worry.
"Yes beta." came her mother's scared voice from the other end.
"Maa don't worry, your daughter is fine. She is going to be the Thakurain of this mansion, Gauri ka gaurav her jagah phailega." (Gauri's 'gaurav', which literally means fame, will spread everywhere) said Gauri, hoping her mother got the clue about Gaurav, her teen friend. Gauri had asked Gaurav to bring the boys for practice at her house the day before. When the boys came to her house and found her missing, they would figure out everything. Her mother just had to make sure they caught her signs of distress.
"Yes, beta, I know." replied Gauri's maa evenly, hinting that she had got Gauri's message. Now all her mother had to do was to make sure that she caught the boys attention, when the boys came for the practice.
Gauri handed the phone to Kali and said, "Tell my uncle and aunt to stop torturing my mother. They can restrain her in the house till the wedding, but at least let her roam inside the house freely."
"As you wish my Bulbul." Kali replied with a smile, and relayed the instructions to her uncle and aunt, also threatening them that if anything happened to Gauri's mother, then he would take care of them personally.
"Okay, I'll go now" said Gauri and made a move to leave.
"Not so fast my Bulbul. I agreed to all your conditions, don't I get at least a hug in return?" he asked mockingly.
Before Gauri could refuse, he clasped his filthy arms around her tiny frame. Gauri was about to push him off, but she saw the phone poking out of his pocket. She thought she might as well nick his phone, in case Maa could not get the boys help. It will do well to call Gaurav herself. Thinking so she allowed Kali to hug her, as she surreptitiously took the phone from his pocket, and hid it in the folds of her dupatta.
"Let go. I have to get ready for the function now." said Gauri.
"Of course." replied Kali smiling.
As she turned to leave the room, she saw him, the stranger from the city, standing in the corridor looking at the pair of them, Gauri and Kali.
Gauri could see disgust, confusion and for some reason, hurt, reflected in his eyes. He had drawn the worst conclusions, it seemed.