©Midnight Story Over A Cup Of Coffee

The Lost Epistle...(Part 5)

Din ke aathon peher hain tumhare ghar ke niche wale nukkad par baitha tumhare pita ke sath swatantrata abhiyan ki yojna banane ke bahane chupke se tumhare dedaar karta hoon.

Har subah main chajje ke samne khada ho kar matra tumhe tumhare bheege reshami dhaagon ki sukhate dekhta hoon. Kripa karke mujhse ye adhikar na chinna.

Ek saptah baad hum ek anshan kareinge angrezon ke virudh. Agar vo anshan safal rha tab main hum dono ke pitaji se tumhare sath vivah ka prastav rakhunga. Agar tum ye khath padh rhi ho iska arth ye hai ki hamara anshan safal rha aur pitashree bhi hamare vivah ke liye taiyar ho gaye.

Par agar abhi bhi tumhe mujhse vivah nhi karna aur agar tumhe lagta hai ki main tumhare yogya nhi hoon, tab iss kagaz ke tukde ko phad dena. Maan lena maine aisa kabhi khuch likha hi nhi. Par mujhe iss angrezon ke virudh ho rhe abhiyan se dur mat rakhna...

Tumhare khath ki pratiksha mein,tumhara shubh chintak...

                                      Vikram Seth.
                                      (15.09.1944)

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" Arey bhai tumhare jeev ko bhi shanti nhi milti! Phir se chale aye!", Chandu Kaka frowned at Sidhant.

Surely he didn't wished to talk about Bose Babu in the early morning.

Sidhant was sitting on the same nukkad bench. He was looking disturbed. Quite disturbed.

Chandu kaka sat on the opposite bench and ordered for a special adrak wali chai.

"Bas ek baat janni hai"

"Bolo! Kya janna chahte ho? Vaise  bhi hum mana kareinge tab bhi tum manoge toh nhi toh pucho!"

"Bose Babu ke sath kya hua tha?"

"Kya matlab kya hua tha? Vo Kolkata chale gaye aur kya hua?"

"Ye mere sawal ka jawab nhi hai! Apne kaha tha ki vo apni beti ki wajah se Indore aye the, phir vo wapas Kolkata kyun chale gaye?"

Chandu kaka felt silent but then slowly said,"Beti ki wajah se aye aur beti ki wajah se chale gaye".

Sidhant felt his heart sinking.

"Unki beti se mil sakte hain kya?",he slowly asked him.

Deep down he knew the answer still he wanted to her whereabouts.

"Kyun? Unki beti se ye ghar kharidna chahte ho kya?"and he started laughing at his own joke but soon stopped on seeing no reaction from his one man audience.

"Bose Babu ki beti kahan hai?"

"Unka dehant ho gya tha. Kusum Seth ke sath unki bhi vaise hi dardnak maut hui."Chandu kaka said without any remorse. But Sidhant flinched at this statement.

Kaka continued with the story,"Beti ke marne ke baad Bose Babu iss sheher ko chodh kar dobara Kolkata chale gye. Unke jaane ke baad Vikram Seth ne azadi ki ladai jaari rakhi. Sunne mein aya tha ki azadi ke panch saalon ke baad Bose Babu ki doob kar maut ho gai."

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Sidhant was waiting for her train. That epistle changed him a lot.

He understood the meaning for sacrifice for the first time.

Vikram became a true definition of selflessness for him.

He lost his family, his sister , his love , for this country.

It's a sad reality of today. People thinks it's cool to disregard the sacrifice of our freedom fighters.

Why people think that being emotional for national leaders an outdated custom?

Yeah they do believe that slitting veins for a name sake relationship is cool, but remembering national hero's and their sacrifice is not so cool.

"Who the hell made these norms anyway?",Sidhant wondered.

The sound of the arriving train broke his chain of thoughts.

His heart felt a weird feeling of anticipation.

Maybe , even Vikram used to feel the same for Kalyani? Maybe...

The train stopped at the platform and soon Anchal emerged from the train entrance with her luggage.

She came down from the train and started looking here and there with confused expression. She was told that the whole family would come to receive her.

She carried her luggage and started walking towards the exit when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

Sidhant hugged her tightly and said,"I really missed you!".

She felt each and every word genuine. She hugged him back.

Sidhant felt right for the first time.

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God knows how many love stories are buried on this land.

These sacrifices are asking for something in return.

There are many Vikram Seths, Bose Babus, Kusum Seth's, who are just wondering that why the hell they even sacrificed their lives and love?

They sacrificed everything for us, so shouldn't we gave them something in return? It's never too late anyway.

Maybe we can gave them a beautiful nation they always wished for. Maybe.

Those two old houses are still there, tall and strong, facing each other....

       
                   The End