It was raining cats and dogs that evening. Sujoy was returning home from work. Here was a man who was content with everything in his life. At 30 years, he had a wife and a two-year old son. With them there was a permanent government job. Really, what more could he want? At that moment all he wanted was a bus to Howrah. He lived there. Not a fancy flat that you see nowadays, but an old house. And he needed to get there. It was his fifth wedding anniversary. He couldn't afford to be late that evening. He knew how Sheela was. A perfect housewife, but with a terrible temper which he, in spite of not admitting it, used to fear. But he also loved her. As did he love his son. He would be joining school the next day. Imagine Rahul going to school! Barely two years old and his son is going to school!
It was a bandh that day. Sheela had told him not to go to work. It would be hard getting a bus back home. And now this rain. He hadn't even brought his umbrella. It was quite clear and sunny in the morning. Who would have known that the evening would turn out like this.
Sujoy was desperately hoping for a bus. But God doesn't always give us everything we ask for. However He also gives a lot unasked. Whether they are for our good is not for us to decide. God's queer ways!
He was walking along the lake when the rain became heavy. There was a shelter over the bus-stand on the other side of the road. He crossed the street at a run and took refuge under it. He knew it was going to be a long wait. As it was a bandh, only government buses would be plying.
"Only No.5",he thought. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lighted it. Sheela had told him many a time to quit smoking. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Standing under that shed alone, he could here the thunder asking him, "Are you happy?"
"Yes, why shouldn't I?
I've got a loving wife, a son, a job, my mother, a place to live in.
What else could I want?"
What else could he want? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot.
Disgusted, he threw the cigarette in the gutter. There are times like this when you feel there is something missing in your life, but you can't say what it is. Only, a voice keeps on saying in your ears-"More".
Smoking always makes you feel thirsty. He took out his bottle from his brief-case. It was empty. A few yards away there was a tea-stall. He went inside it at a run.
"Bhaisaab, thoda paani milega?"
"Maaf kijiye saab, abhie kuchh nahi milega. Dukaan bandh hone waala hai."
This was disgusting. He was just walking off when the man called out to him.
"Saab Chaye piyenge?"
"Hai kya?"
"Jee adha cup hoga. Chalega?"
"Kyon nahin?"
The man poured the tea from his stained kettle into a plastic cup. Sujoy took it and tried to bring out his wallet.
"Nahin saab. Paisa nahin lagega."
"Kyon?"
"Jee dukaan bandh ho chuka hai."
Sujoy smiled to himself. People are seeing too much movies these days. But getting something free doesn't hurt, does it?
He returned to his poor man's shelter in the bus-stand. He had just taken a sip from the cup when he suddenly heard someone coughing violently behind him. Sujoy was startled. He was too much preoccupied with thoughts about his poor self that he hadn't even noticed that there was another soul sharing that shade with him. It was a girl. She was barely 22.Dressed in a simple salwar, she couldn't really be called beautiful but it was enough to earn her more than a passing glance. She looked extremely frail and sick. There were dark patches under her eyes which spoke of nothing but suffering. Yet there was something in those eyes which kept Sujoy spellbound for a few moments. There was a depth as well as a strange emptiness in those eyes. You would feel lost in that ocean of twirling grey.
The girl was trying to tell him something. But her bouts of cough prevented her from doing so. Sujoy felt that he heard her saying "Jol, Jol" once. He himself was thirsty. He looked once at his hard-earned cup of tea and after hesitating for a moment he offered it to the girl. She drank it all in one gulp. Sujoy could see that she was having some trouble breathing. He patted her on the back. The girl reacted as if he had set a shiver down her spine. She looked at him in a strange way. There was a little bit of everything in those eyes-some gratitude, some fear, some admiration. He could not fathom what it was.
The tea seemed to do a world of good for her. After a few minutes, it seemed that she was regaining herself. Her pale cheeks regained some colour and she got back some of the composure that is characteristic of every Bengali girl.
"Thanks dada"
"It was nothing", said Sujoy, "What happened to you?"
She smiled. Sujoy could see her smile spread to her eyes.
"Asthma", she said with a sigh.
All this while she was sitting on a bench in the bus-stand. She tried to get up but stumbled onto Sujoy. He eased her back gently on the bench and sat beside her. This was odd. Sitting on a bench near the lake with an unknown girl with him would have been a very romantic situation indeed, if he would not have been married.
A bus of a different route made a stop at the bus stand. Its glaring headlamps momentarily dazzled them and when it left, it left the two souls in the mercy of the street-lamps, which made the place darker than ever before. This happens. Sometimes your feelings seem to be reflected from your surroundings. At that time, Sujoy's mind was clouded with thoughts-thoughts about himself, his family, his 10 to 5 office job, his monotonous routine, and that of the poor girl-carrying quite an incurable disease with her at such a tender age.
Sujoy lit a cigarette. He had given out two puffs when the girl started to cough yet again. Sujoy looked into her eyes and threw away the cigarette. She didn't tell him to do it. Her eyes had the astonishing quality of speaking her mind. The girl seemed to be rather embarrassed for making him throw away the cigarette.
"So, what's your name?"
For the first time, Sujoy heard her speak normally. Her voice was like a river trickling down the mountains-the boulders try to resist it but it still finds its way through them.
"Sujoy", he said, "What's yours?"
"Priya."
"Hmm, nice name."
Was it another flash of lightning? No. She smiled.
Sujoy could feel something going on inside him. What it was he couldn't tell. But he needed to get over it.
"Where do you live?" he asked, "You are too weak to go somewhere in this state."
"Are you going to take me home with you?"
For the first time, there was a faint smile on Sujoy's lips.
"No, but I could help you get on the bus", he said.
"I live in Howrah."
"Now that's some coincidence"
"Why?"
"I live there too."
"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Her voice was almost playful.
"No."
"That's good. You better not."
Both of them smiled at each other. Their eyes met. A chill ran down his spine. He had never felt something like this before.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't fall in love again. Or could he? No he definitely couldn't. He had a family-a wife and a son. And he cared for them. He just couldn't fall for a girl he had known only half an hour ago.
What was the relationship that was binding these two souls together? Love? Or maybe lust? No. It couldn't be. She had called him 'Dada'. Maybe she looked at him as a brother. He had no right to think like this about her. She trusted him. She had talked to him in a friendly manner. Was it enough to make him fall for her? Isn't this a breach of her trust? Isn't this a breach of the trust that Sheela has in him, that Rahul has in him, his widowed mother has in him? A monotonous life can't be excuse enough to play with so many people's emotions. What was he expecting of Priya? Why was he expecting something from her? Just because he had helped her in her moments of distress, he could not expect something from her. His mother had taught him so in his childhood. And the same question kept coming back again and again in his mind-"What do I expect from her? And why do I?"
This was going too far. He couldn't take it any longer. He got up from the bench and looked at her. She threw him a questioning glance. He forced his eyes away from her and started to walk through the rain. She called out to him-
"Where are you going?"
"Home", was Sujoy's brief reply.
"Didn't you say you live in Howrah?"
"I lied."
That was the last time they talked to each other. When Sujoy looked at her from the corner of his eye, he could see her looking at him, with an expression of incredulity. Even from the distance he could clearly see those eyes-the mist of twirling grey.
It was almost dawn when he reached home. Sheela opened the door. Her eyes said that she had been up all night. She asked-
"Ki go,eto deri holo keno?"
"Bus paini."
He didn't feel like talking anymore. He went off straight to bed. When he woke up next day, it was 6 in the evening. He was running a high temperature. Sheela was beside him. She had dozed off and her head was on his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. A drop of tear rolled down his cheeks. He closed his eyes once more.
It was 4 days before he could join office again. He was sitting in his desk and sipping a cup of tea when Dibyendu called out to him. Dibya was his childhood friend. They had been together both in school and college and now they were working in the same office.
"Oy Sujoy. There was an ad in Monday's Statesman from Webel. They have a vacant post. You better go through it."
Sujoy nodded and rummaged out the paper from under his desk. He was going through the ad when suddenly his eyes fell on a small newsprint:
By a staff reporter: The body of a girl,23 years old has been found on a bench near the bus-stand in the Rabindra Sarobar lakes last evening. Post mortem reports suggest that she was suffering from lung cancer. Her body has not been claimed yet. From her purse, the police has recovered papers which suggest that she was some Priya Banerjee of Howrah.
The cup fell from Sujoy's hands. Another cup of tea lost. For the girl he didn't knew. God's queer ways indeed.
It was a bandh that day. Sheela had told him not to go to work. It would be hard getting a bus back home. And now this rain. He hadn't even brought his umbrella. It was quite clear and sunny in the morning. Who would have known that the evening would turn out like this.
Sujoy was desperately hoping for a bus. But God doesn't always give us everything we ask for. However He also gives a lot unasked. Whether they are for our good is not for us to decide. God's queer ways!
He was walking along the lake when the rain became heavy. There was a shelter over the bus-stand on the other side of the road. He crossed the street at a run and took refuge under it. He knew it was going to be a long wait. As it was a bandh, only government buses would be plying.
"Only No.5",he thought. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lighted it. Sheela had told him many a time to quit smoking. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Standing under that shed alone, he could here the thunder asking him, "Are you happy?"
"Yes, why shouldn't I?
I've got a loving wife, a son, a job, my mother, a place to live in.
What else could I want?"
What else could he want? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot.
Disgusted, he threw the cigarette in the gutter. There are times like this when you feel there is something missing in your life, but you can't say what it is. Only, a voice keeps on saying in your ears-"More".
Smoking always makes you feel thirsty. He took out his bottle from his brief-case. It was empty. A few yards away there was a tea-stall. He went inside it at a run.
"Bhaisaab, thoda paani milega?"
"Maaf kijiye saab, abhie kuchh nahi milega. Dukaan bandh hone waala hai."
This was disgusting. He was just walking off when the man called out to him.
"Saab Chaye piyenge?"
"Hai kya?"
"Jee adha cup hoga. Chalega?"
"Kyon nahin?"
The man poured the tea from his stained kettle into a plastic cup. Sujoy took it and tried to bring out his wallet.
"Nahin saab. Paisa nahin lagega."
"Kyon?"
"Jee dukaan bandh ho chuka hai."
Sujoy smiled to himself. People are seeing too much movies these days. But getting something free doesn't hurt, does it?
He returned to his poor man's shelter in the bus-stand. He had just taken a sip from the cup when he suddenly heard someone coughing violently behind him. Sujoy was startled. He was too much preoccupied with thoughts about his poor self that he hadn't even noticed that there was another soul sharing that shade with him. It was a girl. She was barely 22.Dressed in a simple salwar, she couldn't really be called beautiful but it was enough to earn her more than a passing glance. She looked extremely frail and sick. There were dark patches under her eyes which spoke of nothing but suffering. Yet there was something in those eyes which kept Sujoy spellbound for a few moments. There was a depth as well as a strange emptiness in those eyes. You would feel lost in that ocean of twirling grey.
The girl was trying to tell him something. But her bouts of cough prevented her from doing so. Sujoy felt that he heard her saying "Jol, Jol" once. He himself was thirsty. He looked once at his hard-earned cup of tea and after hesitating for a moment he offered it to the girl. She drank it all in one gulp. Sujoy could see that she was having some trouble breathing. He patted her on the back. The girl reacted as if he had set a shiver down her spine. She looked at him in a strange way. There was a little bit of everything in those eyes-some gratitude, some fear, some admiration. He could not fathom what it was.
The tea seemed to do a world of good for her. After a few minutes, it seemed that she was regaining herself. Her pale cheeks regained some colour and she got back some of the composure that is characteristic of every Bengali girl.
"Thanks dada"
"It was nothing", said Sujoy, "What happened to you?"
She smiled. Sujoy could see her smile spread to her eyes.
"Asthma", she said with a sigh.
All this while she was sitting on a bench in the bus-stand. She tried to get up but stumbled onto Sujoy. He eased her back gently on the bench and sat beside her. This was odd. Sitting on a bench near the lake with an unknown girl with him would have been a very romantic situation indeed, if he would not have been married.
A bus of a different route made a stop at the bus stand. Its glaring headlamps momentarily dazzled them and when it left, it left the two souls in the mercy of the street-lamps, which made the place darker than ever before. This happens. Sometimes your feelings seem to be reflected from your surroundings. At that time, Sujoy's mind was clouded with thoughts-thoughts about himself, his family, his 10 to 5 office job, his monotonous routine, and that of the poor girl-carrying quite an incurable disease with her at such a tender age.
Sujoy lit a cigarette. He had given out two puffs when the girl started to cough yet again. Sujoy looked into her eyes and threw away the cigarette. She didn't tell him to do it. Her eyes had the astonishing quality of speaking her mind. The girl seemed to be rather embarrassed for making him throw away the cigarette.
"So, what's your name?"
For the first time, Sujoy heard her speak normally. Her voice was like a river trickling down the mountains-the boulders try to resist it but it still finds its way through them.
"Sujoy", he said, "What's yours?"
"Priya."
"Hmm, nice name."
Was it another flash of lightning? No. She smiled.
Sujoy could feel something going on inside him. What it was he couldn't tell. But he needed to get over it.
"Where do you live?" he asked, "You are too weak to go somewhere in this state."
"Are you going to take me home with you?"
For the first time, there was a faint smile on Sujoy's lips.
"No, but I could help you get on the bus", he said.
"I live in Howrah."
"Now that's some coincidence"
"Why?"
"I live there too."
"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Her voice was almost playful.
"No."
"That's good. You better not."
Both of them smiled at each other. Their eyes met. A chill ran down his spine. He had never felt something like this before.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't fall in love again. Or could he? No he definitely couldn't. He had a family-a wife and a son. And he cared for them. He just couldn't fall for a girl he had known only half an hour ago.
What was the relationship that was binding these two souls together? Love? Or maybe lust? No. It couldn't be. She had called him 'Dada'. Maybe she looked at him as a brother. He had no right to think like this about her. She trusted him. She had talked to him in a friendly manner. Was it enough to make him fall for her? Isn't this a breach of her trust? Isn't this a breach of the trust that Sheela has in him, that Rahul has in him, his widowed mother has in him? A monotonous life can't be excuse enough to play with so many people's emotions. What was he expecting of Priya? Why was he expecting something from her? Just because he had helped her in her moments of distress, he could not expect something from her. His mother had taught him so in his childhood. And the same question kept coming back again and again in his mind-"What do I expect from her? And why do I?"
This was going too far. He couldn't take it any longer. He got up from the bench and looked at her. She threw him a questioning glance. He forced his eyes away from her and started to walk through the rain. She called out to him-
"Where are you going?"
"Home", was Sujoy's brief reply.
"Didn't you say you live in Howrah?"
"I lied."
That was the last time they talked to each other. When Sujoy looked at her from the corner of his eye, he could see her looking at him, with an expression of incredulity. Even from the distance he could clearly see those eyes-the mist of twirling grey.
It was almost dawn when he reached home. Sheela opened the door. Her eyes said that she had been up all night. She asked-
"Ki go,eto deri holo keno?"
"Bus paini."
He didn't feel like talking anymore. He went off straight to bed. When he woke up next day, it was 6 in the evening. He was running a high temperature. Sheela was beside him. She had dozed off and her head was on his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. A drop of tear rolled down his cheeks. He closed his eyes once more.
It was 4 days before he could join office again. He was sitting in his desk and sipping a cup of tea when Dibyendu called out to him. Dibya was his childhood friend. They had been together both in school and college and now they were working in the same office.
"Oy Sujoy. There was an ad in Monday's Statesman from Webel. They have a vacant post. You better go through it."
Sujoy nodded and rummaged out the paper from under his desk. He was going through the ad when suddenly his eyes fell on a small newsprint:
Girl found dead on a bench near the lake
By a staff reporter: The body of a girl,23 years old has been found on a bench near the bus-stand in the Rabindra Sarobar lakes last evening. Post mortem reports suggest that she was suffering from lung cancer. Her body has not been claimed yet. From her purse, the police has recovered papers which suggest that she was some Priya Banerjee of Howrah.
The cup fell from Sujoy's hands. Another cup of tea lost. For the girl he didn't knew. God's queer ways indeed.
3 comments:
tuchcho kotha diye proshongsa korle ei lekhar opomaan kora hobe... tai etuku bolchi... tulonahin !! here is another potential talented blogger in the net community... beware other competitors !!
bhalo kharap er kothai aschi na....but it's a bit different!!
apurbo - satti satti apurbo! Keep up the good work...
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