Har ghadi ab kyun hai dhyan tera.
Trilochan Roy Chowdhury barely had friends in his life. He was always the firstborn of a Zamindar house who grew up with the vanity of not mixing with commoners, and eventually lost his parents early and learnt it the hard way in life not to trust anyone except family. The only probable exception to this was probably Kalindi Devi. Kalindi’s father was Nayeb to his father. She used to live on the premises of the Roy Chowdhury house, with her siblings. Trilochan’s mother always fancied daughters. Especially after her own was married off and died suddenly the grief-stricken woman had taken quite a liking to this soft-spoken well-behaved daughter of the Nayab. That resulted in Kalindi spending most of her grown-up years inside the Roy Chowdhury house while her father helped take care of the Zamindari. Kalindi and Trilochan were of the same age. Now whether it was her naivety or simply because his mother over-pampered her she never addressed him as “Malik '' like the rest of the village. First, it was “Tri” just like his mother called him, and it annoyed him terribly. She followed him everywhere and even taught him things he didn’t want to learn, like picking mangoes with stones, making jokes about the headmaster of his school and even annoying the old men of the village by stealing their clothes at the pond. Trilochan was embarrassed to even acknowledge her as a friend then. Kalindi was married off to someone in the Bogra village near Rangpur and that was when Trilochan, struggling with his mother’s demise and eventually taking up his responsibilities realised that she was a friend he needed, the only friend he had. Kalindi’s father left work to settle in Kashi soon after, leaving him with no contact with her. It wasn’t very chivalrous of an unmarried man to write letters to a married woman, that to the daughter of his Nayab, so Trilochan let that thought go. Today, Kalindi was standing in front of him, in her fifties, looking nothing like he remembered her to be. The spark and joy in her eyes were dulled, she looked more aged than she was.
“It is me, Kalindi. Your Nayab’s daughter. Don’t you remember me?” She frowned due to his lack of response. Trilochan opened his mouth But no words came out of it.
“Oh, I apologise, you must not remember me.” Kalindi stepped back, suddenly aware of her appearance. “We were kids, it was my mistake.” She turned as Trilochan stopped her.
“Kalindi, what are you doing here?” He looked shocked.
Bihari knocked on the door of the apartment and Ashapurna opened it in a hurry. He looked a little startled as he smiled faintly.
“All of you are fine, Ma Duggar Kripa.” He folded his hands “Boro Malik sent me over to bring the news that they are fine and the village is not damaged much. Only the panchayat was burnt down. The…” He stopped as Aniruddha, Bondita and Ashapurna were still staring at him.
“Where is Mejo Dadababu?” he asked as Ashapurna sat down sobbing.
“Something has happened to him, Didibhai. I knew it.” Bondita rushed to her side as the children came out hearing her sobbing.
“He didn’t reach Tulsipur?” Aniruddha managed to ask. Bihari Babu looked scared and shook his head “Boro Malik told him to be here, right?”
“Bihari, when did you leave Tulsipur?” Aniruddha enquired.
“This morning Malik.” He scratched his head. Aniruddha frowned.
“He boarded the train yesterday morning, he should have reached…” He stopped as Ashapurna sobbed. Bondita looked up at him, visibly scared.
“What happened to Maa?” Ashutosh spoke first, with a frown.
“Why are you crying, Kakima?” Patralekha added. Aniruddha glanced at Bihari who was quick to take them inside with the context of telling them stories. Aniruddha sank back in the chair, his hand cupping his chin.
“What do we do now, Dadabhai?” Ashapurna asked in between her tears.
Bondita looked up at Aniruddha thinking the same.
Somnath cursed his luck. He hated to admit how right Aniruddha was to advise him against it. He had reached the Balurghat station in an overcrowded train, almost risking his life, but the moment he stepped out of the station he realised that there was a curfew going on.
“What happened here?” he managed to ask a policeman as the fire still burnt in buildings and areas looked deserted.
“An angry mob crossed paths here with refugees, they attacked them thinking they were vulnerable.” The policeman shrugged. “Just go hide somewhere.”
“Wait…” Somnath called in vain as he heard people approaching. Scared, he slipped into a very narrow lane and found his way to a corner, in front of a locked house. It was dark and the mosquitoes were the least of his concerns. He saw a light being lit, on a window above. He could see a woman from a distance. The woman looked about Ashapurna’s age and she cradled a child. He suddenly heard people and noises. He held his breath. An angry mob came and burnt down the house. They dragged the woman out by her hair and kicked her. Somnath froze as the woman bled to death in front of his eyes, as he hid carefully. The mob left the child sobbing beside the dying mother and went off to the next house to check for people inside. The child kept wailing as the mob seemed to have run into police at a distance. Somnath seized the chance, picked up the child and ran. His shirt was smeared in blood, and the open eyes of the battered woman, with her throat slashed, haunted him. He didn’t know where to go. He decided he needed to wait for dawn. But the child needed to stop wailing. He looked around for help.
Somnath had walked for miles till he found the light of a village. Scared and helpless he had knocked on the door with the wailing child, then two and three. Nobody opened the doors. The wail of the child then made an old woman’s heart melt. She peeked through the door and then let them in. She offered him food and fed the child milk.
“Is she yours?” The woman asked as Somnath shook his head. “I found her.”
“You must have a wife and children?” The old woman asked. Somnath gulped. He had never in his life realised that he could perhaps miss them, miss Asha. Ashapurna and he had their differences and she had always been happy to comply with his will. He had never ever shown his gratitude to her. Never had he ever asked her about her dreams. Somnath suddenly felt the urge to return home and hold her, and apologise for all the times he had hurt her. What he had witnessed that night, could have been her, could have been any of them. He eyed the sleeping child. She could have been any of the children.
“We are going back to Tulsipur,” Aniruddha spoke as he got up. “Pack your things, I will go and inform Birendra to take care of some things. Then I will call home and ask if he returned. Tell Bihari to get our tickets. We are leaving tonight.” Bondita nodded as Aniruddha left in a hurry.
“You sit here. I will do everything. We will find him.” Bondita reassured Ashapurna, wiping away her tears. “Nothing will happen to him.”
“My husband died when I was twelve,” Kalindi spoke as she now sat on the couch of the Roy Chowdhury house reluctantly. “I was alone at the village house.”
“Your children?” Trilochan asked as she shook her head. “I have none, I have a mother-in-law. She has been paralyzed waist down. She told me to leave her behind.” Kalindi wiped her tears “And I did. So selfishly. My husband will never forgive me.”
“He will understand,” Trilochan reassured. Koeli came down as he looked up “Give her the guest room, she is staying here.”
“No Tri…” Kalindi stood up and eyed Koeli who looked a little taken aback. “Malik, I can’t. I will make my way to Kashi to see if any of my siblings are alive.”
“Kashi is a big place to search in Kalindi, and it is not safe to travel now. Stay here.” Trilochan insisted. “And when did you start calling me Malik?” he asked with a faint smile on his lips.
“We were naive children back then.” She shook her head a little embarrassed.
“You are still a friend.” Kalindi Devi looked up at his words. “Koeli, take her inside.” Koeli nodded as the telephone rang.
“Hello.” Trilochan picked it up, happy to hear Aniruddha’s voice. Then his smile faded.
Somnath had found a bullock cart to take him to Tulsipur. Thankfully the man knew the village and the Roy Chowdhury house. Most people were avoiding him, seeing the bloodstain on his shirt. He held the child close and waited for the bullock cart to reach the Roy Chowdhury premises.
Ashapurna was inconsolable when they reached home that morning to realise Somnath was not yet in Tulsipur. Binoy paced the room, as Trilochan called a few people. Nikhil and Sampoorna had arrived and Sampoorna served them tea. Nikhil asked Aniruddha what they should do. Aniruddha suggested they look around the nearby villages. The silent fear of the worst loomed over the Roy Chowdhury house. Kalindi Debi walked in and looked a bit taken aback seeing the entire family. Binoy’s eyes fell on her as she looked a little uncomfortable.
“Who is she?” Binoy asked as all eyes were on her.
“I… apologise. I didn’t realise everyone…”
“She is our old Nayab Babu’s daughter.” Trilochan made her stop “And my childhood friend. I brought her home when I found her in the camp.” Bondita walked up to the woman and surprised her by touching her feet.
“I am Bondita. If you need anything, please let me know.” She managed a faint smile.
“Dhonnobad, Bouma.” Kalindi’s words made her look up. Trilochan had told her about everyone. She glanced over her shoulder at the worried family.
“Please come, sit with us.” She insisted. “We are just worried…” The bullock cart at the doorway made them rush out towards the door.
Somnath was shocked to find Aniruddha rushing down the stairs and hugging him.
“Are you hurt?” Binoy asked, noticing the blood stains as he shook his head. “This is not mine.” He took the child up in his arms and looked up at the threshold where Ashapurna stood in tears, beside Bondita. He smiled at her, in relief. He was home.
“I found this… child.” he managed as Aniruddha took the child from him.
“Come inside and sit down.” Trilochan looked agitated.
The whole house was silenced by the story Somnath narrated. Bondita had instructed Koeli to bathe and feed the child who was barely one and place her with the children. They would be occupied. Trilochan was the first to speak.
“Mejo Bouma, take him inside. He needs to rest.” Ashapurna nodded. “And we will see what to do with the child tomorrow.”
Ashapurna had brought in warm water for Somnath to wash his face with as she stood by him with a piece of clean cloth. He held her hand as she offered him the cloth, making her look up at him. Somnath gulped. He surprised Ashapurna with a hug as he sobbed in her arms. Ashapurna patted his head gently.
“I can’t tell you how horrible it was. How… I just wanted to see you again.” He made Ashapurna smile in her tears as she embraced him.
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