"Tum soyi nehi abhi tak" Batuk entered her cabin while rubbing his eyes when he noticed her making some kind of drawing on a sheet. She looked at him and frowned, "are you forgetting that I am insomniac?".

Batuk sat beside her and looked at the drawing of Taj Mahal and immediate he asked a curious question, "tumne Taj Mahal dekhi hain?"

"Ha, humare gharpe ek chota sa tha" she said and continued to draw again when all of a sudden she kept the crayon aside and asked him a question, "agar problem Anirudh mein hota to Bondita ko bhi hak hota kya firse shadi karne ki?" A smile crept on Batuk's face hearing the question and his reply was, "Ye sawal tum unhise puchna jinke pas saare prashno ka uttar hota hain".

"Rudy also used to have all answers"

"Rudy who?"

"My friend, he older than me, jew tha, after his family died he took shelter at our home. He used to teach me in the spare time that is when we found the diary but now he is safe in America".

"Ek minute" snapped Batuk, "agar tumhara koi apna tha to jab medical camp mein tumse pucha gaya about your closest people, why did you say you have none?" He scolded her which made her scared, "you could have given your friend's number. Agar unhe is diary mein se number nehi milta na mein yaha ata, aur tum abhi raaste mein pari hoti... How irresponsible you are?"

She stood up and held her waist, "aur agar mein batati Rudy k baare mein, wo log usey yaha bulate, he is jew and he could have been killed. He is safe wherever he is".

Batuk took a deep breath and looked out of the window, at the vast expanse of the sea, "tum bilkul usipar gyi ho, dusro k baare mein sochte sochte khudke life k sath khelna". He whispered it so softly that she could barely hear him.

.....................................

Priyam lied on the bed while her eyes were fixed at the skylights on the ceiling. Her other hand was on the switchboard, switching the lights on and off continuously. Since childhood, she had never taken Decisions, it was always her father and now the biggest decision of her life lies solely in her hand. While she was lost in her thoughts, the phone rang.

She got up and picked it up but before she could utter anything the person on the other side said, "balcony pe ao"

Priyam ran to the balcony and saw Roy Chowdhury's car parked outside. Batuk came out of the phone booth and looked at her with a wide smile, "neeche so".

"Abhi?" She asked and looked here and there

"Haa"

Priyam wrapped a shawl around and rushed downstairs, "tum itni raat ko yaha kyu aye ho Batuk?"

"Do you remember you asked me something?"

She smirked mischievously, "to shah Jahan Ji bana liya apne mere liye wo?"

"Mein mazak nehi kar raha" he said on a serious note and took out something from his pocket. Seeing that, her eyes brimmed with fascination. It was a beautiful semi circle crystal which had a small Taj Mahal sculpted inside.

"Wo..." He started to stammer and become nervous, "wo..ye ek dukan pe dikh gaya socha lete chalu." "This is beautiful!" She exclaimed and rubbed her hand gently on the small show piece, "tum jitne burey bartav karte ho utne ho nehi".

"Waise bhi mujhe hi to purey zindagi tumhe jhelna hain, hey bhagwan mujhe bacha lena" Batuk said dramatically and started to laugh but her face went paler and smile faded away. She stared at him like she has never seen him before, "Batuk tumhara pehela pyar adhura reh gaya na?"

Batuk Stopped laughing and cleared his throat, "hum aisi baatein kyu kar rahe hain?"

"Nehi bass mujhe janna tha, bohot dard hota hoga na?"

At Rc Haveli

"Anirudh mujhse pyar nehi karta" she held her mother by her shoulder, "kyu jhoot bola aplogo ne mujhse?"

"Arrey bhar mein jaye pyar" her mother rolled her eyes, "pati usi se pyar karta hain jo maa ban sake aur tu bas ekbar haa bol de, dekhna tujhi se pyar karega"

"Nehi maa" she said in a tired voice, "ap samajhti kyu nehi, Bondita ne jo apni jagah banayi hain na us jageh ko pana na mumkin hain aur mujhe chahiye bhi nehi aur Anirudh razi bhi nehi hoga".

"Sun tu pehele" her mother shook her, "agar Anirudh raazi ho gaya to tu mana nehi karegi".

"Maa wo nehi hoga razzi" she argued back.

"Par hogaya to"?

"To fir mein bhi razi ho jaungi par mujhe yakein hain ki wo na hi kahega".

Both mother and daughter were in the middle of the argument when they heard Anirudh shouting. This is new to them but not others.

I was shocked to hear from kaka that he wanted me to marry again. I was already broken and stressed and now this thing made me go numb. "Kaka ap mazak kar rahe ho na" I voice became heavy as I was controlling my tears to flow down. No, I am not supposed to cry.

"Maine bohot vichar kiya hain aur Bondita bahu bhi yahi chahati hain".

"Kaka mein ek patni k hote huye dusra..." But kaka inturrupted me in between, "to manorama ko tu bhangan gawane le ata tha kya?"

"Wo baat alag hain" kneeled down on the floor and joined my hands, "mujhe maaf kar dijiye par mujhe ye nehi hoga" and marched out of the room but as I entered the study, I saw Bondita standing there with teary eyes. I went towards her and was about to embrace her but she moved away, "ap ye vivah kar lijiye pati babu".

"VIVAH VIVAH VIVAH!" I shouted and banged my hand on the table. Every other time Bondita usually gets scared but today she stood like a statue, "ap khush rahenge".

This irked me to the core and so out of rage I grabbed her by her shoulder and she closed her eyes in pain. I wanted to know the change in her attitude. She is not my Bondita anymore. When I looked into her eyes, I realised the spark of mischief, inquisitive nature, the shine was missing. Her eyes were dull, those pairs were staring at me, stabbing hard each time. I understand her emotional state but I am broken too. Even I lost the child, she was lying in the hospital ward, it was me who had to take such a decision, it was me who had to kill my child for her sake. Doesn't it prove to the world that she matters to me the most, my happiness lies in her not in being a father.

She removed my hand and said bluntly, "ap ye vivah karenge"

I rubbed off my tears and cupped her face gently, "Bondita hum baat karte hain na" but to my surprise, she jerked off my hands, "baat karne ko kuch nehi bacha".

"Kaki aplog kaha jaa rahe ho" Bondita held Mitali's hand and stopped her from packing bags. "Hum yaha aye the apne bacchi ki vivah k liye" she saud while shedding her crocodile tears, "par Anirudh to vivah karna hi nehi chahata".

Bondita started to unpack all the stuffs, "mehi aplog kahi nehi jayenge".

"Choti Malkin" Mitali turned towards her, "ap to chahate hain na ki apke pati khush rahe to ap samjhaiye na unhe, wo to apki haar baat manta hain, aur apko pata hain ki meri beti santan ka janm de sakti hain".

"Haa kaki mein samjhaungi"

Flashback ends...

"Tum meri Bondita nehi ho!" he shouted at her as he held her by her shoulder tightly, "meri Bondita alag hain, tark se fark mitati hain, koi usey bandh nehi sakta, wo khule soch ki hain, kisi bhi ku pratha ka sath nehi deti" saying this he gave her a slight push, "tum samajh k baare mein sochti ho, sabke baaton mein a jati ho aur ku pratha ka sath deti ho"

"tum" he pointed his finger at her, "Khas Bondita nehi Amm Bondita ho"

Bondita rubbed off her tears and looked at him confidently, "mein bas apse ye keh rahi hu ki agar apne ye vivah nehi kiya to mein apko chorke chali jaungi humesha k liye, dhund kar bhi nehi milegi apko Bondita".

Anirudh has always been an impulsive decision maker. Out of rage he held the hour glass so hard that it broke into pieces and his hand started to bleed. Bondita's gesture to this was shocking when she stood there like a dumb show instead of bringing haldi.

"Tum jo chahati ho mein wahi karunga" he said in a husky voice, "aur fir apne ankho k samne dono ko dheere dheere marte huye dekhunga, ek tum aur ek mein, yehi chahati ho na tum?"

Her eyes remained fixed at his bleeding hands, "haldi lagwa lijiye".

Anirudh let out a painful chuckle, "kya fayda? Ghaw to tumne de hi diya". Bondita immediately turned around to hide her tears and rushed out of the room. As soon as she left, Anirudh sat on the floor with a jerk, crossing her feet, he held his head and broke down.

"Maa" he cried out loud. For the first time he was so helpless that he called his mother because people who were alive were unable to understand him. He called his mother's name several times while crying. The extent of helplessness he was facing, was a proof of him calling his mother's name loudly.

When I walked up to the terrace, I could hear the sound of our rusted swing swinging slowly. Bondita was sitting on ut, her feet were barely touching the floor. I silently sat beside her and we sat quietly beside each other, staring at the stary sky.

"Kya kar rahi ho?" I finally broke the silence.

"Taare to bilkul nehi ginn rahi hu".

We both chuckled softly. The old casket was playing slowly in the gramophone, soft and serene.

Jokhon prothom dhoreche koli

Amar mollika boney

I Had prepared for my offering when it was building in the jasmine garden.

"Sab suna maine" I said at which she looked at me, "do gyan bhi de do".

"Mein kuch nehi kahunga" I added, "Bass puchunga ki ye sab kyu? Baat karke suljha lete"

She took a deep breath and placed her head on my shoulder, "ek experience share karu? Itne saalon k vivah k baad pyar pyar nehi samjhota ban jata hain. Dil se hooth tak ka rasta itna lamba ho jata hain ki baatein us raste mein hi maar jate hain. Dil ki doori dheere dheere tootne lagte hain. Tumhare dada ne ek baar bhi nehi socha mein kya chahati hu aur mujhe bacha liya mere bacche ki jagah"

She took a deep breath, "kabhi kabar to baat hi nehi hoti, hoti bhi hain to tukro mein. Hum anjaane mein hi bohot durr jaa rahe hain".

"Par ek baat kahu?"

"Hmmm"

"Jab tum agwa huye the tabh tumne bhi to Apne bacche k baare mein na soch k dada ko bachane gye the".

She closed her eyes and I could feel her tears on my sleeves, "wahi to... Kabh kya karte hain hum humney khud bhi nehi pata, dimag hi kaam nehi kar raha abhi. "

I can understand her situation. I was in the same situation of confusion years ago. I wanted the person I love to be happy but it was causing me pain. Bondita was in the same situation now. I patted her head to console her.

"Kisiko kabhi pyar na hona chahiye na karna chahiye, Pyar karna bohot buri chiz hain" I added.

"Bohot" she completed my sentence.

"Bohot hi zyada" and then we chuckled together.

Tomar Laagia Tokhoni Bandhu

Bedhechinu Anjali

The mist has not been completely removed, O dear,

When Tagore's son Rathindranath died, Tagore was not in his home town Kolkata. He was in Shantiniketan when his son's body was brought. A father us suppose to cry right?

But Tagore, without even shedding a single tear, entered into a room and after an hour came out after writtng the song "Amar Mallika Bon" (jasmine garden).

He didn't cry physically, instead, he penned down his all emotions, his pain, his tears in form of words. He cried through his pen and paper while other cried with eyes.

This proves what kind of a great writer he us. No wonder why he won the first noble prize and what is he called Vishwa kavi.

This is the story behind this particular song. No matter what kind of person he is, he us god if literature.

Thought if sharing this story when I added the song in my ff.

We all got scared when Kaka placed a slap across Sampoorna's face. Dada who always opposes such aspects remained silent. What she has done is disgusting.

Bondita walked towards her like a puppet and held her by her shoulder, "ap ne aisa kyu kiya didi!" She cried and shouted, "apto meri didi hain!"

I looked at Baba who was boiling in anger but gazed at the floor. It was painful for baba that because of his wife, his own son had to go through so much.

"Dekha Binoy" kaka taunted, "sautela sautela hi rehta hain" and this sentence was mend for baba but affected Dada, Bondita and Charu didi more.