Chapter 10
The place where we lived had another room next to it, where my grandmother used to live during her lifetime.
After her passing, that place went to my aunt. She didn't need it, so she sold it.
A family moved into that place. The head of the family was a woman named Lalita. She had five children.
My father's in-laws lived in the room next door.
Lalita was a very cunning woman. She was very skilled at manipulating people. She pretended to know everything, even though she knew nothing. She was a woman of the worst kind, whose irresponsible behavior had led her entire family astray. Lying had become her life's motto.
They used to live somewhere else before. Their reputation there had been completely ruined. All her children had fallen prey to wrong thinking.
At the tender age of 14 or 15, her second daughter, Suhani, had gone too far. She was involved with two boys. She manipulated both of them as she pleased.
Sanjay came from a wealthy family. He had everything he wanted. There was no shortage of money. Because of this, Suhani pursued him out of greed for his wealth and material comforts, and she manipulated him as she wished. Sanjay was aware of her intentions. He gave Suhani whatever she wanted, and therefore, he danced to her tune like a puppet. He was using her for his entertainment.
Suhani also knew everything. She lived with Sanjay for material comforts and pleasure, fulfilling his demands. Not only that, she constantly emptied his pockets.
The other boy was Aniket, who was far better than Sanjay. They both loved each other. But Aniket was penniless. That's why Suhani gave more credit to Sanjay.
Aniket's father had passed away. In this situation, the responsibility of the entire household fell on his shoulders. There were two unmarried, young sisters at home. He had to work very hard to save money for their marriages.
His widowed sister-in-law, Pushpa, also lived with the family. The household was actually running because of her.
His eldest daughter's name was Aarti, whom I met through my own sister, Bhavika.
The acquaintance quickly turned into friendship.
Before that, a painful incident had occurred. Anish's father, who lived in the neighborhood, had died of an incurable disease, and Suhani had started spending time with him out of sympathy.
Our family had a close relationship with Anandi's family, but everything changed with the arrival of Lalita.
Anandi bahen used to treat me well, considering me like her own son. But everything changed after Lalita's entry.
Who knew what feed back was given
I had insisted on marrying Garima. Because of that, she had instigated Lalita against me. The two of them would sit outside in the alley late into the night, gossiping about everyone. All their negative qualities seemed to have become embodied in Anandi Bahen.
They had twisted and presented my love affair with Garima to Lalita, which initially created a misunderstanding in her mind about me. This misunderstanding was further fueled by the Holi festival.
Everyone was playing Holi, everyone except me.
Bhavika and Aarti were playing Holi together, while Suhani and Anish were applying colors to each other. I didn't play Holi, so I was standing at a distance watching the two sisters play.
Suddenly, Suhani came and applied color to me.
I didn't play Holi, but Suhani, unaware of this, applied color to me, which seemed to give Anish the right to apply color to Aarti.
When he tried to apply color to Aarti, she stopped him. He was annoyed against her denial and immediately rushed to Lalita Pawar for lodging complaint agaist Aarti.
"Aarti Didi lets Sambhav Bhaiya apply color to her, but she has denied me."
On Hearing this, Lalita scolded Aarti without checking the truth, which inspire me entitle her as Lalita pawar, the famous negative character playing Lalita pawar.
Aarti immediately refer this issue to me.
I simply inquired Anish had he seen me applying colours to aarti.. He had never thought of such situation.. He with a terror of exposed started talking non sense. His such an attitude turned me wild.. I caught hold of his shirt's and slapped him.
Things had gone out of control. Knowing that I had slapped his nephew, his uncle rushed down and started disputing with me, without bothering about the matter gone by.
And Lalita Pawar did the job of adding fuel in the fire, taking side of uncle asked
"Why do you even talk to him? He's crazy... Why are you arguing with him?!"
On hearing this, he was charged with the power of a film hero.
"Your bullying has gone too far..."
He had directly attacked me with harsh words.
And the argument escalated. In anger, I tore his shirt.
He unnecessarily brought up the incident with Garima and started ranting.
Because of a misunderstanding, I had considered marrying her, which he had labeled as bullying.
Lalita pawar without thinking, added fuel to the fire and made the matter worse.
She had instigated Anish's uncle against me.
After that, our relationship broke down. This incident also created distance between me and Anandi Bahen.
This incident during Holi reminded me of the past. Holi is usually played until two in the afternoon.
In those days, I used to play Holi until two o'clock. Afterwards, I would bathe, eat, and then sleep at home.
Following the same routine, I had bathed, eaten, and was sleeping at home. At that time, some boys from the building were chasing Divyesh to put color on him. He didn't play Holi, but everyone was after him anyway. He came and hid in my house.
The boys who were playing Holi found out about this. They broke down the closed door and entered my house. And they didn't leave until they had put color on Divyesh.
It was crystal clear that young boys and girls crossed the boundaries of decency in the name of Holi.
Seeing and hearing all this, my father got angry. He complained to the boys' parents, but it was of no avail They remained silent and encouraged their sons' behavior.
Many wrong things happened in the name of the Holi festival, which I absolutely disliked. That's why I stopped playing Holi after that.
000000000 (To be continued)
