When Shubhasini stumbles upon a mysterious amulet, she finds herself transported in a different world, and different period to the Shivasthambh dynasty. As she navigates the unfamiliar customs and traditions of the period, she catches the eye of the...
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Brinda mama's house was always dear to me. I remember the time when I used to come here with my maa and baba. The verandah, the swing in the corner, late night talk near the backyard with our cousins were my sweet memories of Brinda mama's house.
Now, at the age of twenty-five, I still desired for that time. The cousins, the bonding and my Maa and Baba. After they passed away I didn't get the time to visit the house anymore. Not even in the Durga Puja.
This year, Brinda Mama called me and requested that I should Visit Kashpur. This year the puja would complete 200 years.
"The roads seem to never improve," I peered out of the window as the driver drove through an uneven village path.
"No, didibhai. It worsened after last year's flood," the driver spoke up. I looked outside.
The beauty of silence in nature is broken by the sweet chirping of the birds. I darted out here and there. Pointing to my favourite childhood playing spots.
"How long have you been away, didibhai?" the driver asked. He was new.
"Are you new? I haven't seen you before?" I asked. He informed me that mama's last driver passed away last year.
"Brinda Dada is so excited to welcome you. I was just wondering who is coming," the driver told me.
I laughed. "It's been ten years. Am I behaving like a town girl?"
"No no, didi," the diver smiled. "You are acting like someone reliving their past,"
That's true. I never visited Kashpur after Maa and Baba died. It was always Brindra Mama or Bondhu Mami who came over to Kolkata.
I was never able to pronounce 'Brinda' in my childhood so I used to call Mama as Bondhu Mama. And after he got married I named my Mami as Bondhu Mami. Now, I forgot when Bondhu Mama transformed into Brinda Mama, although Mami always remained as Bondhu Mami in my mind.
The car stopped outside a worn-out building. The paint now weathered, unravelling the kind of elegance that only something old could. I came out of the car, and Mama and Mami were standing there with smiling faces.
"Bondhu Mami!" I almost jumped on her open arms as she engulfed me in a bear hug. That familiar smell of her took me back to the past.
"Oh, okay okay! I can see that. You forgot about your Bondhu Mama now," a voice said from behind. When I glanced at him, he was smiling but there were tears in his eyes.
"Mama!" I hugged him. "How could I forget you,"
"Oh, that you did. You forgot the route of Kashpur," He said, patting my head.
"I was so busy with work,"
"We can continue our greetings inside. Everyone is waiting," Mama told me awkwardly wiping his tears.
The same green colour shutters on the small front verandah and balconies. The small yard with green with trees and shrubs. The Temple was decorated to welcome Maa Durga.
"Bondhu Mama, how are you doing? It's been a year since you visited me," I asked him.
"I'm fine!" he replied proudly but Mami shook her head as soon as Mama turned back.
"Stealing sweets from the fridge again. The doctor told me to look after him. But does he care?" she whispered to me.
On entering the hall I saw something I was longing to see. The swing I used to sit through my whole summer vacations and the red polish floor. I remembered our horror story nights with Buri Maa (grandma) here in my childhood.
"Has everyone arrived?" I asked as the driver Kaka (Uncle) helped me to carry the luggage.
"Hain, everyone is already here. You are the only one arriving on Sashti puja," Mami told me, her eyes scrutinizing my hair.
"You did hair colour, Shubho?" she asked me. "Why did you do that? It will damage your hair, dear. And I can see that you also lose some weight. Don't you get the time to eat?"
"Bondhu Mami, my hair is fine and as for my weight, I'm good. It's just some work pressures is going on the last couple of weeks," I told them.
"I asked your Mami to make some Pitha for you," Mama informed me.
"Brinda Mama, Why! She already has so much to do in the puja!" I groaned.
Bondhu Mami just shook her head. "Shut your mouth, you don't come here every day. Don't know what you have to eat in there. All alone and-"
"Well well well, isn't their favourite niece here," Misti, one of my cousins said.
We used to be closed but along the way, we grew apart.
"Hello Misti, how are you?" I asked dutifully.
"Good, but you seem late. Playing the important one in the house again?" she asked and didn't wait for my reply.
"She and her mother demanded to stay in your mother's old room, Shubho," Mami told me when she was out of earshot. "I had prepared the room for you,"
"It's okay, Bondhu Mami, I'll stay with you," I told her. "I will not be able to get any sleep there anyway,"
The celebration started in the evening as we welcomed Durgamaa into the house. I wore a white saree with a red border, wore red paint in my hand. I also dutifully smiled and talked to my other cousins.
"Are you still doing that boring job?" one of them asked. I smiled and nodded. It was always safe if I didn't talk much. Mama and Mami were busy in the puja, so I was standing in the corner.
"You should get married you know?" Misti told me. Her one-year-old son was jumping around the yard as her husband sat in the corner with a grumpy face.
"I'm not ready," I told her.
"You should actually. You are already Twenty-seven," the one eavesdropping added.
"Twenty-five," I mumbled. "And I have not found the one to settle down,"
"There's no such thing as finding the right one, girl," One laughed. "And why are you waiting anyway? Are you hoping to get beautiful anytime?"
"She is hoping to live her life as she wishes," Bondhu mami told us from behind. She was holding the arati thali.
"Take the arati, my dear nephews and nieces. And leave her alone,"
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