Omkara and Gauri went towards the crowd that had formed in the entrance of the fest.
They saw Maithili Dadi's two sons trying to negotiate with Raghav and his cronies. The fact that they were almost close to pleading with a boy who was their son's age, infuriated Omkara. He strode forward to listen to what was going on.
"But...but we paid the money...before the others even....why do you want more now?" asked the agitated elder son of Maithili Dadi.
"If you can organize a fest on such a scale you can cough up extra money too. I don't believe this nonsense excuse that this is from the money you keep separate for religious duties" snorted Raghav.
"Even if you don't believe it, we have already spent the money from that savings, so how can we pay you? Unless we sell the sugar from the mills in the market, which isn't until some weeks later, how do you expect us to pay up nearly ten lakhs out of the blue?" replied the elder son of Dadi.
"I don't care how do you it, I just..." but Raghav was cut off by Omkara.
"Will leave from here in peace, without creating any more drama" said Om softly, but with such authority that everyone quietened down.
Raghav told his cronies to stop creating a ruckus and threatening the vendors to shut their stalls.
"Ah! I was waiting for you only, oh and look, there is your wife" said Raghav, grinning.
Gauri glared at him. "So, you are doing all this, harassing Maithili Dadi and her family, because we humiliated you that day?" she asked.
"If you put it that way. You insulted me, and now if your hosts don't pay up, then I'm going to disrupt this fest right now, embarrassing them" said Raghav.
"Firstly, the mill owners here aren't supposed to pay you anything. Its your father's job, as a legislator, to work for the people. What you are doing is called extortion. Secondly, even if they agreed to your barely disguised thieving, you can't extort from this family, more than the other mill owners just because your ego was hurt that day" said Omkara.
Gauri saw the crowd listening with pin-drop silence, and could imagine the embarrassment for Maithili Dadi's family if this scene continued.
"Psst...Omkaraji" Gauri whispered in his ear, standing on her tiptoes "Its just ten lakhs, you can sign a cheque for that right now, and end this drama."
Before Omkara could respond, Maithili Dadi had arrived there and firmly refused to take a paisa (coin) from her guests.
Gauri was about to request her, when Omkara said, "Gauri, you of all people know that we should never bow down to bullies."
Gauri knew that he was right, but she also felt that the situation was going out of hand.
"Enough whispering you two. Bullies, huh? We are not bullies, we are merely asking for our little share in the returns which the mill owners earn because of us. But if you think we are bullies, the let me show some generosity to change your mind" said Raghav in a slimy tone.
Omkara scoffed while Gauri rolled her eyes.
"Since all this is indirectly happening because of you, I have an offer. My boys came here to enforce our law, but since you said we are actually the law breakers, I'll retreat. On one condition. You defeat one of my boys, and I'll leave this instant" said Raghav.
"I am not here to play your games" said Omkara, giving Raghav a condescending glance.
"Oh c'mon, you beat me up that day, won't I get that chance?" said Raghav.
"Then fight him yourself, you coward, what do you mean 'one of my men'?" challenged Gauri.
Raghav scowled, and gestured one of his men to come forward. A tall, well-built man, who looked twice the size of Omkara came forward, flexing his muscles.
"This is Bala. If you can pin him to the ground on his back, then we'll leave here this instant" said Raghav. "Or are you too much of a coward to fight him, and rather take on some one much younger like myself? Can you fight men your own age?" goaded Raghav.
Age. Again that same statement. Omkara was only thirty, why was everyone out here to make him feel like he was ancient?
"Don't listen to him, Omkaraji. Just call the police" said Gauri, now red patches across her cheeks.
Raghav and his men laughed. Even the people around them looked embarrassed, shaking their heads.
"You think, you will use the police against me? The police takes orders from my father. Uff, don't you look pretty when you are angry!" Raghav mocked Gauri.
But he had gone too far.
"Enough. I will fight your man, and then you will leave. This instant" thundered Omkara.
Raghav rubbed his hands together, and nodded his head, anticipating Omkara's fall.
As if under some hypnotic spell, everyone backed away to let the two men fight.
Maithili Dadi groaned. She hated how the things went out of her hands.
"Lets begin" said Raghav.
The moment the words came out of Raghav's mouth, Bala charged forward and punched Omkara in the nose. Omkara wasn't prepared, and he could hear a crunching sound in his nose, and feel hot blood gushing out. Omkara lost his balance, but didn't fall.
Bala charged forward again, but this time Omkara was ready. He dodged his incoming punch, and instead landed his elbow on Bala's back, as Bala had bent forward to charge. Bala fell flat to the ground but got up instantly, and roared. But this time Omkara charged forward and hit him straight in the stomach, causing Bala to double up in pain.
The crowd cheered Omkara, sure of his victory now, but they didn't see Raghav coming with a huge stick to hit Omkara from behind.
Wham!
Omkara saw stars in broad daylight, and his world went black.
The crowd gasped. Raghav had very openly cheated.
"How dare you? You coward!" Gauri howled. "This is unfair!"
"Ha, ha, well, I never promised to play fair. If you feel it was so unjust then continue his fight yourself" scoffed Raghav, while his cronies laughed with him.
Bala laughed "You think a tiny girl like yourself will shake me? Not in this lifetime."
Gauri was beyond angry now. Her rage numbed her from within.
"Fine" she said, but with such deathly calm that everyone felt fearful.
"You wouldn't" said Raghav, but there was a slight quiver in his voice.
"Why, are you afraid that you can't protect yourself on you own? That he might lose? Saaf saaf kyun nahi kehte ki darr gaye? (why don't you say it clearly that you are scared?) said Gauri
Raghav screamed "Teach this woman a lesson Bala!"
Bala nodded his head and charged towards Gauri, but using her short height, Gauri managed to swiftly moved to the other side. Bala charged again, but Gauri managed to dodge him easily. But the third time she wasn't so lucky. Gauri dodged him again, but this time she fell on the ground while doing it.
Bala thought he caught his prey, ready to squash her like an insect, but Gauri was ready too. The moment he was within her reach, Gauri unexpectedly gave him a strong kick just near his groin, and he lost his balance, and fell on his face, clutching that area.
Gauri and the crowd looked at Bala's prostrate figure, and thought that perhaps he was done, maybe the fight was over. Gauri turned around to see whether Omkaraji gained consciousness.
But she didn't realize that Bala would not accept defeat so easily. Two huge hands grabbed her shoulders from behind and threw her in the air. She landed on the ground, on her stomach, and fell unconscious from the impact.
"How dare you hurt a woman from behind, you coward!" shouted Mahesh, angry at himself and the crowd for letting this go on so far. He moved forward to tackle Bala and Raghav himself, but stopped in his tracks as he heard something.
Omkara could feel her hitting the ground. No....no she couldn't be hurt. "Gauri" he whispered and opened his eyes. He sat up slowly and saw Gauri lying unconscious on the ground.
It was like a volcano erupted in him, such rage coursed through his veins. He stood up immediately and gave a mighty kick, straight to Bala's chest, who wasn't prepared at all.
Bala fell on his back, but got up immediately, though visibly huffing. Omkara took a fighting stance and gestured him with his hand, inviting Bala to charge at himself.
Bala took up the challenge, only this time Omkara bent and using his center of gravity, carried forward Bala and tossed him to the ground. Bala fell on his back, and this time unconscious, unable to move a muscle.
The crowd was stunned.
Gauri slowly opened her eyes. What had happened? Presumably Bala, threw her to the ground. She opened her eyes wide and saw Omkaraji looking angrily at someone, wait that someone was Bala, who was knocked out flat.
Gauri got up, and Omkara saw her.
He rushed up to her and held her face gently, and then moved to her shoulders "Gauri are you fine? How did you land up like that?"
"I...that Raghav hit you from behind so....I was so mad, Omkaraji, and then that Raghav...he goaded me into a fight with his crony..... He attacked me from behind, I guess" said Gauri.
"Tell me, why did you do such a stupid thing? You went to take on those goons singlehandedly?" asked Omkara, concerned.
"How could I not? They cheated, Omkaraji, they hurt you, they're cowards" said Gauri.
"So, because I was hit, you went to fight them?" asked Omkara.
"I wasn't thinking" said Gauri. Touching his bleeding nose, she said, "You were unconscious, but you got up?"
"How could I not? I heard you falling down, seeing you hurt, there was so much anger in me, my blood boiled..." said Omkara.
"And like Shankarji, your third eye also opened" chuckled Gauri shakily. Omkara also grinned in an awkward way, through the blood, now clotting on his face.
Suddenly the crowd, which was stunned till now, started cheering, bringing the both of them to the real plane.
"But this is hardly fair, you both teamed up against my man!" Raghav complained.
"Shame on you son!" said his father, coming up behind him. "I gave you freedom to do whatever you want, even take more money from these folks, but you cheated openly in front of this entire crowd. And if that wasn't enough, your man almost lost to a girl" said Raghav's father, who had apparently come a few minutes ago, as one of his workers informed him that Raghav was challenging an Oberoi scion.
This idiot! Challenging the might of the Oberoi family, thought Raghav's father.
"Mr. Oberoi" he said slyly, facing Omkara. "Forgive my son, he is stupid, he doesn't know who you are. I'm sorry for the scene he created, I'll recompense Maithili ji for all the chaos he caused here. We'll just go now" said Raghav's father, and ordered his son to apologize to everyone present.
After they left, Maithili Dadi came up to Om and Gauri, and said, "For some reason, I had doubts on the nature of your relationship, I thought there something strange about your pair. But it only goes on to prove that even my old experienced eyes can be mistaken. Clearly, you both are perfect match for each other. Just like Shiv and Parvati who stand by each other always, as each other's strength, you also complement each other as husband and wife." Maithili Dadi smiled.
Omkara who had his arm around Gauri, left it immediately, Gauri too felt intensely conscious. Its one thing to pretend to be husband and wife, its another thing to have them being compared to a marital bond like that of her Shankarji and Parvati Maa. The lie had become to heavy for her to carry. But before she could protest, Mahesh and the rest of the family fell over each other apologizing to them to let them go through this.
Omkara shrugged it off, and Gauri too protested their excessive apologies. Maithili Dadi called for her family doctor to treat them, while the rest of them, on Om and Gauri's persuasion, stayed back and enjoyed the fest.
At dinner, Maithili Dadi announced that she had learnt something from Om, who despite being from an influential family, didn't cower in front of bullies or use his family status to get out of the situation. She wasn't going to give in to their demands either, she was going to take Gauri's suggestion and fight the next elections, challenge the strength of the Patils.
Gauri was elated at the news and Omkara too looked satisfied that he had finally managed to impress the matriarch.
Later in their room, the slowly limped back to their bed.
"How's your nose Omkaraji?" asked Gauri.
"Its much better, though the doctor said it will take time for it to return to its original shape. How's your arm?" he asked in turn.
"Fine" said Gauri.
Then simultaneously they both burst into laughter, at how interesting their conversation was, discussing their injuries. Slowly, they both packed their bags.
Gauri was glad that her bangles had come to no harm; she had taken them off and put them in a box, before they went to deal with Raghav. She packed them tenderly with the rest of her stuff.
As they lied down on the bed, Omkara switched off the lights, and held Gauri's hand. He held it tightly, who knows when he might get a chance again to hold onto her in the dark?
P.S. If you liked the moodboard in the beginning of the chapter, then check out for more in my instagram page. https://www.instagram.com/aroseforeverafter/