Meghna wiped her tears as she got up.

"kavin, uth, bhagna hoga humein yahan se..." stated meghna, as kavin remained still.

"kavin, chal!" screamed meghna, as kavin shook his head.

"pagal ho gaya hai tu! Samajh nahi aa raha tujhe...woh jaante hain hum kahan hai! Aaj raat hi nikalna hoga humein bachne ke liye.." yelled meghna.

"nahi...hum dobara nahi bhagenge...jitne nahi dunga unko main....iss baar ayenge zaroor, par waapas nahi lautenge.." asserted kavin, with an intense fury in his eyes, that he had long tried to hold inside.

***

14 year old kavin, is walking with his head down, as his father has his arms wrapped around him, with his eyes too, fixed on the path they are walking on.

Four young-men chuckle, as they watch them walk by. They start to follow them, with wicked grins on their faces. Little kavin, starts to get anxious, as his father, makes him focus only on the road, and not look at the boys.

"kya be looli, aaj apne baap ke saath aaya hai..." taunted one of them.

Kavin and his father continue to walk with their head down.

"par looli ka baap bhi toh looli hi hota haina..." retorted another one.

"arre, dekho-dekho, kaise darra hua hai, huh? Kya hua, aankh upar nahi hoti, haan be saale chamal.." came yet another taunt from another boy.

Kavin and his father keep on walking, until they finally escape those boys.

Kavin looks back to make sure they are not following them anymore.

"papa, hum yahi se kyun jaate hain roz, tang karte hain phir woh humein.." protested kavin.

"beta, yahi toh ek sadak hai jahan se jaane diya jaata humein.." responded his father.

"papa, mainu dar lagda hai.." admitted kavin, as his father stopped.

He kneeled down in front of him.

"pata hai, dar mujhe bhi bahaut lagta hai.." confessed his father.

"par pata hai dadaji kya kehte the mujhe, hum sher ke puttar hai, dar se bhaagte nahi uska saamna karte hain. Tujhe darne ki zaroorat nahi hai unn ladkon se, bas unpe dhyaan nahi dena hai. Hmm?" he explained, as kavin nodded in agreement.

"yeh hui na baat..." he said as he patted on his shoulders, and they continued to walk.

***

Kavin's father came out from the house, while rolling his sleeves up, of a white kurta. When meghna appeared from behind,

"ajit, dhyaan se jaana...unn logon ke ghar paas mat guzarna..." cautioned meghna, as ajit nodded in agreement.

"itni chinta mat kiya kar, kamzoor ho jayegi..." he joked, as she chuckled.

"papa, aap aaoge kab tak?" asked kavin, who was studying on a folding bed.

"puttar, dada guzar gaye hain unke, antim sanskar ke baad thodi der baithke bhi aana padega...samay lagta hai." Explained ajit.

"suno ji, unki shaam ki roti ke saath main kavin bhej dungi, phir saath mein hi aa jana aap dono.." informed meghna.

"padh liyo tab tak tu!" ordered ajit, as kavin nodded in agreement and ajit smiled at him.

"toh main chalta hoon.." he said as he left.

***

Kavin panted heavily, as he opened the door to his house.

"maa!" he shrieked, as he fell down there, and started to tear up.

"kavin, puttar ki huya?" asked meghna, anxiously.

"maar diya, papa ko..." responded kavin, as he found it difficult to breathe.

"yeh..." attempted meghna to utter something, but she failed to, as she started to shake.

"sab ko maar diya...woh le jaa rahe the unhe, chaar jat ladko ne dekha, mar diya..." uttered kavin, still in shock.

Meghna kneeled down to kavin.

"dekh meri taraf..." she said, keeping a forced smile, as her tears still rolled down.

"tu papa ka sher puttar haina?" she asked, while choking, as kavin too nodded in agreement, and cried with his head down.

"abhi humein, papa ko bhi ghar laana hai, hmm?" she explained, as she closed her eyes, in order for her tears to stop, but they couldn't.

"kyun karte hain woh aisa...woh bas jalane leke jaa rahe the ek budhe aadmi ko.." stated kavin.

"jat haina beta, maut bhi usse azaadi nahi de sakti...hum na zinda unse bardasht hote hai, na murda."replied meghna.

***

The piece of wood with fire lit on it, was handed to a fourteen year old kavin. He glanced at his father's dead body, that he had to lit fire to. It was about to fall of his shaking hand, as his mother immediately grabbed it.

"bacha hai yeh, main kardeti hoon." Said meghna, as she looked away before lighting fire to his funeral pyre.

Kavin couldn't bear that sight, it would be forever imprinted in his head, and for that, they'll have to pay.

***

Kavin was walking down that same street today, not with his head down this time, as he followed the four young men.

"aah!" screamed one of them, as he held onto his head, and fell down on his stomach.

Kavin, with the rage of a maniac, ripped his head open, with the constant thrashes from the hammer in his hand.

The other three boys, were starting to run, in fear of their lives.

Kavin chased them down, caught hold of two, with one kick in front of their feets, made them fall down. He sat on the two of them, as they too, suffered the same fate.

***

Meghna, who was putting a garland around ajit's photo, was suddenly interrupted.

"meghna!" called one of the neighbours, as she rushed to her door.

"tere ladke ne 3 jat mar diye..." she informed, as meghna was shocked.

"ek bacha tha, usne bata diya, woh namtej ka beta dalbir, woh bhi tha unmein se..aa rahe hain woh log pura pind leke.." she added, as meghna was frightened to death.

***

With fire lit on the pieces of wood, around 50 men marched into their house.

"kithe chupa hai, sansoi ki aulad! Bahar nikal!" exclaimed namtej.

"phail jao! Gale se pakadke bahar niklange haraami ko!" proclaimed namtej, as the troop followed him.

***

Meghna, who had tied the knot for her tiny bag, as kavin carried his.

"chal! Chal! Chal!" ordered meghna, as she hurried kavin.

They both ran from the window of the kitchen, when suddenly, meghna noticed ajit's photo, that was fallen on the floor.

She saw troops of men coming in, as kavin had already jumped out.

"maa, chalo!" exclaimed kavin, as meghna quickly picked up the photo, before she too jumped out and ran away with kavin.

***

Author's note: so, this chapter depicted how in Punjab, where jats are of upper-caste, they often humiliate sc boys with name calling and taunts, even bullying them. this is so regular for them, that they learn to keep their head down, and just take it quietly and not get into trouble. Moreover, upper-caste people killing dalits, simply because unki chita ya baarat unke ghar ke saamne se guzar gayi, unfortunately, is a common occurrence. Kavin, just like many who try to stand up against these injustices, have to pay serious consequences. You can clearly see, that even after fleeing to another city, meghna and kavin have to be careful. Caste discrimination, is very real, just the scale is different in urban and rural areas.