It Wasn't Supposed To Happen

26

" Pati babu... What did you notice to make you feel that...?"

" I caught...him... staring at you...but...but I am just asking you to be a little aware of your surroundings... when he is around." Should he be even saying this to her ? Why should she be careful, it should be that creep who needed to be locked up. But till something could be done about it, he just wanted Bondita to be aware of it. He felt ashamed of himself to be asking her to be careful instead of punching the lights out of Chandrachur. The reason he was unable to look into her eyes.

" Why aren't you looking at me ?" She had gathered enough confidence by now.

" Because... I feel helpless."

She could feel his voice crack a little. "Why...?"

" Because...no girl should have to be careful like this. No girl should feel she should hide herself from someone. And here I am asking you to do the same." Ashamed he did feel.

Bondita was not liking the lack of eye contact. He was not supposed to look down, feel helpless. Ever. She held his face in her palms and made him look at her. He looked guilty of a crime he didn't commit.

She smiled at him reassuringly.

" I understand what you are feeling pati babu. You just want to protect me that's it...!"

" But..."

She understood, a little, that it could create a conflict in family to point Chandrachur for staring at her. Controversial. And hurtful for her sister.

" I understand why you are asking me this. We are with family, we can't just go around..."

" Bondita..." He cut her, unintentionally. " I... I confronted him. Warned him...you don't need to be scared...just careful... I...pro..." He knew a warning was not enough, the guilt eating him, helplessness clawing at him.

Bondita sensed it.

" You think this is the first time I have been stared at pati babu...?"

This put a break to Aniruddh's thoughts. He knew it was true. He had just never wanted to picture Bondita in such a situation. But unfortunately...

" I know it is not right. A girl should never feel such a way. Sometimes... when I go out to the market or...wear my school uniform and walk on streets alone, which is rare, I can catch sometimes men... staring at me." It was her turn to look down.
Aniruddh put a comforting pressure on her knees.
Unknown to both, they had formed a dependence of touch, comfort, in times like these. They had both gotten more comfortable with each other even without noticing.

" It...it is very rare, such men, but they do exist. Because they know of who I am, they don't try to make it obvious but I feel their eyes pati babu..." She ended it with a whisper.

" Why did you never...tell me this before...!? Bondita...??!" She had been feeling all that, going through all that...?!! And trying to handle it alone. This is why he didn't like it, her being all grown up, grown up enough to be going through things like this alone...! Grown up enough to be subjected to things like this and sadly having a painful understanding about it all.

" Because there was hardly anything you could do about it pati babu...! How many men were you going to yell at or beat up ? Even if you do punish them you can't take away the filth in there brains. There will always be someone out there, may be one in hundreds, thousands... someone, just one, to make a girl feel scared of walking a street alone."

Aniruddh just could not make his heart stop feeling her pain, he didn't want to. Having no girl in the house, men in Roy Chowdhury family never gave this all much thought. But looking at Bondita he realised, yet again, just how hard must it be for girls all over to have such good grasp on such sensetive topic at such young an age. It was heartbreaking. It was the age for a girl to think of what to wear to look pretty , not what not to wear to not attract stares. It was age to go frolicking in fields, exploring the surroundings and not thinking of what places girls aren't allowed to go to, aren't safe enough.