August 1940.
Rome, Italy.
"No!" a panicked voice laced with heavy British accent whisper-yelled, "Absolutely not! Kyle, do something!"
He elbowed his friend, a gangly looking boy with black framed glasses, as discreetly as possible to avoid unnecessary attention.
"Will is right! Don't do this! You are going to get yourself in a lot of trouble." Kyle Collins warned her, although it didn't look like his female friend was even listening to him.
The girl, or shall we say young woman like the way she prefers to be addressed, was of medium height, looked a little younger than her two friends. She was modestly dressed in a blue bishop sleeved dress which covered her from neck to her ankle, the end of her dress was flaring around her booted feet.
Her hair was arranged in a low bun, a few smaller strands has escaped from the bun which were now framing her round face in a flattering way.
Her face, devoid of any cosmetics, may not be the most beautiful in the World but the sparkle in her up-turned eyes combined with the beaming smile in her full lips can put every beautiful face to shame.
Today she was uncharacteristically silent, gazing through the huge hallway window outside the Auditorium hall, at the busy city life outside the tall campus walls. Her chestnut shaped eyes were twinkling with mischief and amusement...and both the boys knew that that look can only mean trouble.
Kyle was calmly leaning against the opposite wall, their other friend William Ballard was pacing the floor between the wall and the window nervously while running his hands through his blond hair. He was the newest addition to the group so he wasn't used to her antics like Kyle was.
Other participants were still coming out of the hall and heading toward the stairs at the end of the hallway where Signor Leonardo, one of their chaperons, was standing under the gigantic banner of International Debate Competition to lead the foreign participants to their dorms.
235 students have arrived at the University of Rome, who is hosting the debate competition this year, a day ago from all over the World. And since then they were stuck inside their campus like they were on some kind of house arrest or something.
Apparently, Il Duce was suspicious of outsiders.
And unsurprisingly, Bondita Das doesn't like to be restrained.
When she was done with her inspection she turned to face her friends, "We are only here for three day and one day out of that three is already wasted, I only have today and tomorrow to see the city."
"Sorry to break it to you, but we came here for the competition not to tour the city." Will retorted.
"Correction, you guys are here for the competition, while I am here to see the Eternal city." She corrected him.
In here Kyle jumped in, "Where have I heard this line before?" he tapped his chin in a mock thinking position, "Oh right, you said the same thing when we were at Paris last year for the Chess Competition."
She smiled at the fond memory, Paris was sooo beautiful!! Their teacher had gotten really angry at her for sneaking out of the group, but she couldn't help herself, seeing the most romantic city in the World from behind a bus window simply wasn't good enough for her. There was so much to do, so much to see and she did her best to enjoy every aspect Paris has to offer, did a little shopping, tasted their food, saw the city from the top of the Eiffel tower. Her only regret was she was doing all these alone...but it didn't matter because she has promised herself that she will visit Paris again and this time she'll come with her Sakha Babu...may be she will take him there on his birthday...they will walk alone the Seine river under the glowing street lamps, hand in hand...see the sunset together from top of the Eiffel Tower...dance with him under the moonlight...God! She has so many plans and fantasies!!
She was so lost in her fantasies that she didn't even notice that her friends were still talking to her. Her hands clasped together under her chin, blush adorning her round cheeks while her eyes sparkled with the colorful dreams of the future.
"...this isn't Paris, this is Rome under Mussolini's dictatorship...hey, are you even listening to me! Hello!!" Will waved a hand in front of her face successfully bring her out of her daydreams, "Why are you smiling like that and why the hell are you turning red??" he huffed in frustration.
Bondita made an annoyed face and threw a glare at her friends for disturbing her dream, "Jab me kuch than leti hoo na toh Mussolini toh kya khud Hitler bhi ajay na toh bhi mujhe nahi rook sakta. Samjha!!"
"What? What did she just say?" Will looked at Kyle blankly.
"Let her go Bro! No matter what you say she will do what she wants. No one can stop her." He pushed on the wall to stand back on his feet as Bondita narrowed her eyes at his comment, "Just do me a favor, don't get arrested or else your beloved Guru Ma will bury me alive."
Bondita snickered while Will looked at him disbelieve.
"I'm serious, she wouldn't even care that I'm her only child!" He eyed the now empty hallway, "Ohh!! Mr. Leonardo is sending us the stinky eye. Let's go!" He ushered his friends towards the chaperon, "How are you going to convince him to let you go?"
"I've a plan!" She replied with a mischievous smile.
"Don't you always!" Kyle sighed under his breath.
Walking ahead of them she approached the older man, "Mr. Leonardo! Can I please visit the exhibition hall again?"
Her request baffled her friends. The Exhibition Hall was on the left wing of this same building which they visited yesterday. How was she planning to go outside from there? But knowing her she probably had found some secret route...who knows what runs through her devious mind!
"Again!? Why?" Mr. Leonardo asked in a heavy Italian Accent.
"I'd like to see the paintings again, they are truly magnificent, not to mention the exquisite sculptures ...your students are really talented."
Among the 235 students there were only three girls, and among all of them this girl so far has been his favorite- a model student, confident and outspoken with the aura of a leader...still he felt hesitant to let a student go out of his sight.
Noticing the hesitation in his face she continued, "There's this one painting of a Lotus pond, it reminds me of my Village, my home...it's been almost eight years since the last time I..." She trailed off, voice heavy with emotion, "...I felt that I found a piece of my home in this foreign land." She finished her overdramatic speech with a sniff.
Kyle mentally rolled his eyes.
Drama queen!
Maintaining his stern face he replied, "Ok!! You can go! But return back to the within an hour, alright!" Who was he to deny the poor girl the little comfort of her home!
"Absolutely!" she said with the most innocent face she could manage.
"Do you two want to join her?" he addressed her friends.
"No. We're good!" "No! We will go with you!" Kyle and Will replied simultaneously.
"Alright, follow me!" saying this he started to walk down the stair Will obediently following after him. After a moment Kyle trailed after them, but not before pausing at the end of the stairs...
"Durga!" Her head peaked over the banister, "Be careful!"
Durga!... How did Bondita became Durga? Well, that's a long story...
A month after going to London when her classes started she found herself with too much time in her hands. She was an overactive girl who was used to balancing her school work and household work simultaneously, additionally there always has been one problem or another to keep her mind occupied. Now suddenly she had no work other than her studies, which wasn't much, at least for her, cause she never needed to read anything more than once or twice and once she read something she never forgets it.
The only thing was left for her to do was worrying about her families...and her Sakha Babu.
Mostly about her Sakha Babu...was he ok?...was he safe?...was he taking care of himself? And the most serious question- what will her Thakuma do to him once he reached Tulsipur? She knew her mother was safe because Thakuma will never harm her own family intentionally and her mother was Thakuma's family ...but Sakha babu was not...
Some days she felt that she will go crazy with fear, worry and anxiety... and yet she could do nothing other than praying to her Durga Ma. So when one of her teacher suggested her to write for the college newspaper she readily agreed.
Following her Kaka Sasurji words, 'Khali dimag Shaitan ka ghar hota he'...granted, he used to say this to Batuk rather than her... but that was not important. What was important that she kept her mind busy...and so she did!
Soon, being impressed by her writing and her arguments the same teacher introduced her to the editor of a weekly magazine. Hence, her journey as a writer started. She used to write under the pen name Durga Devi, the name made sense to her because everyone used to call her Choti Durga back in India, and the name stuck through her short story writing phase and when she wrote her first book at sixteen, naturally she used the same name. In fact her friends had started calling her Durga by then because it was easier to pronounce then Bondita. Well there was other reason too...but that's for another day.
Back to the present, she nodded her head reassuringly and then he was gone. She knew he cared about her enough to worry, but not enough to join her in her crazy adventures.
___
Bondita walked down the hall and found herself in the left wing, in a big room, at least two stories high with a domed ceiling. Rows and rows of paintings in ornate carved frames decorated the walls, some were original and some were replicas of famous art works from Renaissance era.
Her eyes circled the room which was mostly empty, other than a pudgy janitor who was sweeping the floor and singing an Italian song to himself there was no one. Her eyes traveled past the janitor over some sculptures then finally on the eastern wall her eyes landed on the painting she was looking for.
Shivering from the cold temperature of the hall she started to walk toward the east wall...her booted footsteps echoing loudly through the empty room, on her way when she was passing the pudgy man she smiled warmly at him, in reply the man tipped his head in greetings.
She walked to the painting and start to observe it. It was an oil painting of a wooden bridge over a lotus pond...on the top it started with a warm orange and yellow color as the background, then dark brown of the small bridge, followed by light pink and dark green of the lotus flowers and its pads over the dark water of the pond. On the right side there was a silhouette of a mansion which looked eerily familiar. She had to admit it was better that Monet's 'Waterlily Pond'.
She wasn't lying when she said that she loved the painting or that it reminded her of her home.
She examined the left end corner of the canvas where over the dark colored paint the artists name was signed in white.
BRC.
Yesterday, she had found it funny because once she used to be a BRC too.
"You were right, Bondita!" a baritone voice suddenly whispered in her ear, "Yeh toh bilkul hamari haveli ke piche wali jhil jasa he!!"
There were so many things a person could do when they are being sneaked up on- they gets startled, some jumped up in surprise, some even squeaked. But Bondita did none of those things, instead her heart fluttered as a huge smile formed on her lips as she turned to face the owner of the voice.
The owner of the voice was a young man in his early twenties, not very tall or burly; rather he was well built, clad in dark suspenders and turtleneck sweater. His facial features were cut in a way that would make any woman jealous. His short hair was neatly styled, under his dark brows a pair of sharp and intelligent eyes was gazing at her with spark of happiness in them. His bow shaped lips were stretched in a grin, revealing a set of white teeth...the slightly crooked canine was only enhancing the beauty of his smile.
"Dekha! Maine kaha tha naa!! Aap hi nahi maan rahe the." She puffed her cheeks in a childish way and looked away from him in to show her displeasure.
"Accha baba, I'm sorry!" he smiled at her adoringly, "yeh lo me kaan pakadti hu, abb toh maan jao!"
"Hmm..." Letting go of the air in her mouth she tapped her cheek with an index finger contemplatively, still trying to hold on to her anger, "Soch ke dekhungi!"
She knew she can be a little temperamental, ok maybe it was more than a little, but it was only with him...only for him...
...her Sakha Babu...
"Acchaaa!! Soch na padega?" he asked raising his brows high in his forehead, he took a step closer to her, "Me thodi madat kar du, sochne me?" saying this his hands started tickling her sides as she broke into a fits of laughter.
"Sa-kha Babu!!" Bondita shrieked through her laughter. Gasping, she tried to get out of his arms reach, "Ok, Ok!! I forgive you." As she was trying to spin out of his grasp she noticed that the room was empty except them. The Janitor has left.
"Now, it wasn't so hard, was it?" He said triumphantly.
As her laughter died down she smiled longingly at him, "Aap har waqt mere ankho ki samne kyu nahi rahete?" as she complained her eyes mist up, "aap jante he na aapki Bondita aapko dekhe bina bilkul nahi rahe pati he!"
"Ankho ke samne nahi rahe pata lekin band ankho ke piche toh rahta hoon na?" he told her softly, "Abb chale? Rome nahi dekhna?"
She happily nodded her head in several directions. Taking his hand in hers she led toward the other end of the room, on the opposite direction from the entrance.
Yes it was true that she loved the paintings but what she loved even more was the lavatory attached to the hall, which had a window that opened to a secluded area very close to the wall that surrounds the campus. She had discovered this escape route yesterday during her first visit.
When she almost pulled him inside the female washroom, Anirudh halted in his steps.
"Bondita!!!" He scolded her lightly.
"Oopps!!" She bit her tongue, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!!"
"I'll meet you on the other side."
"Ok." Reluctantly she let his hand go and went inside the washroom.
___
The streets around the University of Rome weren't very different form the street of London. It was the alleys that were different and held more beauty then the wide streets...also there's the fact that the main roads were regularly rounded by the Blackshirts and she was determined not to cross path with them.
As she walked over the cobblestone paths between tall stone buildings, she socked in all the beauty and committed them to her memory...all the vine covered walls, ornate street lamps, old scooters parked outside arched doorways, people of completely different culture going around their day...
Her Sakha babu was walking besides her occasionally commenting here and there...sometimes his comments were funny and sometimes they were just little facts about Rome, things that she already knew but they sounds better coming from his mouth...so she didn't stop him.
They rounded a corner only to find a long set of steps leading down to another alley...
"This is no Spanish Steps but this will have to do!" He commented jovially as they descended down the steps.
"For today!" She added cheekily as she danced down the stairs with bounce on her steps.
"For today? Which means, kaal bhi madam ka bhagne ka irada he!?" he followed her right on her heels.
"Of course!" her hands toying with the long Ivy vines hanging from the tall wall on the left side of the steps. She starts humming under a soft tune.
Shaking his head he muttered, "Yeh ladki kabhi nahi badal sakti. At least apna map toh check kar lo, kaha ja rahe he hum? Bondita!!"
Her humming has started to form into a song now...
Kothao aamar haariye jaawar nei maana mone mone !
Mele dilem gaaner surer ei daana mone mone.
(To lose myself anywhere I am not forbidden...in my dreams!
So wings of my songs I span...in my dreams.)
Her voice wasn't of a trained singer but it was melodious enough, moreover she sang from her heart, like she was feeling every word of the song, her pure and raw emotions merged with the lyrics always hits its listener's heart...even when they don't understand the language...
Tepantarer paathar peroi rup-kathar,
Path bhule jaai dur paare se chup-kothar -
Paarul boner champa re mor hoy jaana mone mone.
(I cross the vast ocean of wilds of fairy tales.
Losing way I reach far in land of silences.
*I came to know about magnolia in garlic-vine's garden...in my dreams.)
This time it was no different...people stop their works around the neighborhood, kids ran out of their houses to see the strange girl singing in a strange language...
See all the people she sat down at the last step and all the people gathered around her, the kids and the women starts humming along with her...as her Sakha babu admired her from the mid step leaning on the vined wall...
Surjyo jakhon aste pore dhuli meghe meghe aakash-kusum tuli.
Saat saagorer phenay phenay mishe
Aami jaai bheshe dur dishe -
Porir desher bandho duwar dii haana mone mone.
(When the tired sun sets; I pluck my day-dreams in wisp of mists.
Diffusing in foams of seven oceans; I waft off to faraway nations.
Knocking the closed doors of fairies and goblins...in my dreams.)
As she finished her song a round of applause echoed though the neighborhood. Bondita happily bowed her head. No one can ever say that Bondita Das shied away from people.
Sakha Babu rejoined her as she walked away from the group of people, she eyed him expectedly, "Khub bhalo Bondita! Lekin Geetbitan padte padte apni law ki kitabe bhool mat jana!"
"Kabhi nahi! Geetbitan mujhe meri desh se jude rakhte he aur meri Law ki books mujhe aapse jude rakhte he. Toh batayie-" she inquired in her classic pose, with her arms on her waist, her thin brows frowned cutely while jerking her head, "Bondita kabhi bhi apni Sakha Babu se jude koi bhi baat bhul sakti he kya? Hamari sapne ko bhul sakti hu me?"
"Nahi. Bondita mar jayegi lekin hamare sapne ko kabhi nahi bhulegi." He said cupping her face in his hands.
"Exactly!!"
While passing a sidewalk café her nose picked up the aroma of freshly made bread, pasta sauce and coffee...and on cue her stomach grumbled, loudly. Her hands shot up to hold her stomach then pouted at her Sakha Babu...who by the way was laughing his head off...
"Sorry! Sorry!! So I guess we are stopping here?!" controlling his laugh he gestured toward the café.
She just nodded, licking her lips thinking about the new type of food she's going to taste.
There were total six tables, two of among them were occupied- a couple sat on the corner table beside a big potted plant probably to get some privacy. And one table away from them sat three old men playing some kind of board game with cold juice on their hands.
Bondita and her Sakha Babu took the table which was practically on the rood, a black table with two small wrought iron chairs on both sides.
A middle aged woman walked up to them with a note pad in her hand.
"Ciao, sono Bianca! Cosa vorresti mangiare?"
Bondita looked at her blankly.
"I've no idea what you just said!" she admitted with a sheepish smile, "I know that Ciao means hello or goodbye... and Bianca, is that your name? I'm Bondita! Or Durga whatever you prefer."
The waitress smiled brightly at her. New customers doesn't usually bothered to introduce themselves...especially to an ageing woman...Bianca decided that she liked this girl who has innocent eyes and a heartwarming smile.
"Hel-lo, Dur-ga! Me Bianca. Piacece di conoscerti."
"I'm guessing that means nice to meet you!?!" before Bianca could reply someone called her from inside the café, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm keeping you here. I'd like the vegetarian pasta and two coffees, please!"
Bianca jotted down her order then frowned, "Due?" she hold up two fingers questioningly.
Bondita's smile dropped from her face, eyes moved to the chair in front of her...
Empty!!
Like no one was ever there!
No one was ever there...
She closed her eyes resignedly, slapping her forehead sadly she looked up at Bianca again, "My mistake! Make that one coffee."
With a nod and a smile Bianca went back inside the Café leaving behind the young woman who just had another one of her reality checks.
Kisine sahi kaha he...
Makdi bhi nahi fasti apne banaye jaalon me, Jitna insaan uljha hai apne bune khayalon me...
Sometimes, it was too easy to get lost in your own fantasies...
But she didn't have much time to mull over her own predicament because she just caught sight of a group of man heading toward a narrow alley where a moment ago she saw two young girls walked into.
Her insides twisted in knots, she recognized the look on those men face all too well.
It was the look of a predator.
Taking out some money from her purse she left it on the table, then she swang the long strap of her satchel crossed over shoulder and followed after them.
She had a feeling this evening won't turn out as peaceful as she thought it would...
---
AN- I'm going to use a lot of Rabindra Sangeet's in this story...also there's going to be some changes from the show.
It was actually supposed to be a one shot, but apparently I'm incapable of writing one shots...so if i feel inspired this is going to be hundreds of chapters long☺️
So please let me know if you guys like it or not...if i should continue or not ...
* Blackshirts- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackshirts
* lyrics translation- http://anondogaan.blogspot.com/2014/11/kothao-amar-hariye-jawar-lyrics.html?m=1