RAABTA

Ek mauka de mujhe tu Apni galti sudhaaru Aa kahin se chule haath mera. Bondita looked out of her window to see the ladies of the village preparing for the morning rituals of her cousin's wedding. The blushing bride sat in the middle of it, in a yellow saree, as one of the married women put the Shakhapola in her hands. She blushed as the ladies teased her. Bondita's eyes fell almost into a reflection of her mother sitting in a corner with her beads and praying. She remembered when such signs of a married woman were on this woman too. Bondita couldn't help but wonder if things would have been different had her father been alive. She sighed. As she approached the door a little eagerly, Sumati opened her eyes and called out to her. "Bondita." She frowned. "I told you not to go out, didn't I?" She reminded her daughter. "And what have you done to yourself? Braid your hair, and brush it properly. It looks like a mess. Wear some kajal under your eyes.

Apni khusboo jo chupaaye Main hoon wahi Kasturi. Tere Mere beech mein hai Ek hi Parde ki Doori Bondita's arrival in the motor car attracted a lot of unwanted attention from the villagers. She got down at the given address and crossed over the threshold into the courtyard surrounded by three huts, with her bundle of clothes in her hand.  "Bondita." A woman clad in white came up to her and hugged her. Bondita recognised her mother. Yet the hug felt alien. She stiffened instead of hugging her back. Sumati realised it and cupped her face.  "How beautifully you have grown." She smiled. Bondita forced a smile. "Come let's meet the others." Bondita touched the feet of the elders. They gushed about her rich in-laws sending her home in a motor car. "Do you have a large house? And garden Didi?" Her cousins asked.  "Will Jamai Babu come to take you?" Someone else asked. Bondita looked at the faces as colour flushed from her cheeks at every

Tark se hai fark padta tune mujhe ye sikhaya Par yaha toh sab ne mere labon pe tala lagaya, Sath jab se tera chuta koi na haath mein aya. Sampoorna held Debaditya's last letter to her chest and wept. Bondita sat across her and firmly placed her hand on her shoulder.  "What did he say?" "He instructed me to help you run the school for the girls and women. He wants me to teach them music." Bondita smiled. "That will be the best. I will arrange a wage for you. That way you can maintain the hut and your food." Sampoorna hugged Bondita tight. Bondita felt like she needed it more. She had spent a sleepless night running through the options in her head. What was her way forward now? She wondered. She closed her eyes and she could see him. When did she become so dependent on Barrister Babu? Sampoorna cupped her face worried. "What's wrong with you?" She asked. "Are you alright?"  "Didi… did you know…. Do you remember…" she sto

Tu ne raksha ki hamesha  Ab akeli hui main Jag andhera tu sitara mera. "I heard it myself. They told Dada to go to Jetha Moshai's room." Batuk sat on the jute mat on the western balcony of the house as Bondita sat slicing betel nuts with a cutter for Trilochan's Paan in the afternoon. "Why?" She asked. Batuk shrugged. "Maybe they want Sampoorna Boudi to leave soon." Bondita's hands stopped at the nuts as she looked worried.  "Don't tell anyone I told you," Batuk warned. She nodded.  "Give me some of that." He insisted as Bondita handed him some finely chopped nuts. She then picked up the paan box and walked away as Batuk laid down on the mat leisurely. It was late at night when Aniruddha stood on the roof of the mansion. The darkness of the night was hauntingly silent. He heard the sound of anklets behind him as he realized Bondita was approaching the stairs. He didn't look back. Instead, he looked up at the sky. It

Dur tak hai ek udasi Aa gayi main kaha re Atma tak kaapti hai Koi na mera yaha re. "Stop." The villagers stared at Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury frantically waving his hand as they looked at each other confused. He was not in mourning attire. What surprised them more was that Bondita accompanied him. She must have brought him here, they inferred. Bondita ran from his side to Sampoorna who was sitting on the ground in bridal attire, numb.  "What do you think you are doing?" Aniruddha rebuked Munshi as he looked up. "How can you let her do the Sati?" "That's what she should do. To ensure his partnership in the afterlife. And the next life." One of the older men spoke up, making him look perplexed.  "What?" Aniruddha shook his head with a frown. "You think murdering someone will give them a passage to heaven?" "I see you have been listening to some people a lot." One of the old men spoke. "You know what they say, if

Kaise kahu kya lage tu meri, Tu saanse meri parchayi meri. A few months went by, and Aniruddha received a phone call from his friend informing him that he had collected a matriculation form for Bondita. Excited by the same, Aniruddha decided to rush to Calcutta to meet his friend. He also promised to bring Batuk some gifts much to his joy. "For how many days do you plan to go to this friend of yours?" Binoy asked at the breakfast table. "For a few days. Maybe three." Aniruddha smiled. "He insisted I stay with him for a few days." "Great. Then go for lunch at the Bhowmik's one day. He would like that." Aniruddha's hand stopped at the bread as he looked up. First at his father, then Trilochan, and Bondita who was serving him.  "Baba, there is something I need to talk about." Trilochan looked up at his words and Binoy frowned. Bondita's hand stopped at the bowl as she looked up at him. "I am not going back to London anymor