No matter how much I debated with Aabir uncle, he didn't pay heed to any of my arguments.
"No, I won't listen to it. You aren't leaving this house. And that's final."
It had been a couple of months since I had first arrived in Kolkata and was still pursuing my job hunting. A couple of interviews and failed attempts at competitive exams for Government jobs was all I had to show for my time spent there. On top of that, I was at Aabir uncle's house all the while and he wouldn't listen to my request for renting a place out on my own.
"Aarti, please talk some sense into this boy. I give up." He would finally declared and disappear into the bedroom to get dressed and would soon go out with a folded bag to the market. Sunday morning was all I got to make my case every week and Aabir uncle would turn me down ritualistically.
As always Aarti aunty would be seated at the dining table either going through the newspaper or making preparations for the day's lunch.
"Dhruv beta, are you having any trouble here living with us? If there is any such thing, then please tell us. This too is your home," she would ask me every time.
I couldn't further humiliate them and myself with an answer. The discussion would then be suspended until next weekend and with some new strategy.
That day was no different.
Uncle had gone out to the market after my yet another failed attempt to make him listen to my argument. Aarti aunty was seated at the dining table browsing through various Youtube channels for some cooking recipes she wanted to try out for lunch. And I sat dejectedly on the living room sofa looking at the speeding fan above my head, a million thoughts rushed through my mind, like always.
Suddenly, the bell rang announcing a visitor. Sparing a quick glance at the watch I quickly got up to open the door all the while wondering why was Aabir uncle back so early.
But I was wrong. There were two strangers standing at the door, one middle aged man and another younger guy, who was probably just a couple of years older than me by the looks of it.
"Is Aabir da home?" the middle aged man asked, as I stood there just looking at them.
However, before I could ask anything of them, Aarti aunty's voice came out from within. "Who is it Dhruv?"
"Uncle just went out to the market," I answered the two confused looking gentlemen. "And you are-?" But the enquiry remained unmade.
"Arree Priyo da, it is you-." I heard aunty's voice just behind me, as she had come to the door herself.
"Please come in," she added.
"He is uncle's colleague," she whispered to me, as both men walked by us and into the living room.
"This is Deepak. He is the Junior Editor at SHIKSHA and often works as my assistant from time to time," Priyo da or Priyobrata, as I would later come to know, introduced the younger man, with a slight smile.
"Old habits die hard, uncle," Deepak spoke up for the first time.
"And you must be-" Priyobrata began to enquire about me and was answered by Aarti aunty.
"This is Dhruv, our nephew from Siliguri. He is staying with us while he is in Kolkata."
"Oh yes. So this is Dhruv. Aabir da did say he was here." Then looking at me he said," I had thought of meeting you. Now we got the chance."
"We finally meet then," Deepak said, smiling.
I had suddenly become the center of discussion and was slightly overwhelmed at this uncanny recognition. But try as I might, I could not recollect any instance of having met Deepak before. My confusion was probably displayed on my face as he spoke up again.
"Don't be so puzzled. We are meeting for the first time. But we've talked before. Over the phone. Emails too. Do you remember now? Its Deepak from SIKSHA. I edited your work. Generation Love. Or should I say, tried to edit your work. It was already almost perfectly compiled. I had the minimalistic of jobs to do when it came to that particular project."
I could feel my cheeks warm up, partly because of his appreciation of Generation Love but mainly due to the realization that I had failed to recognize him in the first place.
"I'm so sorry. I never thought-" I fumbled through my words as my vocabulary seemed to have failed me.
He just smiled broadly. "There's no issues. Infact, it would have been surprising be if you had indeed recognized me."
Thereon, small talk followed as each of us settled down into light conversations. The natural flow was however ruptured when the door bell rang for the second time that morning.
"That must be your uncle," Aarti aunty said, getting up from the couch. "I'll set the tea." And she was right.
"Priyobroto, what a surpise." Uncle greeted him and meanwhile I quietly slipped out of the room.
I had always been an introvert, and a great one at that. I wasn't a big fan of crowds and one where I was recognized and could be talked about was on my lowest of preferences. Comfortably back within the confines of my room, I settled down with a reference book and tried resume studying for an oncoming job exam.
Pew pages later, I started to get distracted and my mind began to swirl around bizarre and unrelated thoughts. I tried to force myself into concentration but had to give up eventually. The words displayed out on the page, the tons of information they relayed, none of it made any consequential impact upon me. I began to wonder, why was I even studying for the exam when I was utterly uninterested in the job itself? Another question arose, answering the first. If not this job then what? What should I do in my life? What is my purpose? I realized I was beginning to be drawn into a world of absurdities with such questions, but I could not stop it and they kept coming. Therefore, when I heard Aarti aunty calling me for lunch, I found a much needed escape and was almost relieved to get out of my room and away from those questions.
To my surprise, Priyobrata and Deepak had already left. I found uncle sitting at the dining table with a serious look on his face. I understood that he was deeply engrossed in some thought. The graveness of it was however revealed from the monosyllabic answers he gave to all of aunty's questions throughout lunch.
"What is up with uncle?" I asked aunty afterwards when she was alone in the kitchen. In reply, she just rolled her lips. "Let's just wait and see," she told me. "Or I'll just ask him tonight."
But she didn't have to, for just after dinner that night, Aabir uncle announced he had something to talk about and called each of us into the living room for an audience. Once we were all seated, he began.
"Deepak resigned today."
Both me and aunty exclaimed with surprise. "But why?" she asked.
"He's getting married next month-"
"Oh. That is really good news. But why does he have to quit? Don't you people give leave for such personal things?" I joked lightly, assuming I had obviously overthought about it and that matters weren't that serious after all. How wrong I was.
"I haven't completed," declared uncle. "He is not just getting married. He is also shifting to Bangalore." He paused for a while to look at our puzzled faces and then continued.
"Deepak told me all about it today. The girl he is getting married to, Jayshree, they have known each other since college. She is a single child of her parents and had lost her mother when she was just a baby, and thereafter was raised solely by her father. When she moved to Kolkata for her higher education, her father her already retired and he was left alone. Now suddenly they have come to know that he is terminally ill. Being faced with death, her father wishes to have them married before his demise. Accordingly, she wants to shift back to her parent's house at Bangalore to be with her father and where they will eventually get married.
"If Deepak had asked for just leave, I would have been more than happy than to comply. But he had wished to be transferred. Unfortunately though, SIKSHA is not as widespread throughout the country as we would have wished. We are chiefly a local and growing publishing house. There is just one branch and that is here in Kolkata itself. As a result, he didn't have any choice than to resign.
"I did however write him a letter of recommendation which could help him securing his next job there in Bangalore."
Uncle paused again for a while. That is when aunty brought up the subject. "But if Deepak has resigned, who is going to be your next Junior Editor?"
"That is exactly what is worrying me Aarti. With this project of ours involving all these new works of young and upcoming authors, we do need a fresh set of eyes and a clearer head to go with it. Deepak had been perfect for the job form the beginning. Priyo could handle it for some days, but he is already stretched out thin with all the other production works of SIKSHA. I don't know how long he can manage with all this new workload. An editor's task isn't easy as it is. Looking for candidates too would take an enormous amount of time, needless to say tiresome. Selecting an appropriate one, would be more so. I don't know what I'm going to do-?"
He then became silent, probably contemplating a solution for his predicament. And both of us followed suit.
Suddenly, aunty spoke up again. "Aabir, how about Dhruv?"
I was flabbergasted on hearing my name called out.
"What about me ?" I asked. Almost instantly.
To my surprise, instead of being as shocked as me, I found a smile creep across uncle's face. "You just spoke my mind Aarti," he said. "I too have been thinking about this same thing and wanted to discuss it with you guys."
"What is there left to discuss?" Aunty exclaimed exuberantly. "I'll talk to his mother right away. There shouldn't be any problem. This would be perfect. Dhruv will be perfect. I'm calling didi right away."
"But Aarti wait, Dhruv needs to give his approval too." Then turning towards me he said, "Beta, what do you say?"
I didn't have any words to reply him. Infact I didn't have a clue as to what had just transpired in that living room. Were they serious? Was I really being considered for such a job? Do I want it? Even if I did, would I be any good at it? I had no experience in this matter whatsoever.
When I told the same to uncle, he replied assuringly. "There's nothing to worry about. We all know about your skills already. Also, Deepak had told me about your editing as well. He had hardly any work when it came to editing Generation Love, he had confirmed. Finally it all comes down to you? Are you willing?"
I still had no answer to his eager and questioning glances. He therefore went on assuring me further. "There is no pressure beta. I am here to explain all of it to you. Priyobrata will take care of the rest. I know it would take a while for you to settle in, but I am convinced, that once you do, you would be perfect for the job. Even more so than Deepak I might dare to say. Also, if you have any problems down the road, or are unwilling to carry on with the job, or even want to pursue a whole different career, you are completely free to do so. You can just start as an Intern at the beginning. Meanwhile, I'll look for other willing candidates too. And we'll see where it goes from there? What do you say Dhruv?"
From the corner of my eyes I could see Aarti aunty was busy over the phone and from all her exclamations that I could hear, she had probably already relayed the news to my parents and even secured and approval.
It sometimes occurs to us, an instant, when you realize on your own, that the moment you are experiencing, or are about to, is going to change the course of your life. You recognize the milestone. It was the same for me. I knew right then what I was about to get into. And in some strange and inexplicable way, I realized, I had found my purpose.
So, I just shook my head in agreement.