Hey guys 👋🏻

Thank you for choosing to read this story

I hope you all liked the last chapter and are excited to read further. Let me know your thoughts in the in-line comments as well.

I think I've got a pretty good idea of what all I want to write about in this story, so now it should be easy for me to frame the chapters ahead.

PS: So the English translations for all the Hindi dialogues is written in italics and in brackets. It might not be completely accurate because it's impossible to translate perfectly and also convey the same emotions, but I hope you all can understand what is being said.

Also, any fellow MSDians reading this story right now?

The above song is 'Maahi Ve' from the movie 'Highway' 

If you like this story then please vote, comment and share with your friends

~~~~~~~

We've been introduced to our main character in the last chapter, so let's meet her saviour now

~~~~~~~

Lt. Col. MS Dhoni was on his way to meet his commanding officer at the headquarters in Chandigarh.

He had been ruled out of the Asia Cup event due to some injuries and his Cheeku was all set to lead the team in his absence.

Since he wasn't playing cricket for almost a month, he decided to pay his army friends a visit and talk to his superior about the training he needed to go through in order to become a qualified paratrooper.

His wife Sakshi didn't mind him going to spend some time as an army man, something that he was eternally grateful for.

For MS Dhoni, his country always came first, regardless of whether he was playing as a cricketer or training as a soldier.

Sakshi was very understanding of the fact that she wasn't the first priority in her husband's life because she knew exactly the kind of man her better half was.

Her husband was her priority so she did everything she could to ensure that he could perform his duties towards his country, even if it meant not getting to spend much time with him.

Her Mahi was a man of very few words, but his actions often spoke volumes of the appreciation he had for his wife.

~~~~~~~

MS reached the headquarters and decided to report to his Commanding Officer, before going to meet his friends.

He managed to catch his CO just before the man left to patrol one of the nearby villages.

His CO was surprised to see MS arrive so early in the morning and says, "I was expecting you by lunch time."

MS replies, "I didn't see the point in coming in the second half today. I will be going back by tomorrow, so I decided to make the most of the time I have here."

His CO nods and says, "I'm going for a patrol round to a nearby village now, so you're more than welcome to join me. All of your friends are on some missions right now, so I don't think there's much you can do here either."

MS replies, "Sure Sir"

The CO takes a seat in the front of the jeep, while MS sits in the back with one other soldier.

Once they start, MS asks, "Sir, why are you going on a patrol?"

His CO replies, "Well MS, we need to go on patrols in this area because as soldiers it's our duty to protect all citizens."

Looking at the confused look on his junior's face, he chuckles lightly and continues, "Okay let me explain the problem in this area. What do you know about the gender inequality related problems in our country?"

MS replies, "I think that these problems don't get enough attention in our country. As captain of one Indian Cricket Team, I have tried my best to convince the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to pay proper attention to the Women's Team because those girls are also playing for the country and they deserve equal support from the Indian crowd."

His CO says, "Spoken like a true leader, but I'm talking about the problem at the grassroot level. I'm sure you know about how baby girls are killed right after birth in some places and how they are denied their basic rights as Indian citizens."

MS asks, "But aren't there government policies to protect the girl child?"

His CO replies, "There are many policies, but it's not easy to change the mentality of people, especially those who have lived in villages or small towns for generations. They consider such practices to be a part of their tradition, but since we have been visiting these places these illegal practices have been reduced significantly."

MS asks, "Is there no way to talk sense into these people?"

His CO shakes his head sadly and replies, "Unfortunately not. Child marriages still happen, especially if the girl's family is too poor. We have tried to stop it as much as we can, but such evils still exist."

MS asks, "Is there nothing else we can do?"

His CO replies, "We are already doing our best, but sometimes our best just isn't enough."

MS looks like he is in deep thought after hearing about the problems faced by the girls of the nearby villages.

Suddenly the other soldier notices a huge crowd in front of one of the houses and asks the driver to stop the car.

MS and his CO immediately look out to see the crowd, before wordlessly agreeing to check what was happening there.

They are coming closer to the crowd when hear a man shouting, "Thare jaisi khudgarz beti hone se achha hota ki mahre koi bachhe hi na hote. Thari maa ki saath agar tu bhi mar jaati toh achha hota. Kam se kam thari wajah se mahri beijjatti toh na hoti." (It would have been better if I had no kids rather than having a selfish daughter like you. It would have been better if you had died with your mother. At least I wouldn't have been embarrassed/insulted because of you.)

MS spots a young girl standing in the middle of the crowd, looking at the shouting man with a blank expression and tears in her eyes.

He doesn't know why, but he feels a strong urge to protect this young girl from the evils of the world.

His CO also notices the girl in the middle and understands that she was the shouting man's daughter.

He hears the senseless accusations being thrown at the girl, before the crowd decides to kill her by throwing stones at her and the young girl just closes her eyes, as if accepting the unfair punishment.

The CO was about to stop the people when he hears MS shout, "Koi pathar nahi fekega" (No one will throw any stones) at the people and stands in front of the girl as a shield.

MS looked at the villagers with rage in his eyes, while his CO decided to handle the situation calmly.

His CO asks, "Kya aap mujhe bata sakte hai ki aap iss ladki ko kyu maarne wale the?" (Can you please tell me why you all were going to hit this girl?)

One person from the crowd replies, "Sahab Ji, je chhori apne bapu se zabaan lada rahi thi." (Sir, this girl was arguing with her father.)

MS angrily asks, "Zabaan lada rahi thi toh jaan se maar daaloge chhoti bachhi ko?" (So just because she was arguing with her father you will kill her?)

His CO gestures to him to calm down before he says, "Kya aap bata sakte hai ki baat kya thi?" (Can you please tell us what the exact issue is?)

Another man replies, "Iss chhori ke bapu ne iski shaadi tay ki hai lekin isne mana kar diya aur ab zabaan lada rahi hai." (This girl's father fixed her marriage but she denied getting married and is now arguing with him.)

MS gets even more angry is about to say something but his CO cuts him off, "Par yeh ladki toh bahut chhoti hai. Abhi agar iski shaadi hui toh wo kanooni roop se galat hogi." (But this girl is quite young now. If she gets married now, it'll be illegal.)

The girl's father says, "Ladke wale iske liye bahut paise de rahe hai toh hum mana kaahe kare. Unko chhori pasand aa gayi toh shaadi tay ho gayi. Aapka pata nahi par hamara yaha toh yehi riwaaj hai." (The boy's family is offering a lot of money for her so why should I say no? They like the girl so I fixed her marriage. I don't know about you, but this is how things work around here.)

MS thunders, "Yeh ladki ek insaan hai, koi samaan nahi jo aap kisi ke bhi hawale kar doge kyuki wo aapko paise de rahe hai." (This girl is a human being not some item that you'll sell her off to whoever offers you money.)

The girl's father asks, "Jab itne saalo se iss bojh ko maine paala hai toh kya je chhori mahre khatir itna bhi nahi kar sakti hai?" (When I took care of this burden for so many years when why she can't do this one little thing for me?)

MS replies, "Beti hai yeh aapki, koi bojh nahi. Agar aapko itni hi dikkat hai isse, toh kisi anathalay me hi chhod aate, apne ghar bhi kyu laaye?" (She is your daughter, not a burden. If you had so much of a problem in taking care of your own daughter, then why didn't you just leave her at an orphanage? Why even bother bringing her home)

His CO asks, "Yeh sab theek hai lekin iss ladki ko pathar maar ke kya milega aap sabko?" (All this is fine but then why were you going to hit her with stones?)

A man from the crowd replies, "Je chhori baaki bachho ko bigaad degi aur hum sab yeh nahi chaahte. Isko apni galtiyon ki saja milni hi chahiye." (This girl will spoil the other kids and we don't want that. She should get punished of her mistakes.)

The CO is stunned when he hears MS ask, "Agar hum iss ladki ko yahan se le jaaye aur waada kare hi yeh kabhi wapas nahi aayegi, toh kya aap isko chod doge?" (If we take this girl from here and promise to never come back then will you spare her?)

The crowd murmurs in agreement, so MS immediately leads the stunned girl to their jeep.

The other officers immediately leave the scene and meet MS near the jeep.

His CO asks, "What was that MS?"

MS replies, "Sir, they weren't willing to listen and I couldn't leave her with those crazy people. She needs medical help right now and keeping her safe is also important. This girl will never be safe in such a place. I'm glad that she stood up to these people for what is right, but she can't fight them all alone."

His CO asks, "What do you plan to do now?"

MS replies, "I was thinking about taking her with me, if she agrees that is."

His CO asks, "Shouldn't you ask your wife about this first?"

MS replies, "I'm sure she'll understand when I explain the situation to her. In fact knowing her, she will appreciate my decision when she hears about what happened here today."

His CO nods, before telling the other soldiers get in the jeep as they were going back to their base.

~~~~~~~

Upon reaching their base, the soldiers took the young girl to the doctor stationed there and MS stayed with her the entire time.

After the doctor was done treating her injuries, he left MS and the girl alone in the examination room.

MS tries to initiate a conversation with the girl and says, "Hi, umm... My name, umm... I mean mera naam Mahi hai. Tumhara naam kya hai?" (My name is Mahi. What is your name?)

The girl softly replies, "My name is Siya"

MS looks a bit surprised and asks, "You know English?"

Siya nods and replies, "One of my good friends taught me after I was forced to leave school. I really wanted to study more but they all said that girls are not allowed."

MS feels angry upon hearing the young girl, but he calmly says, "If you want to study then I can help you. I mean that now you don't need to go back so that means that you don't need to follow those rules."

Siya smiles upon hearing his statement which warms his heart.

MS then asks, "I wanted to talk to you about something important, so can I?

Siya feels happy to hear that this stranger was asking for her opinion rather than announcing his decision for her and nods.

MS takes a deep breath and continues, "Since you can't exactly go back to that village, would you like to come with me?"

Siya's eyes widen and she asks, "Go where with you?"

MS replies, "Those people would have killed you if I hadn't promised them that you won't come back to their village. I was thinking about taking you with me to my home, in Ranchi. My wife is there and she's a very nice person, so I think you'll like her. You can study like you wanted to and I promise to take good care of you."

Siya appears to be in deep thought, so MS continues, "You don't have to agree if you don't want to. I'm sure we can come up with some other idea al-."

Siya cuts him off and says, "Yes"

MS looks confused and asks, "Wait, what?"

Siya smiles and replies, "Yes, I'll come with you Bhaiya (brother)."

MS again looks confused and asks, "Bhaiya?"

Siya retorts, "You are older than me, so I will call you Bhaiya only na?"

MS simply chuckles in response, causing Siya to smile as well.

Siya nervously asks, "I can call you Bhaiya, right?"

MS smiles and replies, "Yes you can. Since you have accepted me as your older brother, I promise to fulfil all my duties and take very good care of my little sister."

Siya throws her arms around her brother and hugs him tightly.

MS pulls away after some time and says, "Okay so you take some rest now. We will go to my house in Ranchi tomorrow and then you can also meet your Bhabhi (Older brother's wife)."

Siya nods in agreement and lies down on the bed, before shutting her eyes to rest.

MS lovingly pats her head until he is sure that she has fallen asleep and goes to update his CO about his sister's decision.

~~~~~~~

The next day MS bids farewell to everyone at his base along with Siya.

The CO comes to Siya and says, "I know that you are scared but I can guarantee that if MS has promised to take care of you then he will do everything that he can to do so. He is very protective of his family and even if he didn't say it out loud, I know that he has considered you to be a part of his family from the moment he decided to save you yesterday."

Siya smiles and nods, understanding what was being explained to her.

MS took his sister with him to the airport, after making arrangements for them both to travel safely.

Just before switching off his phone, he sends his wife a message informing her about him being on his way back and also telling her that they needed to talk about a very important matter.

~~~~~~~

During the flight, Siya tells her Mahi Bhaiya everything about her life, except her interest in cricket because she was afraid of him having a similar reaction to the people from her now former village.

Mahi, in turn, tells her about all his family members, including his cricket family and promises to introduce her to them once she is comfortable in the new city.

Siya told him about how she always tried to do things which were said to be meant only for boys, but always got caught one way or another which led to a round of beatings from her father or rather former father.

Mahi tried to divert her mind upon seeing how sad she got after the mention of her father and told her everything about how he met his wife and dated her for about two years, before getting married to her almost four years ago.

Siya was in awe when she heard her brother talk about his wife with so much love and affection, a feeling she was unfamiliar to.

Mahi was able to make his sister feel comfortable in his presence by his calm and mature behaviour which helped her open up more to him.

Listening to her brother talk, Siya felt that she had made the right decision by taking a chance to trust the man sitting right next to her.

~~~~~~~

So how was MSD's entry?

What do you guys think about this sibling duo?

PPS: Let me know if these English translations are good so then I'll continue doing it like this for all the other chapters.

Let me know what you guys think ✍🏻

Please vote ⭐