"Shree, angan mein kapde bichha rakhe hai. Jaldi se pani la de aur woh kapde dho de" (Shree, I've kept some clothes outside. Go bring some water from the pond and wash them fast)

A middle aged woman shouted from the small kitchen while making rotis.

"Ji, kaki" (Okay, aunty)

A little girl who was wearing a red blouse and skirt came outside hearing her aunt shouting at her. She was none other than, Shree.

Taking her odhni from the cot and holding a little pot she made a run towards the little pond which was nearer to their home.

◉◉

After taking the water she was going back when she saw her friend, coming from the opposite side.

"Radha"

She immediately went towards her giving her a smile but got no response in return.

"What happened?" Shree asked seeing her pale face.

"Hamara vyah ho raha hai, Shree" (I'm getting married)

Radha whispered slowly with tears in her eyes.

"Kya? Sachchi? Ye to bohot khushi ki bat hai. Tu ro kahe rahi hai?" (What? Really? This is a good news. Why are you crying)

Shree smacked her head playfully.

"Par hume abhi vyah nehi karni. Hume aur padhai karni hai. Sath mein hume lekhika bhi banni hai" (But I don't wanna marry right now. I want to study further and I wanna become a writer)

Radha uttered with so much sadness in her voice. She knew after her marriage there wouldn't be any scope for her to study further. Her aim to be a writer wouldn't be achieved.

"Hamara to padhai mein bilkul bhi maan na hai. Hume to bas jaldi se vyah karna hai. Pata hai, vyah ho jane ke bad padhai na karni hoti" (I don't have any interest in studies. I want to get married as soon as possible. None has to study after marriage)

The girl none other than Shree said to her friend while giggling. Innocence was dripping from her eyes and words. She didn't ever imagine how cruel the outside world was for her. Everyone was going to crush her innocence under their feet.

"Tujhe kuch na pata hai" (You don't know anything)

Radha didn't know how to make her friend understand what she was feeling when she herself was a little girl. She sighed and diverted the topic.

"Tu chal, ghar chal hamare sath. Eksath school jayenge aj" (Leave it and come home with me. Today we will go the school together)

She started dragging her friend as they both left towards their homes respectively.

◉◉

The hustle bustle in the whole play ground made the announcement of a new day in the village school. Some were playing, some were eating and some were making funny jokes.

In the middle of all these, Shree was lost in her own thoughts. She took the corner seat and was playing with her pencil as their first class just got over.

"Shree?"

Her trance broke hearing the soft call as she turned back and came to see her friend Radha approaching her.

"Have you done the homeworks?"

"Which homework?" Shree was confused.

"Ganit ke? Jo kal master ji ne hume diya tha. Bhul gayi?" (Mathematics homework which master ji gave us yesterday)

Radha huffed shaking her head.

Shree who was making home with the pencils gasped in horror.

"Hum to bhul hi gaye" (I just forgot)

She hit her forehead with a crying face and continued.

"Abh kya kare hum" (What I'll do now)

She panicked knowing very well how strict their mathematics teacher was. He would surely beat her black and blue today.

"Jaldi se bhag ja nehi to aj to tu bachne se rahi" (Run away from here as fast as possible otherwise none can save you today)

Radha advised her as she nodded her head.

Then taking her bag and her copies, she immediately left the classroom. Her eyes roamed around allover the area as she checked everywhere to see if that man was there or not. Seeing everything crystal clear, she was just going to put her feet outside the school gate when a deep manly voice stopped her from continuing further.

"Shree!"

Her motion stopped as she bit her tongue nervously knowing very well whose voice it was. She gulped her saliva and turned around.

"Kaha bhag rahi thi" (Where were you going)

The man in white shirt and black pants questioned seeing the little girl trembling in fear.

"Humne kuch pucha hai tumse" (I asked you something)

The person said strictly making her lower her eyelashes in fear.

"W_Woh hum achar lane ja rahe they" (I was going to buy a pickle for me)

Shree gave an excuse after getting caught red handed.

"Bad mein jana" (You can go after sometime)

The man none other than Rishiraj Raghuwanshi gave her an order as she immediately nodded being extremely scared.

"Kal humne kuch ganit ke sawal puche they tumse aur sath mein ye bhi kaha tha ki ye pariksha mein ane wale hai. Ache se padhna hai ise, yaad hai?" (Yesterday, I asked you some mathematics questions and told you to solve it. Even I said, these are going to come in your upcoming exam. You have to practice it well, can you remember)

He asked in his most scariest tone as the little girl gulped her saliva knowing that she didn't practice a single thing.

"J_Ji hume yaad a gya, master ji" (Yes I can remember)

She was finding a way to run from there as fast as she could.

"Good. Then tell me the formula of Sin^2theta+Cos^2theta"

Shree frowned in confusion not understanding a single words of his teacher.

"P_Par humne to kisiko na peeta?" (But I didn't beat anyone)

She just misinterpreted the word in her own way making him shake his head in disappointment.

"Abh tum humse pitne wali ho. Apna daya hat age karo" (But now I'm going to beat you. Show me your right hand)

Rishiraj took a wooden scale in his hand and gestured her to come forward.

Shree got scared seeing the wooden scale and immediately shook her head negatively.

"H_Hume maaf kar dijiye. H_Hum age se padh ke ayenge, pakka" (Please forgive me. Next time, I'll study hard, promise)

"Humne daya hat age badhane ko kaha hai" (I told you to show me your right hand)

Tears came out of her eyes hearing his strict words but she still didn't make any movement.

"Daya hat" (Right hand)

Rishiraj glared at her as she slowly forwarded her right hand.

Shree closed her eyes tightly when he raised his scale. Tears were continuously flowing from her eyes as she hiccuped.

He raised his hand to leave a strike on her palm but suddenly he stopped. Rishiraj felt a pang in his heart seeing her most beautiful eyes full of tears. Those eyes were pleading him not to beat her. Those eyes were telling him to stop. Those innocent eyes were saying so many stories which he couldn't guess. He sighed seeing her vulnerable state as he took his hand back.

"Aj chod rahe hai, lekin agli baar koi bahana nehi sunenge hum" (Today I'm leaving you but I won't hear any excuse from the next time)

He warned as she nodded wiping her tears.

"Now go to your classroom"

Shree didn't wait for a single second and immediately ran from there not wanting to get beaten by her teacher.

Rishiraj remained looking at her disappearing figure with a great sigh.

"Kabh samjhenge ye bachche ki shiksha kitna mahatwapurn hai inke liye" (When these kids will understand, how much education is important for them)

Disappointment was clear in his voice as he went towards his class.

•••

Here's the first chapter. Hope you liked it?

Any specific scene which you liked the most? What do you wanna see next?

Some points I need to clear. As this is the first chapter I've written two languages in every sentence but from the next chapter I'll write both the languages where it's needed and will be more good otherwise it'll be in english. Because it's very time consuming to write a single dialogue in both languages.