That bossy ass

" Pari!" he shouted and she looked back at him with a frown. She was irritated by him, so much! All she could and had to do all day long was to be next to this bossy kid who was bigger than her in every aspect. He didn't bully her but the constant calling and wailing were really irritating and she was really into playing with her dolls. But then, she turned a moment to look at the old woman's face. Creepy as ever, it sent shivers down the small 2 years old's spine.

" Sohit," she became the quiet, obedient wife she was trained to be in front of that old woman especially. If she wasn't there, she could kick him and no one would care but when she was around, if Pari didn't show the least bit of courtesy to her "Pati Parmeshwar" she would have to work in the kitchen for 4 hours more than normal. That small kid, at an early age of 2 was capable of making the perfect rotis that Sohit loved to tease her with.

" Pen," he put his hand forward and she groaned dramatically as if she was in a soap opera and as a result got a smack on the back with a wooden rod that her grandmother-in-law always carried around

" Ajji!" he got angry. He didn't like all that but the old woman only laughed while she very softly sobbed and ran over to her husband's table, to bring him a new peacock's feather.

" She needs to learn about how to behave with her husband. She's a kid and this is the right time to engrave it into her brain," his grandmother explained and they heard a small thumb. After turning his head, he saw her right behind him, with a peacock feather in her hands but tears smothered over her entire face as she laid on the wooden floor. She just got her foot stuck in her long, irritating lehenga and fell down, nothing much, and her clumsiness really did not trouble him but it really irritated the old woman to another level. So, without crying or waiting about the big cut she got on her knees due to falling down, she just immediately got up and ran back to him. Then, she gave him the peacock feather and the old woman lightly hit her shoulders

" What do you say now?" the angry voice roared through the entire playroom and the small girl bowed her head lightly while covering her tears up

" Sorry," she said timidly and the old woman nodded in approval after seeing what that poor girl immediately ran away from both those people and back to the pregnant woman whom she knew would give her shelter and protection from the vulturous look of that old woman.

" Ma," she hugged her huge belly and burst out crying softly so that Sohit wouldn't be disturbed in his work but he already was. The woman she had hugged was the only one that did and could provide her with the motherly love her real mother was begging to give her. She was the only safe corner for the small kid in the entire palace and her lap was the only place she could keep her head peacefully in and sleep without any worries. She recognized that woman as her mother at that point. But she really couldn't save her from all the hurdles her demanding husband and bossy grandmother-in-law put in her small feet's ways.

When it was cooking time, her husband would want her out of the kitchen, in the playground, playing with him. When it was time to embroider, he demanded her to read books along with him and when it was time to play, he would just sit out on his own without caring a shit about her. He had his own weird demands and if anyone argued with them, he had a simple answer. At an age of 2, he had learnt that message so very clearly...

" Gaṇḍana sēve māḍuvudu heṇḍatiya modala dharma. Nantara avaḷu itara janarannu mattu avara agatyagaḷannu nōḍabahudu," and although his grandmother was so proud of him to know and be able to pronounce all those words perfectly, he was a little asshole. Although, if you look carefully, he was just finding more and more ways of getting her out of the old customs and traditions. If you take a very important glance at it, his way of making her do what he did was a way of telling people that they were not supposed to treat her differently than him. He had never appreciated her getting spanked or hit but his attempts at telling that to his grandmother were futile. So, he was struggling, with words. Because when you see that one best friend of yours getting constantly hit because she played the way she wanted to with you and said what she wanted to say, it becomes really irritating to him. He was one of the radical thinking men, from a very young age and no one could actually even do anything about it.

But all that she really could not see. All she could see was the fact that he loved troubling her. He would constantly be keeping saying the same thing over and over again, in a short way forcing her into submission and all her friends in the palace only felt pity for her. She was just two yet they expected her to do so many things, the pressure was really hard to handle. And that is where came the gentle woman she called ma. The only one who even understood her plight.

" It's ok beta. Let's get Daima to put cream on that. Yeah?" she softly wiped the toddler's cheeks and Pari nodded while sniffing up her tears and held her big hands as she softly stood up and slowly, in a stumbling way walked out of the place. Her husband didn't budge, he showed like he didn't care about honestly, he was worried about the only girl he could play with very much. All other his cousins were boys. They needn't be looked after. The only thing that soothed his curious, worried heart was the sound of her anklet jingling with every small step she took. He loved the fact that she wore them...