Six Years Ago

"Kya Bhaiya. Itni door tak chord ne ate ho. Chota baccha thodi na hu. " Shankar's younger brother Ishan complains as soon as he steps off the bike.

(Why do you travel so far just to drop me off. I'm not a little kid anymore.)

"Theek phir kal se bus pakkad ke college aaio. " (Fine. From tomorrow onwards, go to your college via bus.)

"Are bus mein toh isliye bool raha tha ki apka kitna time waste hota h. Isse accha mujhe apni bike dedo. " (I was only thinking for you. My big brother has to go through so much hustle. Even Your precious time gets wasted. Won't it be better if I get a bike for myself.)

Shankar holds Ishan's ear and squeezes it. "College Padhai krne ata h ya fashion show. "

(Do You come to your college to study or for fashion show?)

"Ouch ouch. Sorry bhaiya. Sab dekh rahe h please thodi si toh izzat rehne do. "

(Ouch! ouch! , Sorry. Everyone is watching us. Please let me have some respect.)

Shankar doesn't give two fucks about the spectators because one look at them will make them scurry away. But for his brother's alleged reputation he releases him.

"Padhai pe dhayan de aur kisi ne pareshaan kra toh phir mein usse batata hu. "

(Focus on your studies. If someone bothers you. Let me handle them.)

"Haar baat maar kutai se solve nahi hoti, bhrata shri. " Ishan retorts smiling. ("Not every problem can be solved with a beating, my dear brother.")

"Aja phir phele teri hi kutai krta hu. " (Oh yeah! Come here let me hit you first.)

"Are nahi nahi.(oh no), Sorry bhaiya!!" Ishan dodges before his brother slaps him on the back of his head and runs to his college.

Shankar waits until Ishan is completely secure inside the college's closed doors. Being the elder brother Shankar had taken over the household responsibility from a very young age. With a 4 year age gap with Ishaan and 8 years gap with his little sister Chahat, Shankar had to take care of his two siblings when their mother used to leave them for work.

At 14, The young boy who once lived a life of rose was suddenly pushed to take the role of the bread winner for his family.

Betrayal of his own relatives showed him the real raw unfair side of life.

Shankar swore to take revenge on those who wronged his family especially his father.

"Oh bhenchod, dekh kr nahi chala sakta." A soft angry voice yells. Shankar turns to look at the commotion.

(Hey motherfucker! Can't see while driving.)

"Saala, Chutiya !!! " Says a girl crouching down on the road side cursing at a car speeding off the road.

(Bloody asshole!)

Maybe she is hurt by the car, Shankar thought.

"I am sorry, baby. Are you hurt somewhere? These assholes have lost all their senses." She speaks softly.

Since the girl was at quite a distance and only her back was visible to him.

Clearly she was talking to someone which meant she was not hurt.

"Let's take you somewhere safe and then we will check you. Okay baby."

Feeling curious, now he wanted to see the girl.

The yellow sun bestows it's golden rays on the green grass where the girl stood. Shankar holds his breath the moment she turns around but suddenly a truck comes between them.

After the truck passed away Shankar's eyes fell on the girl wearing a yellow anarkali suit. A few strands of hair falling out of her braids.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Eyes filled with khol flaring anger but her face held such softness and purity that could melt anyones heart. She was as pretty as the white swan with a slender neck and red cheek.

She gently picked up a whimpering thing which turned out to be a small puppy. She took it to the safer side where a makeshift small dog house was made.

Seeing her, other puppies also came out and ran towards her.

The girl inspected the poor little thing first and luckily it was unharmed. She petted the other little creatures surrounding her and comforted them using her sweet voice.

Shankar had never seen a girl with such a contradicting personality. He couldn't fathom his mind over the fact that how can a girl have two different voices first that was loud, angry and confident and the other was so sweet velvety laced.

Call it his lack of experience around female counterparts because the ones in his life are loud and vulgar like his mother and the old ladies in his village. None of them were sweet and gentle.

Since He was getting late, he sat on his bike and sped off. Leaving the girl behind with her army of puppies.

Throughout his day the girl didn't leave his mind.

He never knew What he thought as a brief meeting would create such significance in his life. And would soon alter his life.

After that day Shankar never crossed paths with that girl and not that he wanted to until he saw her. again.

This time The girl was training the NCC cadets. All the students were lined up in queues.

The girl shouted , "forward, March. "

All the students followed her command and started marching forward.

"Left, face. "

They turned left and began marching.

"Whaa!! Kya baat h." (Woah!, that's so good.)

Shankar was thoroughly impressed. Her powerful voice and confidence she carried enthralled him.

Quipped with curiosity Shankar asked Inshan

"Wo Ladki kon h? "

(Who is that girl?)

"Kon? (Who?)" Inshan looked at the direction his elder brother was looking and after identifying he said, "Accha wo. Senior h bhaiya. "

(Oh her! She is a senior.)

"Naam kya h? " (Name?)

"Hmm kya naam tha... Haa... Yukti kashyap."

(What was it?! Oh yeah... Yukti Kashyap.)

Shankar nods slowly, his eyes locked on her.

"Kya hua (what happened), bhaiya?" Ishan had never seen his brother show interest in any girl. His elder brother is always immersed in his work.

Ishan had always seen his brother working hard in the fields with his mother and then helping his sister and him with their homework.

The initial years were rough on their family. Shankar had worked so hard, adopted some unruly method and finally he was able to establish his factory and their mother stopped working in the fields.

"Bhaiyaa.. " Ishan nudges.

Shankar comes out of wherever trance he was in and shakes his head. For the first time he felt as if he was hypnotized.

How can someone possess such power to hypnotize him.

His heart also felt a little weird.

The girl must be a witch (that is what he thought after he couldn't get her out of his head). She must have mastered her witchcraft. 

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Today Shankar had to pay Ishan's college fees. His day was scheduled - first pay the fees and go to his factory and later deal with Bhandara Singh to help him with some illegal smuggling.

Don't judge Shankar. Life makes you tough and when given choices between morals and survival. Survival is always chosen. Sometimes Desperation leaves one with no choice. Shankar did what he felt was right even though he knew it was wrong.

Humming some old melody Shankar parked his favorite bullet and entered through the college gates.

He walked through the college garden towards the administrative building.

Shankar's attention shifted to the tall tree standing aloof.

'Hmm yeh kis cheez ka ped h.' He thought to himself.

(Which tree is it?)

Shankar was so immersed in his thought that he didn't notice someone was walking in his direction and suddenly bumped into them. .

When he looked at the person he bumped into. And it was none other than Yukti kashyap.

"Ouch ."

He held her in his arms before she could fall

"Are aap yaha bhi?" Shankar asked inquisitively.

(You are here too?)

As if His eyes didn't roam all over the area looking for her. Not that he would admit it himself.

"Yaha bhi.. matlab? "

(What do you mean by 'here too'? )

Yesterday Shankar saw yukti detangling her hair from the tree branch which left a quiet imprint on his mind. He laughed all day thinking about her.

"Nahi kuch nahi. " (Nah, it's nothing.)

Not only Shankar had noticed yukti from afar and gotten intrigued but Yukti was also curious about him.

She had seen Shankar dropping Ishan off to the college. Shankar always bore a serious expression as if everything has personally offended him.

The other girls at college practically salivated over him. He was a heartthrob. A tall guy with a lean muscular build. No one dared to talk to him. They were scared that he might look down on them but yukti admittedly found him cute.

She had seen Shankar talking to his brother repeatedly telling him to focus on his studies. One day she even heard him cracking some joke just to uplift his brother's mood. She liked his sweet, caring nature.

"Kya tum mujhe stalk kr rahe the? " Yukti asked raising a brow, but shankar couldn't hear properly.

(Are you stalking me?)

"Hain ji? " ( Sorry? )

"Mera matlab mera peecha toh nahi kr rahe the tum? "

(I meant were you stalking me?)

"Phool ki talash mein toh kayi bhatakte hain, Par wo toh deewana bhawra(bee) hota hai, Jo uski mehak ki aur khud ba khud kheecha chala jata hai..."

("Many wander in search of the flower, but it's the devoted bee who gets drawn to her fragrance on its own.")

Did Shankar just flirt with someone?

He was so shocked at himself. Those lines just naturally flew out of his mouth. Seeing his reaction, Yukti started laughing in response. After a while, He smiled at the infectious laugh.

Shankar was now certain that Yukti could be a witch as he was bewitched by her beauty, laugh and literally everything about her.

She must have cast a spell on him because this was the first time Shankar's heart was beating so loudly. He felt as if he was floating high in the sky just by talking to her. Surely these reactions were not normal.

he should stay away from her.

But did he?

*******Past end*******