Another letter arrived for Bondita Roy Choudhary. But she was not at all in a state to read or unable to understand whether she is upset because of missing her school and studies, or her Pati Babu's changed attitude towards her.
Its been a week since she attended the school. All these days, Batuk always tried to take her but for some reasons, she ends up getting late. Apparently it is happening because of Anirudh dada.
How ironical! His dada was the one who himself use to take her to school and now? He was talking abut the same to his Somnath Dada on phone. He suggested to talk to his dada instead of Boudi. That was when he realised something. Its been a week since he was back but he didn't even try to have a glimpses of his Anirudh dada, let alone talk to him.
He felt to smack himself for this stupidity. Instead of insisting his boudi, shouldn't he talk to his dada?
"Batuk Roy Choudhary" He came out of his thoughts when the teacher called him. "Its been more than a week since Bondita Roy Choudhary is absent. Aise hi chalta raha toh, I'm sorry to say, but she won't be allowed to appear for her final term examination due to lack of attendance."
This worried him and will definitely worry his dada more, if so. But anyways, he need to talk to his dada even if he had to stay awake tonight.
Bondita was sitting in the study waiting for him. She never had her dinner without him but whenever he came late he said that he already had his dinner and slept without even asking if she had or not. He stopped her while going to school and somehow wasted her time talking to her sweetly or giving her some work.
She got to know from Batuk that she may won't be allowed to appear for her exams. "Ab paani sar ke upar jaa chuka hai. M...Mera bhavishya... khatre mein..." Her sobs turned into hiccups.
She roughly rubbed off her tears and was now determined to confront seriously to her Pati Babu about this without giving him a chance to intruppt her. Today, she need her answers from him. At any cost.
She saw him entering with a neutral look on his face. He didn't had his bag, neither his robe but she cared less about it. He stood in her front as if ready to confront her, but how did he know that she was waiting for that?
Never mind. She just needed her answer.
Taking a deep breath she spoke "Aaj vidyalay se soochna mili ki agar mera attendance yu hi kam raha toh... toh mujhe iss saal pareeksha mein baithne ki anumati nahi hogi."
"Toh?" He asked crossing his arms.
Toh? What does he mean? Was he even serious? Doesn't seems so.
"Kya matlab toh? Main aapke wajah se roz late hoti hu. Aapke wajah se hamesha meri kaksha chhut jaati hai!Aap chahte kya hai Pati Babu!? Aise kaise banegi Bondita Barrister Babu?" She screamed with her eyes reddened due to tears.
He let out a sarcastic chuckle and said "Barrister Babu? Aur woh bhi tum? Mujhe laga, Bondita toh, Anirudh Roy Choudhury ki patni banna chahti hai."
"Ha! Par iska matlab ye nahi ki main Barrister Babu banne ka sapna bhool chuki hu. Par aap hai ki har pal mujhe kaamo aur baaton mein uljha dete hai aur vidyalay tak jaane nahi dete." She yelled.
"Chillao mat Bondita. Ab chup rahogi tum!" He yelled back raising his finger towards her. But she quickly pushed it away and snapped "Nahi! Aaj aap mujhe chup nahi kara paayenge! Aapne hi mujhe awaaz uthane ki himmat di hai. Aur aaj, aapko mere saare sawaalo ke jawaab dene honge!"
She wiped out her tears and said "aapka kartavya hai, mere prashno ke uttar dena. Aur uttar paana adhikaar hai mera, aur wo main isi waqt leke rahungi."
He creased his eyebrows and said in a cold tone "Kya jawaab chahti ho tum? Ha? Kya janna chahti ho tum?" He slightly bent towards her. Her breath got heavy and her gazes were casted down but still stood steadily.
"TOH SUNO! KAAN KHOLKAR SUNO! HAA MAINE APNE AAPKO BADAL DIYA HAI! AB YAHI HAI TUMHARE PATI BABU KA ROOP. AUR TUMHE..." he bent more towards her and said a stern tone "tumhe bhi ab banke rehna hoga meri aadarsh patni. Aur ek aadarsh patni, apne Pati se sawaal ya tark nahi karti."
She was standing silently her eyes pooled with unshed tears unable to utter a word "Kya hua Bondita? Woh tum hi toh thi jisse ek aadarsh patni banne ka bhoot sawaar tha" he mocked her while walking around her. Toh ye aadarsh patni aaj itne sawaal kaise kar rahi hai Bondita?" She looked at him shockingly.
"Tumhare Kaka sasurji ne, ya wo pados ki aurte aur tumhare saheliyon ne tumhe sikhaya nahi ye sab?"
"Sikhaya tha!" She finally spoke up raising her voice "Par maine toh wahi seekha, jo aapne sikhaaya Pati Babu. Aur aapne ye sikhaaya tha ki agar kuch galat ho, toh uske khilaaf awaaz uthana chahiye. Tark karo. Tark se fark mitaao. Yahi sikhaaya tha na aapne?"
A sad smile appeared on his face as he said "Haa Bondita, sikhaaya tha. PAR MERI SEEKHO KO DAAV PE RAKHKAR KYA CHUNA TUMNE? Bondita ne chuna, ek Aadarsh Patni banna. SIRF-EK-AADASH-PATNI" Bondita looked down as the realization gradually started hitting her.
He continued his yelling "PADHAI LIKHAI DAAV PE LAGAKAR, TUMNE CHUNA AADARSH PATNI BANNE KA RAAH." She tightly shutted her eyes as she knew there was more to come .
"VIDYALAY NAHI JAANA THA BONDITA KO! AUR VIDYALAY NAA JAAKAR, SINDOOR KHAREEDNE THE. CHAMATKAARI SINDOOR." She remembered how she used to sneak out of her school to buy those stuffs.
Not only that, in order to focus on being a perfect wife, she didn't realize that she had been bunking the school and ignoring her studies.
"Humara naam saath laana tha. Ussey apne haatho mein gadwaya. Kodne ka dard saha Bondita ne..." As he said this, she looked at her tattooed arm where she had inked their names together.
"Upvaas karna, vrath rakhna, khaali pet rehna, aur khaali pet uss unchi Shiv ji ke mandir jaana. Ye sab kiya Bondita ne taaki humaara rishta bhi baaki pati patniyo jaisa ho, toh bann gaya Bondita." She looked at him as he said the last statement.
"Humara rishta bhi baaki Pati Patniyo jaisa ho gaya hai. Tumhe toh khush hona chahiye. Iss baat se. Jhoomo naacho gaao Bondita, kyuki ab main bhi ban chuka hu baaki patiyo ki tarah. Aur Patiyon ko ye manzoor nahi hota ki unki patni unse zyaada baaki kaamo ko ahmeeyad de. Padhai bhi nahi." She looked at him in disbelief. Is he the same person who used to say nothing is important for her than studies?
"Main Bondita ko heera banana chahta tha. Par Bondita ko bas ek pathhar bane rehna tha. Bann gayi meri Bondita, khaas se aam Bondita." Her eyes were pleading this not to be true "Pati Ba..."
"Ek baat kaan kholke sunn lo Bondita, tumhara school jaana, Homework karna, padhai karna, tumhare Barrister banne ka sapna, inn sab se mujhe ab koi matlab nahi hai. Tumhe jo karna hai toh tum kar sakti ho, par..." she found a new ray of hope until he said "tumhare mere prati jo kartavya hai, jo Patni dharam hai, pati ki seva, ussey badhkar kuch nahi."
He stood straight in front of her "Ab marzi tumhari hai Bondita, inn sab ke baad agar tumhe school jaane ka waqt mile toh jaao. Waise bhi shulk toh main ab bhi bhar raha hu tumhare school ka." Saying this he went past her towards the book shelf. That hurted her. He never brought the topic that he was the one who pays her fees. She felt so helpless and dependent at this moment.
She wished she could express her pain and agony to someone. But the irony is, the same someone, with whom she shared everything is giving this pain.
She came out of the study like stone, the tears dries up so were her trembling lips. After whatever happened, she just wished for one, just one thing, her Birristra babu, her old Pati Babu. The one who used to scold her for not focusing on studies, who yelled at her if she missed her school, who clearly denied her to follow the path of being a perfect wife and made her focus on being Barrister Babu.
Yes, she is missing that mentor, that friend, who used to guide her and at the end of the day, use to hold his ears apologizing for scolding her and ends up laughing together.
How much she wished she could go back to time when he was getting tired of explaining her to stop all these things and she would have listened to him.
"Bann gayi meri Bondita, khaas se aam Bondita."
A lone tear escaped from her eye as she remembered the words.
As she reached near the threshold of the study, her steps halted. There stood Binoy, just outside the entrance.
"S...sasurji aa... aap kab..." she quickly tried to pull the pallu over her head with her trembling hands. "Koi baat nahi. Araam se." He halted her seeing her condition.
"Bondita tum, apne kamre mein jaao, main..." she looked up to see that his gazes were inside the study "Anirudh se akele mein kuch baat karna chahta hu." He continued looking back at her.
Does that mean, he heard everything?
"Jaao Bondita, araam kar lo." To which she nodded not having any other alternative. She can't come between a father and a son afterall.
She went away without uttering a word and last thing she heard the study doors getting closed behind her.
It was already late and assuming that his Anirudh dada would be back from work, Batuk was about to head towards the study where he is mostly found, he was halted by a tug on his elbows.
"Somu Dada? Aap kab aaye?" Batuk asked "Bas abhi abhi" Somnath replied leaving his hold and asked "Aur tum abhi tak soye nahi? Kaha jaa rahe the itni der raat ko?" "Anirudh dada se baat karne" and with this he explained the entire matter that happened in the school.
"Ab iski koi zaroorat nahi hai, Baba gaye hai Boudi ke paas, aur dada se baat karne."
The next morning, her Pati Babu wasn't there in the room, and she elatedly took this as a good opportunity to get ready attend the school.
Yes, for the first she was happy that he wasn't here. But still she wondered what conversation would have taken place between the father-son last night. Even worse if Binoy had heard their conversations.
She was about to head towards the wardrobe to take out her uniform, that's when her sight fell on the calendar kept on the table making her realize that it was weekend.
Leaving a disappointed sigh, she went towards the washroom with her regular saree.
After doing the morning veneration, she saw Binoy standing there in the temple along with Somnath and Batuk. It was quite unusual for the trio to enter the temple but still she went towards them holding the burning panchdiya and gave them the aarti.
"Boudi, baba hum dono ke liye vilayati chocolates laaye hai Rangoon ke English store se. Waise, aaj mera mood bhi acha hai isiliye aapka hissa bhi nahi chinunga." Batuk spoke dramatically in order to cheer her up.
Chocolates? No chocolates were greater than the Roshogullas brought by him, especially those Ek badaam wale which are specially brought for her that too exclusively by him.
"Par ek badaam waale Roshogulle khilane ka haq sirf mera haina?"
A longing smile appearedon her face.
"Kya hua Bondita?" Her own conscience who was in her school attire appeared in front of her asked her mockingly and continued with a smirk "tu aise kyu dukhi ho rahi hai jaise Pati Babu tere se door hi chale gaye ho? Dekh apne aap ko tu. Sarr se paav tak, poori ek suhagan, unki patni ki tarah saji hai."
She turned to look down at the reflection that was visible in the pond. "Sar pe pallu, maathe pe sindhoor, kalhayi pe naye shakha pola, haath payer mein aalta" she heard the conscience "Dekh Bondita dekh! Yahi sab toh tu chahti thi na? Ki tere Pati Babu bhi tujhe ek Patni banakar rakhe?" She yelled at her.
Bondita was speechless at the moment. Everything the conscience was saying were right. She clutched her uniform's skirt part and said "iss school uniform se zyaada pyaara tere liye, ek suhaagan banke ghumna tha na.
"Nahi" Bondita uttered with her eyes brimming with tears.
"Ab bhugat, bhool jaa iss vardi ko. Tune apne haatho se iska apne zindagi se tyaag kiya hai Bondita Roy Choudhary!"
"Nahi!"
"Nahi?" Bondita was snapped out of the vision when Batuk said this "Nahi chahiye aapko chocolates?"
She quickly composed herself trying to get out the of the trance "Nahi Batuk. Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye." Saying this she went away without a word further. Somnath and Batuk sadly looked at her retiring figure.
It was about to be afternoon when Bondita was near the telephone kept in the living room to call her Pati Babu on his office number to get an update if he had anything or not as he left early in the morning.
She was about to dial when she heard her Sasurji's voice approaching the hall along with another unknown voice.
He arrived with a man of her Pati Babu's age. Or maybe older. He looked matured than him. He was tall, had a fair tone and was wearing a set of grey and white suit and coat with a red polka dot scarf inside the collar of his white shirt.
Binoy asked him to have a seat. Sampoorna who was present there greeted him while he introduced his wife.
Sampoorna was going towards the kitchen to arrange some refreshments for the guest and Bondita was about to follow her for help when Binoy called her.
"Bondita, inse milo. Ye hai Pratham. Iss sheher mein naye aaye hai." Binoy introduced her to the man who was probably few years elder Anirudh. Apparently he was the new business partner Binoy was talking about. "Pratham, ye humari bahu hai, Bondita."
Before Bondita could greet him, she heard the telephone in the study ringing. "Main dekhta hu. Excuse me." Binoy said to Pratham to which he gave a node with a gentle smile. Binoy slightly bent towards Bondita and uttered "Tum yahi rukna Bondita, mehmaan ko akele mat chhodna." She nodded and he went away adjusting his spectacles.
"Hello Bondita." He bent a little to match her height "meri friend banogi?" He asked forwarding his hands towards the little girl with a warm smile.
She timidly looked at the forwarded hand. "Pati Babu kehte hai anjaan logo se baat nahi karna chahiye. Dosti toh door ki baat hai." Pratham chuckled at her and said "Hmm. Bilkul sahi kehte hai tumhare Pati Babu. Anjaan logo se baat nahi karni chahiye. Par kya karu main na iss sheher mein naya aaya hu aur mera koi friend nahi hai."
"Sasurji toh hai." She asked gradually getting back to her form. Her hands rested on the waist as she kind of accusingly questioned him. "Aur main toh kitni choti hu aapki dost banne ke liye."
"Choti toh ho par suna hai bohot samajhdaar bhi ho. Lagta hai galat suna..." He dramatically said "Nahi!" She snapped. "Kaafi samjhdaar hai Bondita."
"Main kaise maanu?" He asked raising his brows "Teyees ka poora pahada bol sakti hu main." She proudly said. "Sunau? Teyees ekam teyees, teyees duni chiyalees..." she started reciting the entire multiplication table of twenty three in a go.
"Arey waah! Itna toh mujhe bhi nahi aata. Ab aisi samjhdaar mujhse dosti karegi toh mujhe bhi acha lagega." He said making a pleading face. She tapped her forefinger on her cheeks for sometime and then said looking at him "Hmm. Theek hai. Bann jaayegi Bondita aapki dost."
They both chuckled together.
After some kind of discussion with Binoy, Bondita started showing her achievements, trophies and her report card in which she was ranked first.
But Pratham just kept on observing Bondita. Although she cheerfully kept on showing the stuffs but at the end, she becomes gloomy and gets lost somewhere.
It was late evening when Pratham left and Bondita was in the kitchen preparing the dinner. Sampoorna saw that there was a subtle smile on her sister's face which was missing since few days.
"Kya baat hai Bondita, aaj khush lag rahi hai tu." Bondita has observed that lately her didi has started to soften a bit like the way she was. Unlike the Sampoorna maa that her mami had converted her.
But considering this to be too early to judge, she replied her in the same stern tone which she had been using for her since that day when her deeds were exposed "Aisi koi baat nahi hai Sampoorna Maa. Main zara dekhke aati hu ki Pati Babu aaye ki nahi." Saying this she went away.
A tinch of disappointment appeared on Sampoorna's face but quickly hid it before the servant beside her would observe.
When she reached her room, he was already present there in his regular navy blue shirt and white turtleneck pullover beneath. A new pair of suspenders attached to his beige pant. Hair properly combed and gelled up. He looked so fresh and not at all seems like he was back from work. Instead, it was like he just got ready.
"Bondita." He called her in a gentle tone "yaha aao"
She stepped instead fidgeting the end of her saree and sat beside him on the edge of the bed. He held her saree which was wrapped around her little fingers freeing them. While doing that he uttered "Bondita, main jaanta hu ki tum naraaz ho." He was done with what he was doing "kal jis tarah se tumse baat kiya uske liye main maafi maangta hu."
Indeed he sounded sorry, but that didn't match his expressions. His eyes didn't hold any kind of guilt. And moreover, this was not how they apologized each other. Their sorrys were incomplete without the uthak-baithak or atleast not without holding their ears. But here, his hands were all with himself subtly rubbing the palms.
"Kya hua Bondita?"
"Kuch nahi." She slightly looked away being lost in her thoughts. Has he changed? As per what she has heard from other ladies, a husband never apologize, no matter how much ever mistakes they make but they would never take a step get them back to terms. Her Pati Babu was different, but the way he has been treated her lately is no different from the other husbands.
"Bondita, main yaha tumse maafi maang raha hu toh kuch toh bolo." He sounded irritated and she couldn't look away seeing the sudden change in his attitude. "Ek pati kabhi bhi patni ke aage nahi jhukta, par mere maafi ke baawajoot tum mooh phere bathi ho!" See, she was right he hasn't changed.
"Ab tum chahti ho ki main tumhare payer padu?" She looked at him shockingly. Not because he said this. But because now he has started showing up that he has apologized! That too being a husband. Great!
"Nahi Pati babu, maafi toh mujhe maangni chahiye ki main aapse zyaada umeed lagake baithi" She didn't know how would he take her words but she indirectly said that mockingly. She saw his expressions softened.
"Koi baat nahi Bondita, samajh sakta hu main. Mera ye Pati wala roop, humara ye rishta abhi bhi naya hai aur tumhara iss rishtey umeed lagaana jaayaz hai." Seems like he took her last words in a literal way. She didn't want more ruckus between them thus gave a forced smile. Seems like, last night Sasurji must have forced him to apologize.
He hasn't changed. He is still a husband.
Upcoming:
The promo track!
3555 words! *sigh* (but Unedited)
I wanted to start the promo track from this part onwards but couldn't do it bcz of Anidita's confrontation, Pratham's entry and Anirudh's apology, too much for a part🤭
Ps: That Anidita's confrontation part in the study is been referred from the show after AniMano's marriage. When Bondita thrashed the plate of Sindhoor all upon herself. (Ofcourse you may remember😓 the heartbreaking one)
Just that instead of making him marry for 2nd time, I wanted Bondita to know what it is when she said Patni dharam and having a Pati like others.
So, too much of craps ik, but...
1. Has her Pati Babu actually changed or is there some other reason?
2. Why did Binoy enter the study?
3. What do you think about Sampoorna's gradual change? Is it a real one?
4. And lastly, lemme know what do you think about Pratham? Is he gonna be positive or....😈😈 and why did he wanted to befriend her?
Comment down below and don't forget to turn the star orange!
Love,
Ammy 💜