Married. Chapter 4. " Tu ruk abh "

Adaria was a rich army brat, born and brought up in Mumbai. She studied in an Army School, as her father was a General in the Indian army. Her native place was somewhere in Rajasthan. Her mother was a famous Rajasthani folk singer whom Gen. Vikrant Solanki fell in love with during his Rajasthan border posting. She was their only child. There are numerous incidents when, the people noticed an Army Man, standing near her mother's house, waiting for hours for her to come near the balcony. Let's leave that story for another day.

  Adaria was a proud girl, typical Army Officer's daughter with a royal charm of her own. Strong, rebellious and dangerously outspoken, these were her characteristics.
 She was an extremely skilled athlete, ran the Mumbai marathon twice, bunking school of course, because her mother didn't want her to take part in it, but sixteen year old Adaria bribed her father with two more worksheets and somehow managed to take part and secure a respectable one hundred twenty seventh position out of three thousand. She was extremely close to her father, and was only afraid of her mother's " belan", but not for too long. Till her fifteenth birthday she had had enough belan blows to make her bones so strong, that she could break an adult man's nose even while she's throwing punches while asleep. She was a good student, but she was well known in the school for her anger management issues.

Ria always avoided the school happenings to go back home, not because she was afraid of the mighty belan, but because her father would not tell her bed time stories. This was her everyday routine, to wake up to her father's,"Ria, Beti! Uth jao", in the most childish and pampering way while caressing her hair and falling asleep while listening to her father's war stories. He's retired now, at the age of sixty two, he still wakes up his daughter the same way.

Ria was hot tempered, and the people close to her knew it. In class X, she once got into a fight with a senior two weeks before her boards, because he taunted her.

"Ria ko dekh, ladkio wale koi gun hi nahi"
"Kabhi hume bhi azma lo" and all the possible nonsensical abuses, were showered by Rehan and his boys.
Ria was with her three friends inside the hall to have her tiffin, when she heard one of the senior boy's comment on her from outside the hall, then she realised that if she picks up a fight, she'll land in the Dean's Den, and get a suspension, so she chose to keep quiet.
  "Control, Adaria Solanki... Control", She breathed heavily, whispering to herself.
  "Ria, ignore these bastards." Payel said, but she noticed how red Ria was.
 She opened her watch slowly and folded her sleeves, it was involuntary though. These were the first thing she did when she was angry.
  "Adaria, control yourself, girl. You're a girl, you're not supposed to punch these guys and break their noses. You are supposed to be calm and composed, not abuse. You are a sober girl, do as your mother taught you to. Ignore them", she spoke to herself and exhaled, while she heard a few more idiotic comments from the guy who just had his proposal rejected by her.
She kept walking, unfolding her sleeves and tying her hair into a careless bun.

  "Ria, chal na coffee pe, tere takle baap ko bhi bula le", he shouted, and the Bastard Inc. started laughing forcefully.
  "Takli hogi Teri Maa saale! Tu ruk abh". She had lost her temper now, all the moral lessons she had giving to herself vanished as she ran towards the guy, held him by his collar and punched him. His nose started bleeding immediately. She kept punching him, kicking him and what not. All the MMA fights she had seen, all the self defense tactics her father had taught and all the aalu paranthas she had eaten, she used them all. The additional abused she was hurling made the other guys keep distance from the scene, they were shocked to see a girl so violent and protesting.
  "What did you say? Mera Baap Takla?" Another punch, Rehan never thought she was that violent and  strong.
"Apni aukaat pe reh chutiye", she kept hurling abuses. The other girl ensured that no teacher entered the hall, in the Tiffin break, because they too realised that enough was enough.
After fifteen long minutes of "Maar Ria! Aur maar!" cheering from her friends, she finally let go of Rehan when the bell rang.
She was really happy when she wasn't called by the Dean after that incident.

  "Mumma, am home."
Her mother came and told her to keep quiet, as her father was busy on the land phone.
 "Yes, Sir! Okay Sir! Am very sorry Sir! It won't be repeated again, Sir." Gen. Solanki hung up. Ria was peeping outside the window of her room. When her mother asked who called, Gen. Solanki said it was an old aquintance.
 Ria, didn't come out of her room till it was dinner time. Her father didn't say much that day, but only said,
 "Ria, tomorrow we'll go for an outing. Okay?" Her mother mentioned she had school the day after, but he ignored. Ria quietly went to her room and slept, she understood that it was Dean's phone and she was suspended.

  Gen. Solanki had confirmed the incident from one of his friends who was a teacher in the school, he understood that his girl had no fault, and if her mother would know that she was suspended for a week then she will literally kill his daughter, since she was a strict mother. He chose to keep the suspension to himself, and lie to his wife and take her for an outing. Gen. Sol

anki went into her room, and saw that Ria's face had minor scratches and her knuckles were red and swolen. He noticed that the dustbin's lid was closed, which was unusual, when he opened it, he saw fist full of hair in it. "It can't be hers, they're too small". But when he noticed the hint of blood in her  hair, he understood whose it was.

  That day, he was a proud father, he realised that she too had the same rage flowing though her blood. He was not angry, but proud. Proud that, his daughter could protect herself in this world from bastards like Rehan. Proud that she was not one of those girls who chose to suffer, proud that she was a fighter like him. Adaria was sleeping, but he wiped her blood coming out from her knuckles, and bandaged the little scratches and kept caressing her hairs, he realised his lil'girl is not little anymore.