Barrister Babu: The Journey Ahead

When History Comes Knocking

As Anirudh was about to walk out of the front door to go to court, Sumati Ma came up to him and said, "Jamai Babu, there is something I want to tell you."

"Yes Ma?" Anirudh asked, stopping to listen to her.

"My Bondita is very innocent. I know she has studied in London all of these years, but she is still the same innocent child. She has a lot of faith in you. Please don't ever break that faith," Sumati Ma said to him, her hands folded in front of him.

Anirudh smiled. "Ma, I will never break her faith," he explained.

"I trust you Jamai Babu, but you two have gone through a lot," Sumati Ma said, "And in the past I know there were other... women in your life."

Anirudh looked at her, shocked. 

"Ma, why are you suddenly bringing this up?" he asked. 

"I don't want my Bondita's heart to break again," Sumati Ma said, tears in her eyes. "I know that she has always been just a responsibility for you... and now, I don't know what you really feel for her Jamai Babu. Are you fulfilling your responsibility only?" 

When Anirudh returned from London after he became a barrister, Anirudh had planned to propose to his childhood crush Saudamini. His plans, however, got foiled when he married Bondita to save her from the practice of Sati. 

He realized much later that what he felt for Saudamini had not been anything deep. The two of them had never been compatible, and in his young naivety, Anirudh hadn't been able to see that. 

Later on, Saudamini had done many things to hurt Bondita, and when he found out, he had cut even his friendly ties from Saudamini forever. 

Further along with time, he had met a freedom fighter named Manorama. He had deluded himself into thinking he was attracted to her, but the truth was that it had been nothing but an infatuation. As a man of only 23, Anirudh didn't have the emotional maturity to understand many things. 

He barely had time to process his infatuation, because Bondita, as a thirteen year old had proclaimed that she had a crush on Anirudh and wasn't focusing on her studies. His biggest dream had been to make her a Barrister so that she could empower women everywhere, and fight alongside him to make change in the world. He had even quickly forgotten about this superficial infatuation in front of Bondita's well-being.

In his obsession to make her a Barrister and cause her to forget about her crush on him, Anirudh had made perhaps the biggest mistake of his life.  He had faked a marriage with Manorama, because it suited her agenda as well. It hadn't been a real marriage, nor did Manorama have any false hopes. Her mission in Tulsipur ended, and she went on her way to devote her life to her freedom fighting movement. 

His relationship with Bondita had gotten strong with time, and when it was time to nullify their marriage, it was when Anirudh had deeply realized that the girl he married was not just a responsibility for him. She meant the world to him, and he would do everything he could to protect his world. 

That was when he had committed himself to Bondita forever -- he would either live a lonely life and die single, or be with her. There was no other option for him. 

Nullifying their marriage had been heartbreaking, but he had to do it for two reasons. 

First, to take a stand against child marriages everywhere. And second, to give Bondita the freedom to go out on her own and explore. To give her the choice to come back to him if that was what she wanted, and only if that was what she wanted.

All these years, Anirudh waited for Bondita. Not because she was a responsibility, but because she was his everything. When they were younger, he had been her parent, her Guru and her friend.