Chapter 2 - Murshid Khele Holi

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Mumbai

Kalpi was in her chawl when Vittal came in “ morning beti “ Vittal said, “ morning baba “ Kalpi smiled and drank her coffee, “ still finding for a job ? “ Vittal said, Kalpi nodded sadly, “ It’s hard to find a job when the town is being ruled by an idiot “ Kalpi chuckled but then turned silent, “ I know beti….” Vittal said as he sat down beside her and looked at the papers. Just then around 5 black SUV’s pulled up in front of the chawl, and out stepped Shail Kapoor, everyone who was minding their own work immediately stopped and looked down, Sahil smiled evilly and took the stairs to Vittal’s chawl. Kalpi and Vittal was laughing when a knock sounded their door, looking up, Kalpi got up quickly and looked down, “ Sahil…what a surprise, I thought you were in France “ Vittal said, Shail smirked and walked into the chawl and stood in front of Kalpi, “ I could not stay away from my beautiful Kalpi “ Sahil said and gently creased her cheeks with his cold fingers, Kalpi turned her face and hid behind Vittal, Sahil immediately go angry, “ have you thought of my proposal yet Vittal ? “ Sahil said, “ I’m not giving my daughter to you Sahil “ Vittal said changeling him, Sahil smirked and looked away, but before he could turn away, he slapped Vittal, and Vittal immediately crumbled to the floor, “ BABA !!!! “ Kalpi yelled in tears as she bent down and held Vittal, Sahil looked down at Vittal “ it is not a proposal that you can say no Vittal “ Sahil said dangerously and bent down “ I don’t take no for an answer. Either you give me your daughter or I’ll tie you up and your precious daughter in this chawl and burn it down “ Sahil said dangerously and walked out of the chawl. Kalpi cried and hugged Vittal “ Baba….” Kalpi said in sobs. After Sahil left, Kalpi managed to get her baba on the couch and started dabbing his bloody lip, “ we have to do something baba “ Kalpi said with tears in her eyes, Vittal nodded “ he can’t keep doing this….it’s not fair “ Kalpi said washing the cloth, Vittal just nodded. That night Kalpi went up to the chawl balcony and looked out “ please bappa…please help us “ Kalpi closed her eyes and prayed, Kalpi did not know that Vittal was standing behind her with a sad look on his face.

The next day, Kalpi paced the chawl wondering what to do, “ should I ? “ Kalpi thought, just then Vittal came in “ beti…kiya hua ? “ he asked, “ kuch hani….umm..I’m going out for awhile “ Kalpi said and grabbed her bag. 10 minutes later, Kalpi stood in front of a large door, she was hesitating to knock, so she paced up and down, after a few minutes of calming herself, Kalpi took a deep breath and rang the door bell. Raghav was on the laptop when the doorbell rang, getting up he went and opened and was shocked to see who was behind it “ hey..” Kalpi said softly “ hi….come in “ Raghav said as he stepped aside to let her though, “ thank you “ Kalpi smiled and looked around, “ sorry for the mess…” Raghav said rubbing his neck, Kalpi smiled and looked at him “ would you like anything to drink ? “ Raghav asked, “ no thank you…” Kalpi said, they stood in silence for a second “ um…please have a seat “ Raghav said gesturing Kalpi to the sofa, Kalpi smiled and sat down, “ sorry to disturb you “ Kalpi said looking at him, “ no..no…it’s fine “ Raghav smiled and waved his hands at her, “ I need your help “ Kalpi said,
“ sure…anything “ Raghav smiled and looked at her, Kalpi looked down and fiddled with her dupatta “ yesterday Sahil Kapoor came to the chawl, and he wanted an answer “ Kalpi said, “ an answer ? “ Raghav asked in confusion, Kalpi nodded “ my marriage to him “ Kalpi said, Raghav’s hands immediately balled up into a fist the moment he heard the word marriage, “ what did you say “ Raghav asked tightly, “ Baba refused the offer “ Kalpi said, Raghav relaxed a little, “ so how can I help ? “ Raghav asked, “ month ago, Sahil was making our living at the chawl hard, every month he would increase the rent. There are some people who are living there who can’t pay up, so baba went to him to asked him to reduce the price. Sahil agreed but only if he can have my hand in marriage or he will burn the whole chawl down without a second thought. With that he left for France, but he came back yesterday, and baba refused him so…” Kalpi stopped with tears in her eyes, “ so ? “ Raghav asked quietly, “ so he slapped baba “ Kalpi sobbed even harder, “ I know it may sound silly to ask you for help…but I just wanted to try “ Kalpi said looking at him with tears in her eyes, Raghav clenched his jaw “ how long has this been going on ? “ Raghav asked, Kalpi kept quiet, “ Kalpi…..” Raghav started, “ for the past 10 years “ Kalpi replied sadly. They sat in silence for awhile, Raghav was about to say something, when Kalpi’s phone rang “ hello ? kiya !! I’m coming now “ Kalpi said and hung up “ I have to go “ Kalpi said and got up, “ Kalpi…” Raghav said again, “ thank you for listening….and I’m sorry if I wasted your time, I just wanted to tell someone “ Kalpi said as rushed out of the house, Raghav watched as Kalpi hurried out of his house, he sat back down and buried his face in his hands, he then took out his phone “ get the car “ Raghav said gruffly, got up and walked out the house.

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