"Heard you are joining politics!" Sitting down on a couch in the living room after dinner Tulika asked Arun.
"Who told you?" With a smug smile, Arun replied sipping on a glass of whisky. The grave disapproving scowl on the faces of his best friend and his own son left unnoticed from his gaze.
"That too for the opposition party." Rubel chimed in with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Thought you were an ardent supporter of our chief minister Arun uncle. I remember you walking in rallies in support of the cm and giving speech against the opposition." He added still having the teasing 'knowing it all smile' on his face, the smile that wiped away the smug one from Arun's face. He hated this quality of both the father and the son. Through generations, these two males were behaving as if they knew everything so well and looking down upon him. He was one of the biggest names in the Kolkata High Court area, he had his own law firm, in a few days his own son would join him, he had money, power, everything. Yet these two father and son would not leave one opportunity to poke fun at him. And his son, Amit was just so blind when it came to Rubel, it boiled his blood sometimes.
Clearing his voice Arun said, "Well, now as the circumstances have became different. Everything is going downhill in this state now isn't it, one must put an end to it-"
"And this opposition will bring the change?" Saying Suvo rolled his eyes, ridiculed by the memorised speech of Arun, as it seemed like one.
"Of course!"
"Have you not seen the situation of the rest of the states this party is in the power of?" Tuli argued.
With that seeing the discussion taking a turn of something Amit didn't want to be a part of, he got up and walked up to Ipshita who was cleaning up the mess on the dining table and kitchen taking away the work from Renuka and Rubel. Arun picked up the bowl of the mutton to take it to the refrigerator.
"There's no place in it, keep it in the kitchen with some ice in a plate underneath." Ipshita suggested quickly putting the pieces of cakes on plates after wiping the table.
..
"Some loves are so 'mind- dumbingly' special aren't they?"
"'Mind-dumbingly'? Is that a word? Are you trying to say "mind-blowing'?" Ipshita raised her eyebrows at Amit who sitting beside her had just uttered the word.
"It's when some situation of someone or in this case the relationship between two people makes you dumb." Amit shook his head, "and just makes you want to want a love like this." He explained looking in front Renuka putting down a plate with a piece of chocolate cookies cake and a glass of wine in front of Ratul's photo that was sitting for the day on a single couch. Amit heaved a sigh looking at the smile on the woman of almost sixty placing her fingers on her lips before brushing them on the picture while mumbling a 'love you' unphased by the argument of surroundings.
The scene formed a knot inside both of the spectators' abdomens. One of them knew that he had that, but the cost of keeping it was making him so afraid. And the other, felt the knot pulling everything inside her and realizing the void of it.
"I miss him so badly Ipshita, every moment, so badly to a point that I feel like he is just here with me. Beside me, with my every step, every decision, everything." Ipshita remembered Renuka's words this morning as she was putting Ratul's picture on his favourite couch. Could one even feel that? Companionship, like this, in which one's physical presence wasn't even necessary, she wanted one so badly that it seemed unrealistic to her. Ipshita heaved a sigh.
"Maybe it's more of the person we fall for than the love." Ipshita smiled looking at Ratul's smiling face in the photo. "It's the legacy that one leaves behind or how one treats people that makes the love. Not just a dumb notion of holding on to the idea of love. Ratul uncle was just that type of a person." She shrugged putting her hands around Amit's shoulder.
Her last few words reached her father, who was sitting on the couch a few feet away and letting out a dry chuckle he said, "If Ratul had heard you-"
"- the amount of swelling of his chest would have caused a medical condition!" Arun laughed raising a peal of laughter finishing Suvro's sentence.
...
"You brokeup with her?" Paromita's gaze pinned on her brother's face, frown formed on her face as she tried to understand him. But Akash's inside was way too messed up to be cleared by himself- it was unfathomable for anyone else. "What are thinking bhai?" His constant question to himself voiced out by his sister thus igniting irritation in him. What was he thinking? As if it was even explicit to him, however ,it was. It seemed like Akash was living in a constant dilemma even though his mind was decided and stubborn about it.
As much as clarified and determined his mind was it seemed like for everyone else around him it was that much impossible to understand.
"What are you doing? What are you thinking - at this point, I seriously have no idea." Paromita sighed shaking her head, disappointed.
"When Bubun brought the girl home, I agree not all of us were happy about it, well, the girl was not Bengali-" Poulee cchimedin putting down a tray of three mugs of tea iin frontof her children.
"Uh! Maa! That's not a point!" Irritated Paromita looked at her mother dismissively. She was a well educated upper-middle-class woman, a doctor, daughter of a doctor and a professor and married to one - talking about 'non-Bengali and Bengali' differences was not something she approved. Well, at least not publicly, in front of her brother, now, when she was determined to council him out of his situation. No matter how much she had hated the idea of her brother marrying a Punjabi girl coming from a business background, and had expressed disappointment to her mother mildly before saying "whatever, if he is happy you know -" and then shrugged, but this was not the time to carry on that discussion.
Since the gynaecology appointment this afternoon Paromita was extremely disappointed and frustrated. This November would mark the second anniversary of her wedding and she was going out of her mind about the lack of her pregnancy. She could feel whisper around her whenever and wherever she went to a family function, some extremely curious relatives even asked the questions to her and moreover it seemed like Rivu had no care about it. "Mitu, stop being so stressed about it, it will happen when it will happen, baby! and it's our life, why would you even care what Topun kakima said? Topun is a guy's name anyway!" He had said.
"It's not funny Rivu! I want to get pregnant this year! Swati got married after us, she has a baby now." Paromita had glared at her husband.
"Well, next time maybe Swati should make her husband wear a condom." Rivu had shrugged with a wink before reaching for the book from his table.
It frustrated Paromita to the bone and the doctor saying her to relax as well, did not do any good to her annoyance. Hence coming to her parent's she poured all the frustration on her brother. 'Why all of these men are so fucking selfish!!! Won't they think once for us?' The back of her mind oozed fire.
Poulee however didn't think that much but look at her daughter with hurt eyes, "no I am not saying that," she stammered, "I mean, latter we agreed no? We were fine with it. And what's her name?...."
"Raina."
"Yes! Raina was a very sweet girl as well. I don't understand why bring her home if you weren't going to marry her?"
"Fine! I apologize! I am immensely sorry for bringing her home to meet you!" Not being able to take it anymore Akash lashed out. "I don't understand what is there to think Divai! She wants to get married now, I said okay. But then she wants me to get a job-"
"You should get a job! You will be twenty-eight this 25th of October Akash! Maa will retire next year, Baba is getting retired next month!" The big sister told her brother.
"And that's not a piece of new information for me Devai! I know that! I know fucking everything!" Akash jumped on his seat. "But why it has to be my responsibility always? I got a job right after my graduation, you weren't even out of university then yet! Did anyone ttellany of these to you? If you weren't married and wanted to pursue further education, which you did, none of said anything to you-"
"No, but I got married at your age, didn't I? Because it was time! If I hadn't and had been ridiculously stubborn like you, everyone would have said something. Now it's your time-"
"I want to pursue a PhD for now why don't you people understand that! I want to research, I want to go to places where this thesis will take me, for now, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, also maybe later Nepal, Bangladesh - but even though she has a job she can't possibly let me do that, with my money nonetheless, what - what else was there for me scavenge you tell me?"
The brother and sister kept on arguing and the stunned mother sat there. Her daughter's word 'it was time' kept ringing in her ear. Her life never ran on time, so when did her children become a part of this race! Who asked them to? She never asked Paromita why she got married without thinking twice when she asked her to. Was it because of time? All their life she was the one to say what they can do or not, who was this now telling Paromita about this time? She looked over her daughter with worries in her eyes...
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I am desperately trying to overcome this insanely annoying writer's block or whatever, your comments and votes will be a big big help.
So, please, please, please leave a Comment and VOTE...