19-12-2019, 11:26 AM
Next morning, about eleven o’clock. I entered the kitchen of eldest aunt. She was packing rice and pulses in some utensils. I asked her for whom she was packing those. She answered that those were for Sumanto uncle who was in the field. I asked her that could I accompany her to the fields.
She was surprised to hear me ---“No. How will you go in this scorching sun? It is very hot outside. The fields are about four to five kilometers from the house and we have to walk.”
---“Respect and admire can make the sun rays soothing as the moon light.”
She smiled at me with motherly affection ---“You are a naughty rascal. Ok come on.”
As we started, Grand Aunt and Paree asked us as where we were going.
Eldest Aunt answered that I was accompanying her to the fields. Paree smiled and nodded her head in dismay.
While we walked, I asked her ---“You don’t have any children. Right?”
---“Yes. Because of some health problems.”
---“Why you were so quiet and unnoticeable during Subroto’s wedding?”
Her eyes glistened, she smiled painfully ---“I am a poor farmer’s wife. I am not rich as your Indrani Mashi or Chandrani Mashi, neither my husband is educated like Shasanko or Subroto.”
I stopped her in the middle of the narrow path ---“Who told you that you are not rich? You are Devi Annapurna of this house. You are the rice bowl. Come on leave these let’s walk.”
She looked t me, few drops of tears rolled down the corner of her eyes which she wiped with the corner of her saree.
After some silent walk I asked her ---“You love Paree very much.”
“Yes” She nodded her head. “She is the youngest child of this house. Sometime I see my childhood in hers.”
---“It pains, that she has gone away from this house.”
---“Not actually. When I think that she has been taken out of these glitters of snobbery, I feel relieved.”
---“You can come anytime to our house, if you feel to meet Paree. My doors are always open for you.”
She looked at me ---“Sometimes it pains, whenever I think of that what will happen to that child who has been abused by her sisters from childhood days. She hides a lot of pain behind her sweet smile. But this time, for the first time I saw happiness in her eyes. Pains gone. I fear, that how long this smile will remain on her lips.”
---“I promise you that I will not let that smile to fade away from her lips.”
What she understood, I don’t know but she stood looking at me, giving a pious smile.
She touched my head ---“Keep that promise, not for me but for her.”
We then walked to the fields, changing the topic and talking about the vegetables and fields and many others.
That day evening at about three o’clock, Dushtu came running to me and asked me that do I know how to catch fish.
I answered ---“No, I haven’t caught any in my whole life time.”
---“But Thanu (Grand Aunt) told me that when you were young then you and Subroto Uncle used to catch fish from the pond.”
---“Ok let’s give a try.”
He jumped as he heard that we would goto the pond.
I asked him, standing near the pond ---“But we don’t have fishing rod? How can we catch fish?”
He looked around and said ---“No one will come here, we can jump in the pond to catch fish.”
I laughed at him ---“Uh! Come on. Our clothes will get drenched.”
He screamed and giggled ---“No. We will take off our clothes and then jump.”
I looked around and took off my shirt and pant and stood only in my briefs. The naughty boy took of all his clothes and stood also in his briefs. We laughed at each other and then jumped into the pond.
I dived into the pond, but Dushtu ran up to a branch of mango tree and jumped from there.
He said to me ---“Why are you diving like that? Come on this branch and jump like me.”
I laughed at him and said to him that how to jump.
He ran out to the branch again and showed me. As he jumped her bent his knees near to his chest and locked his small arms on his shin and jumped from the slanting branch of the mango tree into the pond.
I imitated him and we both laughed as we dived into the pond.
Somehow we tried to catch fish with our hands, but we could not.
Dushtu suggested ---“Why not we make your shirt a temporary net and catch fish?”
______________________________
---“Good idea.”
So after much of struggle and much of child’s play in the water we caught a fish with my shirt at last. I handed that fish to Dushtu. He looked at the fish; its mouth was gasping for breath and was wriggling in his small hands. The fish was slippery so it was getting slipped from his small grip. He tightened his grip on its fins and looked at me.
“This fish is gasping badly.” He looked bit sad “Let us free this in the water.”
I ruffled his hair and said ---“Ok, let it go.”
The fish swam into the water quickly.
We sat on the bank of the pond waiting for our briefs to get dry. The sun was approaching the west horizon.
He asked me in his childish tone with a pure unadulterated voice ---“Why did you take away Paree Auntie from me?”
I looked at him ---“Who told you that I took her away?”
---“Yes, you took her away. She now stays at your home.”
I laughed at him answer ---“So you mean to say that since she stays at my home, so I have taken her away from you?”
He gave a queer look ---“Yes, sure. Maithili auntie came to this house with Subroto Uncle. This is her home now.”
For some time, I lost my words as what to answer.
I ruffled his wet hair and asked ---“You miss your Paree Auntie very much?”
He snuggled close to me ---“Yes. I miss her very much. She used to play with me, made my hair. Use to bathe me and sang lullaby while I slept. I miss her very much.”
I put my arm around him---“Your Paree Auntie has gone nowhere” I patted his small chest “She will be always here, with you.”
He smiled at me, pure smile. Smile made up of honeybee’s honey and early morning dew ---“Can I come to your house to meet her? Anytime?”
---“Yes why not. You can come to my house anytime for whole lifetime.”
He jumped on me hearing that and threw his little arms around my neck ---“You are the best uncle. Abhi Uncle.”
I smiled sweetly at his frivolous face.
The sun went down the horizon. Birds were chirping very noisily over head, all were returning to their nests. We also put on our clothes, part dried part soaked and returned to the house. All the while he didn’t let my hand loose from his small strong grip.
As we entered the house, Dushtu ran and leaped on Paree’s lap and said something in her ears. Paree gave a queer look at me and then smiled at him.
She said to him ---“Sure, why can’t you come to my house. You are always welcome.”
Everything was not going well, due to my presence in that house. The tension between me and Subroto was felt by Grand Aunt and also by Sumanto Uncle.
One evening when I and Sumanto Uncle were having tea along with puffed rice.
He asked me ---“You stayed the whole night during Subroto’s wedding.”
“Yes” I nodded my head while sipping the tea.
“What happened between you and him? He is not talking to you properly and his wife has not come out in front of you, not for a single time?” He asked me while munching the puffed rice.
On hearing his question I stopped midway while sipping the tea and looked at his face as what he knows.
I answered him trickily ---“May be due to some miscommunication some misunderstanding has happened. From my part I am ok. I was just waiting for him to talk, so that we could clear our misunderstanding.”
“Why not call him now and clear that.” He shouted and called “Subroto, come here at the verandah. I have something to say.”
Subroto came down hurriedly and when he saw that I was sitting along with Sumanto Uncle, he stood still as a stone effigy. There was a sheer horrified look in his eyes. He lost his words and trotted slowly near Sumanto Uncle.
He asked him in a low horrified voice with his eyes down ---“What happened, Dada?”
______________________________
Sumanto uncle looked at me and then said to him ---“You are not talking with him, what happened between you?”
I sensed that the “it is not a wise decision to make a scene of him” so I sportingly walked to him and hugged him and said “Nothing happened, right brother. Everything is ok.”
I looked at Sumanto uncle and said ---“Probably he could not find time to talk with me. They are still newly married. They need some time to be together.”
I sensed a big relief came off Subroto’s chest as he gave me an apologizing look and silently walked away.
We sat there silently for some time.
After sometime Sumanto Uncle asked me---“How is Paree doing at your house?”
I looked at him ---“It is not my house only, it has become her house also. She addresses my mom as ChotoMa.”
---“During those days, I could not take care of anyone. I had to work to make the ends meet. And after a long, long time I find my sweet child sister has grown up to be a lady. When I had time then I had no say. This world glitters in the rays of glass; they don’t understand the worth of uncut diamond. Because uncut diamond does not glitter, it looks same like any other stone. Glass always glitters whether cut or uncut.”
I asked him ---“Why are you telling me all these?”
He looked at me ---“Your mom, Ulupi Di and us. We don’t have any blood relation in few miles of radius around us. She only came here as her college was near to our house and she was carrying you then. But what she did for us is something our own family members have not done for us.”
---“Leave all those, Paree is happy now.”
---“I am also happy to see her happy. But I don’t know how long this smile will be on her lips.”
---“Why do you think that her smile will go away?”
---“Someday she has to marry and that only God knows what fate he has written for her.”
“You want to see her smile forever? Right.” I asked him. He nodded “Yes”.
---“She is in her second home now. Why are you so skeptical about her? Everything will be taken care of gradually. She is happy again and she will remain happy.”
He let out a deep breath and said ---“Abhi, this world is very cruel.”
---“I won’t let any cruelty to dwell around her. Till the time I am with her.”
I don’t know what he understood but he smiled at me painfully ---“How long you can be there for her? She has to go one day.”
I murmured inside my heart “I won’t let her go away from my sight, not for a single moment if you allow me.”
I joked at him, but it was a serious joke for me ---“Don’t worry Sumanto Uncle; Paree won’t go away from your heart from my heart from no one’s heart. Wherever she will be she will be happy.”
One night after dinner I was on the roof puffing a white stick. I looked up the dark Prussian blue sky; the dark carpet was splattered with millions of twinkling stars. Cold summer breeze was blowing from south. All the persons in the house has gone asleep, it was about twelve o clock in the night. I looked to the horizon. The black coconut trees stood silently and were beckoning me like a ghost. Somewhere in the bamboo trees some jackal or fox howled. The crickets were producing long shrieks in some nearby bush. Somewhere nearby, some dog barked, probably it saw a cat jumping.
I was about to climb down the stairs to goto my room, I saw that Paree was climbing up. I looked at her face, in the low light of the crescent moon. She looked like a marigold flower.
She smiled at me ---“Not feeling sleepy, you rascal.”
I held her by the back of her head and gently griped her hair ---“You are also not sleeping, sweet raven.”
We stood at one corner of the roof. I wrapped my arms around her from her back and locked my hands on her tummy. She rested her head on my left chest and held my hand. We stood there silently for long time looking at the horizon and the Prussian blue sky.
She purred ---“What you were doing at this time on the roof?”
I rubbed my cheek on her soft right cheek and whispered ---“You were also not sleeping, why?”
---“I heard your footsteps climbing on the stairs. So I came out to check.”
---“That sound didn’t wake you up, for sure. Why are you awake?”
She slowly turned in my locked arms and placed her palms on my chest and looked into my eyes. It was not a smile in her eyes, there was a tensed look.
______________________________
She was surprised to hear me ---“No. How will you go in this scorching sun? It is very hot outside. The fields are about four to five kilometers from the house and we have to walk.”
---“Respect and admire can make the sun rays soothing as the moon light.”
She smiled at me with motherly affection ---“You are a naughty rascal. Ok come on.”
As we started, Grand Aunt and Paree asked us as where we were going.
Eldest Aunt answered that I was accompanying her to the fields. Paree smiled and nodded her head in dismay.
While we walked, I asked her ---“You don’t have any children. Right?”
---“Yes. Because of some health problems.”
---“Why you were so quiet and unnoticeable during Subroto’s wedding?”
Her eyes glistened, she smiled painfully ---“I am a poor farmer’s wife. I am not rich as your Indrani Mashi or Chandrani Mashi, neither my husband is educated like Shasanko or Subroto.”
I stopped her in the middle of the narrow path ---“Who told you that you are not rich? You are Devi Annapurna of this house. You are the rice bowl. Come on leave these let’s walk.”
She looked t me, few drops of tears rolled down the corner of her eyes which she wiped with the corner of her saree.
After some silent walk I asked her ---“You love Paree very much.”
“Yes” She nodded her head. “She is the youngest child of this house. Sometime I see my childhood in hers.”
---“It pains, that she has gone away from this house.”
---“Not actually. When I think that she has been taken out of these glitters of snobbery, I feel relieved.”
---“You can come anytime to our house, if you feel to meet Paree. My doors are always open for you.”
She looked at me ---“Sometimes it pains, whenever I think of that what will happen to that child who has been abused by her sisters from childhood days. She hides a lot of pain behind her sweet smile. But this time, for the first time I saw happiness in her eyes. Pains gone. I fear, that how long this smile will remain on her lips.”
---“I promise you that I will not let that smile to fade away from her lips.”
What she understood, I don’t know but she stood looking at me, giving a pious smile.
She touched my head ---“Keep that promise, not for me but for her.”
We then walked to the fields, changing the topic and talking about the vegetables and fields and many others.
That day evening at about three o’clock, Dushtu came running to me and asked me that do I know how to catch fish.
I answered ---“No, I haven’t caught any in my whole life time.”
---“But Thanu (Grand Aunt) told me that when you were young then you and Subroto Uncle used to catch fish from the pond.”
---“Ok let’s give a try.”
He jumped as he heard that we would goto the pond.
I asked him, standing near the pond ---“But we don’t have fishing rod? How can we catch fish?”
He looked around and said ---“No one will come here, we can jump in the pond to catch fish.”
I laughed at him ---“Uh! Come on. Our clothes will get drenched.”
He screamed and giggled ---“No. We will take off our clothes and then jump.”
I looked around and took off my shirt and pant and stood only in my briefs. The naughty boy took of all his clothes and stood also in his briefs. We laughed at each other and then jumped into the pond.
I dived into the pond, but Dushtu ran up to a branch of mango tree and jumped from there.
He said to me ---“Why are you diving like that? Come on this branch and jump like me.”
I laughed at him and said to him that how to jump.
He ran out to the branch again and showed me. As he jumped her bent his knees near to his chest and locked his small arms on his shin and jumped from the slanting branch of the mango tree into the pond.
I imitated him and we both laughed as we dived into the pond.
Somehow we tried to catch fish with our hands, but we could not.
Dushtu suggested ---“Why not we make your shirt a temporary net and catch fish?”
______________________________
---“Good idea.”
So after much of struggle and much of child’s play in the water we caught a fish with my shirt at last. I handed that fish to Dushtu. He looked at the fish; its mouth was gasping for breath and was wriggling in his small hands. The fish was slippery so it was getting slipped from his small grip. He tightened his grip on its fins and looked at me.
“This fish is gasping badly.” He looked bit sad “Let us free this in the water.”
I ruffled his hair and said ---“Ok, let it go.”
The fish swam into the water quickly.
We sat on the bank of the pond waiting for our briefs to get dry. The sun was approaching the west horizon.
He asked me in his childish tone with a pure unadulterated voice ---“Why did you take away Paree Auntie from me?”
I looked at him ---“Who told you that I took her away?”
---“Yes, you took her away. She now stays at your home.”
I laughed at him answer ---“So you mean to say that since she stays at my home, so I have taken her away from you?”
He gave a queer look ---“Yes, sure. Maithili auntie came to this house with Subroto Uncle. This is her home now.”
For some time, I lost my words as what to answer.
I ruffled his wet hair and asked ---“You miss your Paree Auntie very much?”
He snuggled close to me ---“Yes. I miss her very much. She used to play with me, made my hair. Use to bathe me and sang lullaby while I slept. I miss her very much.”
I put my arm around him---“Your Paree Auntie has gone nowhere” I patted his small chest “She will be always here, with you.”
He smiled at me, pure smile. Smile made up of honeybee’s honey and early morning dew ---“Can I come to your house to meet her? Anytime?”
---“Yes why not. You can come to my house anytime for whole lifetime.”
He jumped on me hearing that and threw his little arms around my neck ---“You are the best uncle. Abhi Uncle.”
I smiled sweetly at his frivolous face.
The sun went down the horizon. Birds were chirping very noisily over head, all were returning to their nests. We also put on our clothes, part dried part soaked and returned to the house. All the while he didn’t let my hand loose from his small strong grip.
As we entered the house, Dushtu ran and leaped on Paree’s lap and said something in her ears. Paree gave a queer look at me and then smiled at him.
She said to him ---“Sure, why can’t you come to my house. You are always welcome.”
Everything was not going well, due to my presence in that house. The tension between me and Subroto was felt by Grand Aunt and also by Sumanto Uncle.
One evening when I and Sumanto Uncle were having tea along with puffed rice.
He asked me ---“You stayed the whole night during Subroto’s wedding.”
“Yes” I nodded my head while sipping the tea.
“What happened between you and him? He is not talking to you properly and his wife has not come out in front of you, not for a single time?” He asked me while munching the puffed rice.
On hearing his question I stopped midway while sipping the tea and looked at his face as what he knows.
I answered him trickily ---“May be due to some miscommunication some misunderstanding has happened. From my part I am ok. I was just waiting for him to talk, so that we could clear our misunderstanding.”
“Why not call him now and clear that.” He shouted and called “Subroto, come here at the verandah. I have something to say.”
Subroto came down hurriedly and when he saw that I was sitting along with Sumanto Uncle, he stood still as a stone effigy. There was a sheer horrified look in his eyes. He lost his words and trotted slowly near Sumanto Uncle.
He asked him in a low horrified voice with his eyes down ---“What happened, Dada?”
______________________________
Sumanto uncle looked at me and then said to him ---“You are not talking with him, what happened between you?”
I sensed that the “it is not a wise decision to make a scene of him” so I sportingly walked to him and hugged him and said “Nothing happened, right brother. Everything is ok.”
I looked at Sumanto uncle and said ---“Probably he could not find time to talk with me. They are still newly married. They need some time to be together.”
I sensed a big relief came off Subroto’s chest as he gave me an apologizing look and silently walked away.
We sat there silently for some time.
After sometime Sumanto Uncle asked me---“How is Paree doing at your house?”
I looked at him ---“It is not my house only, it has become her house also. She addresses my mom as ChotoMa.”
---“During those days, I could not take care of anyone. I had to work to make the ends meet. And after a long, long time I find my sweet child sister has grown up to be a lady. When I had time then I had no say. This world glitters in the rays of glass; they don’t understand the worth of uncut diamond. Because uncut diamond does not glitter, it looks same like any other stone. Glass always glitters whether cut or uncut.”
I asked him ---“Why are you telling me all these?”
He looked at me ---“Your mom, Ulupi Di and us. We don’t have any blood relation in few miles of radius around us. She only came here as her college was near to our house and she was carrying you then. But what she did for us is something our own family members have not done for us.”
---“Leave all those, Paree is happy now.”
---“I am also happy to see her happy. But I don’t know how long this smile will be on her lips.”
---“Why do you think that her smile will go away?”
---“Someday she has to marry and that only God knows what fate he has written for her.”
“You want to see her smile forever? Right.” I asked him. He nodded “Yes”.
---“She is in her second home now. Why are you so skeptical about her? Everything will be taken care of gradually. She is happy again and she will remain happy.”
He let out a deep breath and said ---“Abhi, this world is very cruel.”
---“I won’t let any cruelty to dwell around her. Till the time I am with her.”
I don’t know what he understood but he smiled at me painfully ---“How long you can be there for her? She has to go one day.”
I murmured inside my heart “I won’t let her go away from my sight, not for a single moment if you allow me.”
I joked at him, but it was a serious joke for me ---“Don’t worry Sumanto Uncle; Paree won’t go away from your heart from my heart from no one’s heart. Wherever she will be she will be happy.”
One night after dinner I was on the roof puffing a white stick. I looked up the dark Prussian blue sky; the dark carpet was splattered with millions of twinkling stars. Cold summer breeze was blowing from south. All the persons in the house has gone asleep, it was about twelve o clock in the night. I looked to the horizon. The black coconut trees stood silently and were beckoning me like a ghost. Somewhere in the bamboo trees some jackal or fox howled. The crickets were producing long shrieks in some nearby bush. Somewhere nearby, some dog barked, probably it saw a cat jumping.
I was about to climb down the stairs to goto my room, I saw that Paree was climbing up. I looked at her face, in the low light of the crescent moon. She looked like a marigold flower.
She smiled at me ---“Not feeling sleepy, you rascal.”
I held her by the back of her head and gently griped her hair ---“You are also not sleeping, sweet raven.”
We stood at one corner of the roof. I wrapped my arms around her from her back and locked my hands on her tummy. She rested her head on my left chest and held my hand. We stood there silently for long time looking at the horizon and the Prussian blue sky.
She purred ---“What you were doing at this time on the roof?”
I rubbed my cheek on her soft right cheek and whispered ---“You were also not sleeping, why?”
---“I heard your footsteps climbing on the stairs. So I came out to check.”
---“That sound didn’t wake you up, for sure. Why are you awake?”
She slowly turned in my locked arms and placed her palms on my chest and looked into my eyes. It was not a smile in her eyes, there was a tensed look.
______________________________
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