The rifle was pointed at Bondita now. She was standing in front of Anirudh, one of her hands clasped in his tightly. 

"Bahu!" Kaka cried out. 

"Boudi!" Batuk wailed, and he too was about to go and stand in front of Bondita, but he felt his Kaka's firm grip on his wrist. 

"Stay put Batuk," Kaka said. "Kalindi won't harm her own granddaughter so easily, but she can harm you." 

Batuk looked at Kaka with shock. He didn't know of the history of Kaka and Thakumaa, but it seemed like his Kaka knew Thakumaa extremely well. 

"Bondita!" Chandrachur yelled out, "Get away from there!" 

Thakumaa was strange. What if she really hurt his Bondita, and Chandrachur would never get to have her in this lifetime?

Thakumaa was not surprised to see Bondita standing in front of Anirudh. After all, she knew that her granddaughter had a complex where she believed him to be God. She would lay her life on the line for him. This was not something that Thakumaa had any doubt upon. 

Sadhya approached Thakumaa as she was holding the rifle, looking around nervously. She whispered in her ear, "There are many people here. They will all speak. Whatever your family matter is, it should be resolved elsewhere, not where my son just got married. I don't want there to be bloodshed here in this auspicious location." 

Thakumaa lowered her rifle. Sadhya was correct. She couldn't put Tupur through a harsh life with her in-laws just because of Anirudh and Bondita. 

"Also, Chandrachur says that he still wants to marry Bondita. He will make her his second wife, yet treat her as his first, but I don't agree. Either way, he's my son, and we've never denied him anything in our lives, so I am just conveying this message," Sadhya informed quietly. 

Thakumaa turned to look at Sadhya and said, "Jamai Babu is such a kind-hearted man. He still wants to resolve my burdens." 

"There's just a problem. Even though Bondita had undergone a Shuddhikaran ritual, she was out all night with her husband... so the Shuddhikaran is meaningless now. How do we know that they did nothing last night?" Sadhya asked. 

Thakumaa turned to look at Anirudh and Bondita. Anirudh had his hands on Bondita's shoulders now, and was whispering something in her ear. 

"I don't know how pure my granddaughter is, but I can perform another Shuddhikaran if it's necessary," Thakumaa informed. 

Bondita was watching Chandrachur's mother and Thakumaa interact after she lowered the rifle. 

"What do you think is happening?" Anirudh had murmured in her ear, while holding her shoulders. 

"Maybe Chandrachur's mother is worried about the guests. There are many who are still watching us," Bondita whispered back. 

"They're talking for quite some time," Anirudh replied. 

Before she could reply, Thakumaa came up to her and grabbed Bondita's wrist tightly. She tried to pull it back, but Thakumaa was holding on with too much force. Anirudh's eyes darkened when Thakumaa held his Bondita with that kind of force. 

"Come with me," Thakumaa hissed. "Our Samdhan Ji is already questioning your character."

"Character?" Bondita asked, frowning. "Why exactly is my character being questioned?"

Anger reached Anirudh's eyes when Thakumaa even spoke of Bondita's character.  

"CHARACTER?" Anirudh bellowed, forgetting about the guests standing all around them. 

He grabbed Bondita's arm, just above where Thakumaa was holding it and he yelled, "WHO DARES TO POINT A FINGER AT MY BONDITA'S CHARACTER?"

Chandrachur was standing there, looking exasperated. Why was this man shouting so much? 

Tupur on the other hand, kept on exchanging looks with Batuk, and looking away tearfully. 

The guests were now standing all around, murmuring to each other. 

"Kalindi... please... let it all go now..." Kaka begged. 

"You be quiet," Thakumaa hissed to Trilochan, and then she glared at both Anirudh and Bondita. "You two have been together all night. I don't want the guests to talk, so come with me." 

"TALK?" Anirudh bellowed. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHO TALKS! BONDITA IS MY WIFE! AND SHE WAS WITH HER HUSBAND ALL NIGHT. IT'S NOBODY'S BUSINESS WHAT WE DID! AND EVEN IF SHE WASN'T MY WIFE, IT'S STILL NOBODY'S BUSINESS!" 

Bondita took a deep breath and used her free hand -- the one that nobody was holding, to reach behind her and rub her Pati Babu's other hand gently, trying to calm him down. 

"Thakumaa, what do you want to know?" Bondita asked, a deadly calm tone in her voice. "And why do you want to know it? Do you still think that I am here to marry that Chandrachur?" 

Sadhya gasped upon hearing such a tone for her son. Her husband came running from the food section, where he had been a little too eager to eat the food. He had no idea what was happening. 

Chandrachur's mother leaned towards her son and hissed, "This is the girl who you want to marry? She has no respect for you! And she was out with a man all night. Do you really think that she's pure and clean?" 

Chandrachur angrily said, "ARGH! Maa if I don't get Bondita then my efforts will go down the drain! Let her marry me now then put her through another Shuddhikaran!" 

"Shut up," Sadhya hissed at her son. 

"Bondita, see how this Anirudh Roy Choudhary doesn't care about our respect? He doesn't care about who hears about your character? This is the man you want to stay with? This is the man you see as God?" Thakumaa asked, shaking her head. "Do you really think that I don't want the best for you?" 

Anirudh was livid. He let go of Bondita's hand and went towards a flower tray on the mandap. He picked it up and threw it, flowers flying everywhere. The tray fell to the ground with a loud thud.  

Everyone gasped, and Kaka just placed his hand on his head. 

Oh no, it had started. He knew this side of his nephew all too well. 

"CHARACTER? WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER?" Anirudh screamed. "A MAN AND A WOMAN HAVE SPENT THE NIGHT TOGETHER, SO HER CHARACTER IS QUESTIONED? WHY? IS SHE MORALLY INCORRECT?"

Thakumaa's grip on Bondita's hand loosened as she contemplated whether to get her rifle again. It was too late to hide this from the guests. The drama had already started. 

Bondita pulled her arm out of Thakumaa's grip and went over to her Pati Babu. She took his hand in hers and held on to it tightly. 

"For everyone who doesn't know, this is my Pati Babu!" Bondita announced loudly to all of the guests. "And even if he wasn't, I would still spend the whole night with him, just like I did last night! You want to know why? Because my heart is with him. I LOVE HIM." 

She smiled sarcastically at everyone and she added on, "And I just want to ask you all one thing! Everyone is so quick to judge someone else's character! Right? Have you all gone within yourself and introspected? Have you all thought about what a character is, and why it's so important? If you did, then perhaps you would know that it's not about what you do with your body, but about how you see the world with your mind. It's not about who you are physical with, but it's about the sweetness and purity of your mind! If your mind is tainted, then no matter how so-called chaste your body is, then you still have the loosest character!"

Anirudh turned to look at Bondita, his anger calming down significantly when she again, pointed out very valid things. 

She raised her free arm and said, "This body that you and I have, it's a vessel. It's like a car! It's here to drive us through our life. But this is not us! It's not the real us! One day, just like the engine of a car wears out and it's not able to work anymore, this body will die, but we won't die! Our soul will live on. We will get another body, and we will come back, with new bonds, with new relationships, with new experiences! So tell me, do you really think that this finite thing like a body, can really define us? Do you really think that it can be used to judge someone's character?" 

There was quite a bit of chattering going on in the crowd. 

Chandrachur was just rolling his eyes. He didn't want a lecture. He just wanted his Bondita! Why did she speak so much? 

Kaka was smiling proudly at his Bahu. Today, it seemed like their fitoor was coming out quite nicely. She had used all the things he taught her, and merged it beautifully with Anirudh's teachings as well. While Kaka still wasn't so forward-thinking as Anirudh and Bondita, he had to say that she had points that would cater even to his thought processes.

Thakumaa was looking at Bondita with shock. She knew that Bondita always questioned things, and had been taught such unheard of values by Anirudh, but she never realized the depth of those teachings. In fact, today she witnessed just how deep Bondita's education and value systems had taken her. It was hitting Thakumaa quite strongly. 

"So are you saying that women in brothels, don't have a loose character?" one man questioned from the crowd. "Are you saying those women who sleep around, aren't cheap?" 

Bondita could feel the fury build inside Anirudh again and she quickly said, remembering her Heera Mandi days, "No way! In fact, all of you should bow down to them and respect them for being able to let go of body-consciousness. What did I just say? We aren't this body. They have in a way, sometimes through the harshness of this world, most times against their will, let go of their body-consciousness. They have gotten over shame, and there are so many lessons to be learned from them. Instead of trying to judge them, why don't you look at them and wonder what there is to learn? They're not impure. They can be the sweetest of people out there, and in fact the most pure!" 

Anirudh shook his head slowly at the way these men behaved. The way they said that women slept around. 

"HOW COME NOBODY POINTS A FINGER AT THE MEN WHO VISIT THE BROTHELS?" Anirudh questioned loudly. "WHY DO YOU SAY THE WOMEN HAVE A LOOSE CHARACTER? IF A MAN SLEEPS AROUND THEN IT'S GREAT, BUT IF A WOMAN SLEEPS AROUND SHE HAS A LOOSE CHARACTER?"

When he said this, a look of softness appeared on Thakumaa's features. She always wondered why everyone pointed a finger at her, over what she and Trilochan shared in the past. However, not a single person said a word against him. The fingers were always pointed at her. 

It didn't seem fair, but she had always just blamed it on the fact that she was a woman.  

Anirudh held Bondita's hand tightly and said, "NOBODY ASKED ME IF I'M IMPURE, BUT EVERYONE POINTED A FINGER AT MY BONDITA!" 

Bondita squeezed Anirudh's hand again and told everyone, "LISTEN HERE EVERYONE. I know that you were all taught certain values growing up, but that doesn't mean the things you believe are correct! My Pati Babu has taught me great values, but do you know what else he has done? He has empowered me to ask questions not so that I can judge, but rather ask with wonder, to think about why things are the way they are! He taught me to open my mind and be aware of there being more to this world than what I thought I knew! He taught me to figure things out for myself and be self-sufficient! To go on a quest and seek the answers from within, to experience freedom and to serve it to others! All of you need to open your minds, and not just accept everything you have heard around you as the truth! Think a little bit! Just think and question if things make sense!" 

There was chatter again in the crowd, and Thakumaa hissed, "Enough! Bondita, stop making a scene. Come with me." 

Sadhya had her hand on her forehead, while Chandrachur's father just looked around, quite embarrassed. 

"What kind of family did we accept into our lives?" he asked his wife. 

"I don't know," Sadhya said, and then glanced at Chandrachur, who still looked absolutely determined to make Bondita his wife. 

Bondita looked at Anirudh and asked, "Shall we go in then?" 

Anirudh sighed heavily, and he just said, "Bondita, I can't believe these people are still stuck on people's bodies." 

"We've tried Pati Babu," Bondita said softly. "We will keep trying, and one day we will succeed." 

Anirudh looked at Bondita with a smile. That had been his dream. To succeed in empowering this society with his Bondita. 

He hoped he could make it out of here alive with her, so that they could fulfil the purpose they had come to this Earth for.  

The confidence in her voice was giving him more hope. 

"At least think about Tupur and come with me," Thakumaa hissed at Bondita. 

"Fine... I'm coming," Bondita said, "Either way Thakumaa, Pati Babu and I have nothing to fear now." 

Sadhya forced a smile at the crowd and asked everyone to go and eat their food, and then she also followed Thakumaa into the haveli along with her husband and son, the Roy Choudharys, and the Das family. 

Inside the haveli, Sumati came rushing down the stairs. She hadn't been allowed to go outside for the wedding, but she had heard the commotion from inside. 

"Kalindi, this is enough. Anirudh and Bondita Bahu are married. Whatever they did last night is okay, and in fact, I can assure you that nothing happened between them," Kaka said, saying the last part with a heavy heart.

Sadhya was standing with Chandrachur and her husband off to the side, while Anirudh and Bondita held hands in front of Thakumaa. Kaka and Batuk were beside them. The rest of the Das family were on the other side, a small distance away from them. 

Thakumaa was holding on to her rifle, and she lifted the gun, pointing it at Anirudh again. 

Bondita stood in front of Anirudh again, this time turning around and hugging him tightly in front of everyone, her back towards Thakumaa's rifle. 

"Pati Babu, I'm ready to die for what is right," she told him, her words muffling into his chest. 

Anirudh turned them around so that his back was now facing the rifle. 

"I am ready to die too Bondita. If I can't be with you, then I have no reason to live," Anirudh murmured, and smiled, enjoying the feeling of holding his Bondita in his arms for maybe one last time. 

Thakumaa furrowed her brows, her heart hurting upon seeing such a scene. 

How could this be fake? They were facing death. 

Bondita turned them around once again, so that she was facing the rifle. If they both had to die, she would prefer to die first. 

Anirudh had always put her before himself, and she hoped he could put her before himself today as well. 

Anirudh looked at Thakumaa and said, "We came back here, hoping we could convince you one final time Thakumaa. We decided that we have to either live with each other, or die trying to. We can't live without each other... but... it seems like you already made your decision. It's okay... I'm sorry for hurting you Thakumaa. I never meant to do that... but if I can't live with my Bondita, then I don't want to live at all. You can kill me without any remorse." 

Thakumaa's heart was aching when Anirudh said this, and she remembered his days as Roopa. Her mishti maye. Her confidante. The one she connected to so much. 

Tupur glanced at Batuk, when Anirudh and Bondita so boldly stood up for their love in front of everyone. She would never have the guts to die like this... and perhaps this was why she couldn't be with Batuk today. 

"Anirudh!" Kaka was crying out with pain, as Anirudh turned them around so that his back could face the gun once more.

"Pati Babu, thank you for giving me such a beautiful life. I had the best life possible because of you. You never gave me a reason to complain. You always put my comforts, my happiness, above yourself," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks as she hugged him. "Now, please let me die before you today too. Let me go first in this as well." 

"Bondita, thank you for coming into my life and filling it with many colours. You have been the one to fill me with life, and without you, there is no life... there is no living..." Anirudh murmured, holding her tightly. "But I can't let you go before me... this time, you can only follow my footsteps like you always say you love to do. I can't let you go first today Bondita." 

"ARGH what is this?!" Chandrachur was yelling, as he watched their public display of affection. 

On one hand, his Bondita was facing death, and on the other, she was hugging that Anirudh Roy Choudhary in front of him. 

He had to make sure after Anirudh died, to save Bondita so that he could attain her! 

Anirudh broke the embrace for a moment, and looked into his Bondita's eyes. 

Perhaps it was the final time. 

He leaned towards her and kissed her lips lovingly. 

Kaka would have gasped "Shiv Shiv Shiv" had this not been such an emotional situation. Instead, tears were streaming down his cheeks. 

It was his fault. 

It was all his fault. 

Had he not committed the sin in the past, Anirudh and Bondita Bahu wouldn't have to face this today!

Chandrachur's eyes widened so wide that his eyebrows reached his hairline for probably the fiftieth time that day, as he watched Anirudh and Bondita kiss. His head was definitely hurting by now! 

It was good that Thakumaa was going to kill that Anirudh Roy Choudhary! Then he would take revenge on Bondita for all this tapasya that she was making him do! The things that he had to witness on the quest for her! 

Thakumaa finally lowered her gun, as tears poured out of her own eyes. She couldn't do it. She didn't have the heart. 

Her heart which was once stone, had finally softened for good. She was convinced. 

Nobody could lay their life down like that for love, if fitoor was their only goal. It was only possible when their love had become their fitoor. 

"Thakumaa, what are you doing?" Chandrachur demanded, "Kill that Anirudh Roy Choudhary! He took Bondita under your nose last night, and ruined your plans! He's only using your granddaughter, remember?" 

He was getting restless and panicked now. If Thakumaa agreed to Anirudh and Bondita's relationship, then he would not be able to marry Bondita!

In fact, Chandrachur ran over to Thakumaa and grabbed the gun from her hands, pointing it straight at Anirudh's back. 

Anirudh and Bondita didn't care. They were too lost in their moment, kissing each other lovingly, and enjoying the last moments together, if this was it. 

Chandrachur was about to fire at Anirudh, when Thakumaa pushed Chandrachur hard, the gun flying out of his hands. 

Chandrachur landed on his knees and he yelled, "ARGH!" 

"Enough!" Thakumaa bellowed. "Enough. Enough. Enough." 

Then Thakumaa also fell to her knees and started to cry. 

Anirudh and Bondita broke the embrace and looked at Thakumaa. 

"My Mishti Maye..." Thakumaa cried, and Anirudh fell on his knees in front of Thakumaa. 

He reached to her cheeks and wiped her tears away. 

Tears flowed down Bondita's cheeks too, as she also fell down to her knees and held her Thakumaa's shoulder. 

Were old grudges finally breaking down? Was this the start of something new? 

-- 

This was a loaded and lengthy chapter, so I would love your inline comments! There was so much going on!

Did you enjoy the badlaav partners and their answers to society?

Chandrachur's desperation (and continuous popats) regarding Bondita?

Thakumaa's breakdown? 

Anirudh and Bondita's fitoor towards each other? 

Batuk wanting to take the bullet for his Boudi? 

Kaka actually being pleased with how Bondita merged his and Anirudh's teachings both? 

Tupur realizing that her and Batuk may have been able to survive, if she had the courage to stand up for love like Bondita did? 

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I had a blast writing it!

I'm very excited for the next one! So don't forget to hit the star button and leave your lovely comments! 

I love you my sweet readers! ❤️