Oh Lal Chunni Kurti Yo Teri kaali
Twe Dekhi Seeti taali
Bajoonchi Puri Thal Ki Bazaar
Bajoonchi Puri Thal Ki Bazaar.......

A young boy, hardly 20, sang passionately; dancing along with teenage boys as they followed a lovely girl of 17-18 who sashayed down the hill, smiling secretly. The coster mongers and small shop owners laughed him off. The boy was a cartoon to be honest. He lived down the hill and was the only son of the farmer who had a small portion of land in his name. Majority of the people living in Brahmapuri i.e. this hilly town were labourers. Now it might come as a surprise to all those who read this but this town contributed 62% alone of the entire fruit production of Southern Uttarakhand. And I would like to quip again, most families here in the town didn't had access to a personal land for growing crops. Well, the reason behind wasn't too complicated to comprehend, most of the arable land here and in the neighbouring towns and villages was owned by the wealthy Thakurs. No no no, that didn't refer to a community of filthy rich upper classes but it represents a single family which has resided in this town for over a century and had the ownership of more than half of the arable land in the entire state. The local people here referred to them as Thakurs as they were rich and powerful, and their appellation for their employer had nothing to do with the dichotomy of caste.

Oh Kan Baali Yo Binduli Kapali
Dekhi Bhe seeti taali
Bajoonchi Puri Thal Ki Bazaar
Bajoonchi Seeti Thal Ki Bazaar

He sang continuously, trying to tease the girl who wore a simple churidar kurti, leggings and a dupatta. The girl blew out her cheeks and casted a playful glare at him. He chuckled sheepishly. The girl knew it was useless to chide him, so she turned around and resumed treading downhill. He still sang merrily and followed her. Now from a narrow steep pathway uphill, came a beautiful girl of 22. She had long brown hairs that fell down to her petite waist, her eyes were soft hazel brown, her lips were pink and full and her nose was long. She was dressed up in a pink long floral kurti, white leggings and a pink embroidered dupatta that hung over her right shoulder. She had her books clutched close to her chest while her sling bag was slung over her left shoulder. The boy instantly went awe at the sight of her. Instead of whistling at the new beauty, as he normally did with every other pretty girl he came across (BOYS!!!), he simply chose to stand and admire her from afar as she gracefully climbed down the sloping path. Because the town wasn't huge, people mostly knew each other quite well. Especially when high and low class divisions didn't exist in the town. People here were conventionally middle classed, as their was only one high class family about who you shall learn later. The shopkeepers, vendors and maggi stall owners, also the regular peasants, they all knew the pretty girl. Her name was Riddhima. Riddhima Dhami. The only girl in the town who had managed to obtain a Masters in a non-humanities subject. I won't say the entire town knew her but she did was known by quite a few people here. They all admired her and also pittied her. It's not easy to survive in the family of Dhamis when you're a girl child. Her family, called Dhamis as town people identified families with their surnames, was probably the most hated lot in the entire town. Everybody knew that both Mr. and Mrs. Dhami would trade anything, even a dead body, just for a handful of silvers. Poor girl was famously called 'cinderella' by the locals. Not because she was beautiful but because she had a mother who was no less of a vile stepmother, a father who was mostly absent both physically and emotionally, and a younger brother who cared only about his latest video game. Beautiful Riddhima had done most of her studies on scholarships as she was good in studies and also because her greedy parents refused to spend their 'hard earned' money on a girl's education. She has to marry off and become a homemaker one day, than what's the point on squandering your money on her education. Now perhaps you realise how evil her family was. As she gracefully descended down the path, people could only admire the lovely girl. Even the town's Romeo had fell silent. She softly passed a smile at the woman selling corns, who returned her smile all the more politely. Now, as she was moving along the grassy path, she looked down at the majestic dell beneath the hill she was walking on. There in the centre, and surrounded by soaring hills on all four sides was a gigantic mansion. Even from up here it looked enormous. Everytime she went past here, she saw the mansion. She didn't had the slightest bit of an idea who lived in it, not that she cared. The only thing she loved was the location of the mansion as it was perfectly sequestered and provided with a serene view of the mountains all around.

As Riddhima walked towards her house (it wasn't a home by any means), she checked for her phone in her purse's pocket. It was there and as usual there were no missed calls or messages waiting for her. Her face dropped as she remembered that she will have to face her 'family' once again. Something which she hated to do. Unfortunately her college was now over and now she will have to see them morning to night. She was scared itself at the thought of that. But thankfully she has decided that she will take up a job in the nearby school or college, wherever she is accepted. Soon she will leave her prison-like house forever. Something she had dreamt of since she was a little girl. Now as she was marching uphill for her house, she came across a temple. She bowed religiously in front of the temple and saw a holy man sitting on the steps of the temple.
"Nobody will be happy with that degree you have in your hands. Your family doesn't value education just like all the goat headed people out there." the holy man said. Riddhima gasped loudly. She was certain she hadn't told anyone that she was recieving her degree today. And just to keep it secret, she had hid it between her books pretty nicely.
"How did you know??" she asked, chuckling in suprise. The man looked at her keenly.
"The same way I know that something big is going to happen in your life real soon. Can you show me your hand please??" he asked somberly. She hesitantly showed him her palm. He stared hard at the lines of her palm. Suddenly there appeared creases on his forehead. It looked as if something had worried him.
"There's a man.......a Man......a Man who shouldn't be......." suddenly he gasped loudly, scaring poor Riddhima. He looked up at her. His eyes were darker and enclosed fear. Riddhima was aghast at the change in his behaviour. He leaned over and spoke in a whisper.
"Run...." he paused and looked her in the eye. Sweat beads kissed her forehead.
"Run my child......Run from him...... Don't come near him. Monsters are not for pure souls like you. Take my advice..... Don't go back to your house. Run away... Never come back here in this town.....A demon lurks here." he warned in a whisper. Riddhima didn't know what scared her the most, his warning or his creepy eyes. But sensibly, she turn round and started marching up to her house. The man watched her as she disappeared behind the huge column of trees.
"If only I could change the destiny. If only I could tell you who is waiting for you. Run if you want to live my child." he spoke to himself as black clouds huddled up above him.

When Riddhima reached her moderate sized house, she saw her mother working in the kitchen. Her mother had seen her coming in from the kitchen window but she pretended she didn't notice her. Her father was watching the Television, his eyes fell on her before he quickly threw his gaze back at the TV. Her younger brother was sitting on the table and gobbling down the Doritos. She sighed.
"Maa, I've got the degree." she tried to initiate a conversation. Her mother frowned.
"Keep it safe. It'll come handy during the winters when we'll have the need of hard papers to light a fire." she said loudly, irritated for no reason. Riddhima rolled her eyes. She expected something like this from this lady. Meanwhile there was a knock at the door.
"Riddhima didi, mummy has called you." Sachin, the neighbour's son shouted from the door. Riddhima knew nobody would even offer her a glass of water here, so she walked out of the house to listen what her neighbour wanted to tell her. As soon as she stepped into Rautela's house, she was welcomed with the sounds of clapping.
"Three cheers for Professor Riddhima Dhami." Mrs. Rautela shouted, clapping excitedly. They even had a cake baked for her on which it was written 'For the New Professor'. Riddhima was shocked. She couldn't remember when was the last time somebody had done something so nice for her. She isn't even allowed to celebrate birthdays. But Mrs. Rautela and her family had always secretly celebrated her birthday ever since they came to live next door.
"Yoo Riddhima Didi you're so awesome..." Sachet, the eldest kid of the family, congratulated her. She smiled sweetly. Mr. Rautela came in with a box of bal mithai (Uttarakhand's cherished dessert) for her. Her happiness doubled on seeing it. She was crazy for bal mithai. Like seriously she was.
"I'm so proud of you my little girl." he said in a fatherly voice. Riddhima held back her tears and hugged him.
"I'm going to post on my WhatsApp status that my daughter has become a professor." Mrs. Rautela said excitedly. Her boys slapped their hand on their forehead. Riddhima laughed.
"Mom we don't become professors just after completing our Masters. You only get a professor before your name once you have a Doctorate degree. But she can be an Assistant professor." Sachet told her. Mrs. Rautela frowned.
"Same difference. But..... I'm so happy that you're going to be a professor. I'm so proud of you." Mrs. Rautela said hugging her. Riddhima couldn't help but smile at her own twisted fate. At one place her own family practically disowns her while at the other hand, this family next door just love her so much as if she's their own daughter.
"Can we have the cake now??" sachin asked cutely. Everybody burst out laughing.

After a small celebration in Rautelas Residence, Riddhima came back inside her house in a jolly mood. Neither of her parents asked her what took her so long in the next house. But she was used to it. She went to her room, changed her clothes, took a shower, prepared herself a dinner and also ate it alone in her small bedroom which once used to be a storeroom. But honestly it wasn't very small and with Riddhima's cleverness, the room looked way prettier than her parents and brother's bedroom combined. One more reason for her family to get jealous of her. Now, in the night, as she was returning back to her room upstairs after doing the dishes, she heard faint murmurs from her parents room. Her brother was out with his cheap boyfriends who continuously searched ways to enter the house just so they can get close to Riddhima. Mr. Rautela had numerous times scared them off as those boys are another level cheap. Her brother is no different to be honest. But when she heard them talking in hushed tones, she couldn't help but wonder what's up with them. Like what are they planning to do.
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Next update this coming week.