A little girl can be seen coming out of a school gate and she seems to be waiting for someone. Subsequently, a motor car stops in front of her and a man steps out of it. In his late 20s and dressed up in formals, with checkered dress pants and a long coat billowing behind him, he advances towards the child. His eyes gain a certain kind of glint as he looks at her, mostly resembling relief. But his sure steps come to a halt when he sees her sulking face, with her face blown up and back half turned away from him. A sudden chuckle leaves his lips at her cuteness and he bends down to her level.
"I'm sorry", he says catching his ears. "Aaj ke baad pakka kabhi der nhi hogi."
But instead of replying, she turns to face him, makes a silly face and turns to face away again.
"Apne bhaiya ko maaf nhi karegi Bela?", he asks her making a puppy face.
"Nhi!", She acts adamant.
"Achcha toh phir thik hai, wo motor gadi mein jo chocolate ka dabba rakkha hai wo main tumhare Somnath dada ko de dunga", he says teasing her, knowing damn well that he has hit the right nerve.
"Chocolates!", she exclaims, turning to face him as all anger leaves her just at mention of her favourite sweets. "Shotti Anirudh bhaiya?", she asks in a squeal.
"Haan Bela shotti!". No matter how angry she might be, her Anirudh bhaiya knows exactly how to persuade her.
She quickly gets into the car and begins to devour her chocolates while Anirudh watches her with sheer fondness in his eyes. He chuckles at how she licks her lips and fingers while eating. This action provokes memories to play in his mind, and he is reminded of how she used to do the same while eating her favourite roshogulle. Remembering her, his smile vanishes and before he knows it, can even resist it, his eyes are glassy. He quickly wipes at his eyes, unnoticed by Bela.
"Toh chale?", he asks her before starting the car.
"Haan bhaiya chaliye", and with that he drives to the Roy Choudhary Haveli, standing tall and imposing as it ever has. With its beautiful front yard and splendid built. It had stood at that place in all its glory for many generations, showing off it's reputation as one of the most valuable possessions of the Roy Chowdhury lineage.
"Bela tum andar jao. Mujhe kuch kam hai, main sham tak ghar aajaunga", Anirudh says as soon as they reach the Haveli.
"Pakka na bhaiya? Sham tak aajayenge na? Aapko pata hai na meko apke bina achcha nhi lagta", Bela says in a moue.
"Haan Bela pakka ajaunga! Shotti!", he says pinching his throat, smiling assuringly as he does it.
She grins back in reply, satisfied by his promise. Waves her hand and goes inside frolicking and frisking, like the 8 year old she was, inside the haveli.
And gone with her was the constant smile that was lighting up Anirudh's face all this while. His smile dims and completely vanishes after a couple seconds. His features harden, eyes looking dull now, without the playful glint they had worn just a while ago and jaw sharp enough to cut stone. With a new destination in mind, he drives away.
"Your honour, I would like to call Mr. Rajesh Thakur, my client's younger brother, in the witness box", requested Barrister Om Ghosh.
"You may." the judge granted him the permission.
"Thank you Your honour."
Rajesh Thakur, a tall and lanky man in appearance, stood in the witness box.
"So Mr. Rajesh, can u recall back the happenings of the night when, according to the plaintiff, the incident had occured?"
"Yes Barrister, I clearly remember everything about that night, Mukherjee family is falsely alleging my brother in this case! I swear to every deity out there, he hasn't done anything wrong!", said Mr. Rajesh, almost shouting.
"Mr. Rajesh, you have to maintain the decorum of the court!", interrupted the judge.
"I am sorry your honour." Mr. Rajesh apologized.
"So Mr Rajesh, what do you remember about the night?", asked Barrister Om again.
"Barrister, my brother loved my sister-in-law Rama dearly, and he couldn't even think of hurting her in his wildest of dreams, let alone burn her alive! That was just a mere accident because of which I lost my boudi! She was nothing less than an elder sister to me." Mr. Rajesh teared up saying this.
"Control your emotions for time being Mr. Rajesh, the court needs the details about the accident."
"Objection your honour, my learned friend can't name it as an accident until it is declared by the court as one." a voice protested.
Anirudh Roy Chowdhury being the owner of it. Annoyance laced his tone.
"Objection overruled!", the judge declared.
Barrister Om smirked at this, glancing at Anirudh who sat back at his place without another word, looking calm at the outside but his clenched fist and sharp jaw said otherwise.
Barrister Om continued, "So give me the details Mr. Rajesh."
"Boudi was working in the kitchen like every other day and Durga knows how her saari caught the flame of the fire and...and this unfortune struck our family!"
"Objection your honour," Anirudh spoke up in the few seconds of silence that had prevailed after Rajesh's statement, "I have some questions for Mr. Rajesh, which I want to ask."
"You may." the judge gave him the permission.
Anirudh straightened his long, black coat in a swift, confident motion. He eyed Rajesh from head to toe and something resembling a smirk crossed his features when he noticed him shifting from foot to foot.
Rajesh felt a little, read as: a lot nervous now that he was under Anirudh's scrutiny.
"Mr. Rajesh Thakur, from what I have researched, I've got to know that it was your brother's second marriage, am I right? Was it?"
Rajesh visibly gulped and Barrister Om tensed.
"Yes...yes it was."
"What went wrong with the previous one then?", Anirudh asked raising his eyebrows.
"My learned friend, may I know how does this information concern the case in anyway?", intervened Barrister Om.
"I'm sure my learned friend will have his turn." Anirudh said paying absolutely no heed to him.
He turned to Mr. Rajesh again, "Your answer?"
"My brother left her."
"I want to know the reason." Anirudh said stressing on the word reason.
"She wasn't able to bore a child."
"Oh? So just because she was infertile your brother had left her? And what was wrong with Rama then? Was she also infertile, or did she fail to bring the dowry?" Anirudh purposely slowed down his last words, pronouncing each syllable clearly, so that every person sitting in that courtroom could be hit with the realisation of the truth.
Hearing the last words, Rajesh's eyes widened and he struggled to morphe his expressions to normal.
"What are you saying Barrister?", he snapped impatiently, "How can you accuse my brother of such a serious crime without having any evidence against him?"
"Barrister Roy Choudhary, your words won't prove anything.", Barrister Om interrupted, fuming with barely concealed ire.
"And who said I don't have any evidence?", responded Anirudh with a mocking turn of his lips.
"Your honour I would like to call Miss Renuka, ex-wife of Mr. Ghanshyam Thakur, in the witness box.", he announced to the judge.
Hearing Renuka's name, Ghanshyam began perspiring in terror, as he didn't expect Renuka to go against him in court.
That dumb girl definitely couldn't have the courage.
"You May."
"Thanks your honour."
"Miss Renuka, may I know the exact reason behind your broken marriage?", queried Anirudh, as soon as Renuka entered the witness box.
But she had it. More than he could ever even think of possessing.
"Barrister, I am infertile and that was the reason why I was thrown out of the house by my husband and in-laws.", answered a shabby looking Renuka. She was wrapped in a pale yellow saari, her hair was tied in a bun and she had no visible peace of accessory on her body, except for a pair of cheap looking earrings in her ears.
"What do you want to say? Wasn't Mr. Ghanshyam a loving husband just as Mr. Rajesh and all his other family members had delineated him to be?"
Her lips twitched mockingly, before she replied with rage prominently visible in her eyes, "He doesn't even deserve to be called a human, let alone being called 'loving'."
"What kind of a married life did you both share?", asked Anirudh again.
"It wasn't like a marriage at all, it was more of a business deal. I felt like I was sold by my parents to them and my only job was to please that monster! I got married just because my parents paid the dowry but when these monsters got to know about my infertility, they simply threw me out of the house and I had no where to go. My parents refused to take me in either. They couldn't carry my burden any longer than they had already since my birth." she broke-down after finishing her words.
With the corners of his mouth twitching, Anirudh then turned towards the judge, "Your honour, as you can see, the case is crystal clear now. A person who just uses women as some kind of a toy to bore children and bring money to him in the form of dowry, can never be a lovable husband, which I think, is quite obvious by now." he said to the judge, eyeing Ghanshyam simultaneously. "He did the same with my client, Miss Rama. His family had asked her parents to pay the dowry and when they delayed, these bastards burnt her alive!" he spat with disgust, "They didn't even think twice before committing such an inhuman act!"
"Apologies for my language." he added as an afterthought, trying to ease his hackles which have risen.
"Well, my learned friend, what proof do you have to prove my client guilty?", Barrister Om said defending his client, impatience laced with his voice.
"Proof? Sure." A smirk creept to his lips.
Swiftly turning to the Judge, "Your honour I would like to call one of Mr. Ghanshyam Thakur's neighbours in the witness box." he demanded his permission.
"Yes, you may."
"So Mr. Abhijeet, are you the neighbour of Mr. Ghanshyam?"
"Yes Barrister babu I am."
A scared looking, plump man, now stood before him in the witness box.
"Then could you please characterize Mr. Ghanshyam, as I assume, you being his neighbour, might have observed him closely?", urged Anirudh.
"As much as I have seen, he is an arrogant and egoistic man." Mr. Abhijeet replied a bit hesitantly, as he knew very well how powerful the Thakur's were and what going against them entailed.
"And did you find anything suspicious about him? I mean, have you ever seen or heard anything that you felt, wasn't right?", inquired Anirudh again, his eyes narrowing with every word he spoke.
Abhijeet swallowed and glanced over at Ghanshyam, before opening his mouth reluctantly, "Yes," he finally managed to utter, "we usually heard voices of Rama malkin crying but we didn't do anything about it as we thought it was their personal matter and also since he belonged to the mukhiya's family, whereas we were nowhere near to their status."
"Are you trying to say that he use to harass his wife?"
"Yes."
"And you people didn't pay any attention to it? Seriously? Only because of ignorant people like you..." he took a deep breath and clutched his fist, trying to suppress his anger.
Abhijeet bowed his head in shame.
"Tell me what did you see on the day Rama died?"
"When we heard her scream, we barged into the house. We saw Rama Malkin was set on fire and her in-laws and Ghanshyam Malik were standing near her but weren't doing anything to help her out. Ghanshyam Malik held a matchstick in his hand which every member of family can swear to have seen. He dropped it when we entered and the family started panicking as soon as they saw us."
"Your honour I think this is enough to prove Mr. Ghanshyam guilty.", said Anirudh, arms up in the air.
"Does the defence have anything else to add?"
But they had none. Seeing a defeated Barrister Om silently fuming, the judge continued with his verdict.
"After hearing both the sides and analyzing all the witnesses and evidences, the court has concluded that Mr. Ghanshyam Thakur is guilty of the crimes charged on him and I hereby sentence him and his parents to life in prison without parole. The court is adjourned.", the judge finally gave the verdict and went away.
Before going, Ghanshyam directed a pointed glare towards Anirudh and then to Abhijeet, who couldn't meet his eyes in fear.
The victim's parents fell to Anirudh's feet, crying and thanking him for bringing justice to their daughter.
It was heart-rending to see their condition but it least affected Anirudh. He told them to get up and then left, not even saying a word to console them, as if he didn't recognize them anymore.
He was quite infamous for this behavior of his. People referred to him as the stony-hearted one, the Barrister who was heartless and the storm without a calm. They thought he didn't have anything like a heart in his body. He knew the only thing he has to do in his job, is to win the case for his clients at any cost. He maintained only the client-advocate relation and that's it, he never connected himself with their emotions.
He stopped his motor car upon seeing some men blocking his way.
"Kaun ho tumlog?" Anirudh yelled irritably, "aur yoon gadi ke aage kyun aaye?" He was already late in reaching home, while Bela had asked him to be back early that day.
"Aapki maut Barrister babu!", answered one of the 8 men, who were standing with bamboo sticks in their hands and a look of maliciousness on their faces, ready to avenge on behalf of the Thakurs.
Hey peeps! So this is my 1st ff on Anidita/Rudhita, plz give it all your love!
Hope y'all liked it, plz ignore my mistakes!
Press the star if u found my story worth a vote! Lots of love! Muah!
Abha ; )