Maitreyee

Maitreyee knew that every one will laugh at her, but she did it. She told her parents firmly and clearly that she wont marry Amal under no circumstances. Amal was a quite a tempting groom under worldly measures but in Maitreyee’s eyes he was nothing.

Maitreyee has observed him observing her for more than two years, he seemed obsessed by her, he was an educated, good looking guy from an affluent family. But that was only the upper crust, his manners were horrible, mannerwise he resembled the famous character Hagar The Horrible more than normal human beings. The sound of his munching and swallowing was audible from the other end of the room, so were the remaining sounds, gurgling, yawning, coughing, sneezing…all were loud enough to wake up dead from their slumber.

Where as Maitreyee was very mild mannered girl, it was hard to know that she is present in the room, she was born and brought up in a very polished environment so it was not possible for her to adjust with a person like Amal, with so very loud manners.

Her parents were absolutely mad at her for turning down the offer. But Maitreyee stood her ground. Amal got married and deliberately came to Maitreyee to introduce his wife, who was far more sweet looking and cuter than Maitreyee.

A couple of years later Maitreyee married some one of her own choice, Ramesh was a very simple guy, working in a government office in clerical post, he was as ordinary looking as Maitreyee, but their similarities begin there. They had more common in between themselves than uncommon.

After spending a couple of years happily with Ramesh, Maitreyee told the story to Amal’s wife, who was very happily married to Amal, that if she would have married Amal by the pressure of her parents, it would have ruined two people, whereas her decision has made four people happy.

Marriage should occur only amongst people who can respect and like each other whole heartedly, then only they will be able to take the remaining hardships of life, which are bound to come. These waves are tackled by the oars of mutual love and respect, without which the boat will sink, no matter how costly or beautiful it is.

magic

It hurts deep when your own blood betrays you, Reva never realized that the only place she had in the live of her siblings was of a free of cost baby sitter and errand doer.

She was a very soft girl, who was moulded by her siblings according to their wishes, she was always there to help them with a smile on her lips, her siblings felt it better to keep her as a helping hand, hence snipped off all her attempts to stand on her feet in the bud.

As a result, when her mother, the last of her parents passed away she was still single, penniless. Soon her brothers and their families started to harass her to no end and her living in the same household became impossible. Because they were planning to usurp the properties left in her name. They poisoned the minds of the neighbours and relatives taking advantage of her introvert nature. Within a couple of years they made it clear that they wont let her stay in the house, physical and verbal abuse became daily story.

One day she was walking down the street when she saw a small advertisement, educated social worker needed for ashray, a small orphanage, food, shelter and small honorary amount will be provided. She thought about giving it a try and went there.

She located the address, it was a small two storied house, she went to the door, and saw inside, she saw some small autistic children inside, her heart ached with deep pain, most of them were on their fours, crawling painfully, without much control on their limb.

A woman in white saree opened the collapsible gate and asked her in, she had a very serene personality. She asked her to sit down and when to inform the mother superior. Reva sat down, within five minutes four or five children flocked around her with big grin on their faces, their faces lacked proper symmetry but their inner purity made their faces brim with joy.

Reva was very fond of children, her heart went out to these helpless children, discarded by their own parents, too weak to take care of themselves.

A few minutes later she was called in, she met the mother, her name was originally Karuna but she was called mother by every one. She was an elderly lady, past sixty. Here entire personality was serene and peaceful. One look at her face and the heart of the person filled up with deep peace and happiness.

Karuna asked her to take a seat, she sat down, Karuna gently asked her about her qualifications and back ground. After talking with her she asked Reva from when she can shift and join. Reva asked her she will like to start working immediately but asked three or four months before shifting, because she wanted to look into her heart before leaving her home, because she knew once she will be out of that door, her siblings will ensure that the doors are sealed for her.

She started to come to ashray in the morning and left the place in night, within one week she started to love those children with all her heart, her duty was to do petty office jobs and help those children in home works who were able to attend school, with sadness she noticed, ninety per cent of them were not even capable of feeding themselves, forget about other things.

She used to observe with great happiness and pain that the love of these children knew no impurity, the moment they used to see her walk in their small faces used to light up, most of them could not talk a sentence but they used to shout didi, when the time of parting used to come she never felt like leaving them and going back to home.

Even though these children were some times moody, some times violent but their unselfish affection compensated for this all. Hence a month later Reva told Karuna that she wont go back to home any more.

When she left home her siblings smirked at her and taunted her that she will be back within a week, or latest a month but she ignored their comments and moved on.

Months passed to years, she never regretted her decision, one day she got the news that some one has left a small child in the area of her home, she went there, and while she was coming back she met her child hood friend Neepa, she invited her to her home for a cup of tea, when Neepa saw the helpless baby in her arms, she asked Reva about her works in the orphanage.

After listening all she asked Reva whether or not she regrets her decision, Reva replied she has given a lot more affection to her siblings and their children, but in the return she had to leave her own home, whereas these children has cured all the wounds caused by them and filled up her life with their unselfish, pure affection.

She told Neepa that these children have a heart that is not tainted with greed, lust or selfishness. They cant be corrupted, they follow the simple rule, if some one loves you love them back thousand times more.

After a little silence Reva added that that was all she ever asked for in life. And her family was slowly convincing her that unselfish love does not exists, a dark despair which these children has spared her from.

Wise Young Lady

They were sitting side by side on the park bench when Mrs. Gupta said, “Here they come!”, the remaining two turned their head and saw another trio taking a stroll in the park, two young men and a young lady.

“Life does puts us in strange dilemmas sometime, does not it?”, Mrs. Ghosh said in a low, thoughtful voice.

“You bet! I wonder what will be best for Maria, to stick to Dinesh or move on and accept Rajesh.”

Maria loved Dinesh, he had that type of personality that any girl will be attracted to him. A little hot tempered but very well mannered and possessed an extremely good character. To add on he was extremely good looking, not rich but amply well settled.

Maria was a little better than ordinary looking, very sophisticated and gentle girl. She was deeply in love with Dinesh, so much that she once approached him but he casually brushed away her feelings telling her that they are not compatible.

Rajesh was a very gentle, well mannered guy, whose lack in looks was compensated with a warm and loving heart. He was Dinesh’s colleague, and madly in love with Maria. He could not do any thing because of his loyalty to Dinesh and Maria’s love for Dinesh. He could neither propose to her, nor was he able to stay away from her.

He just used to join them due to two reasons, first they always insisted, and second was he loved Maria so much that being in her presence was enough to her. His love has reached the level of seeing his lover’s happiness before his own.

They looked at this trio and smiled before moving on to some secluded spot where they can sit down and chat for a long time before retiring to their homes.

Mrs. Dutta mused, “If I was Maria I would have tried my level best to make Dinesh change his mind. After all, nothing is impossible for a woman if she makes up her mind.”

“Its an exaggeration!”, Mrs. Ghosh said, “You cant make any one love you, you may tempt or attract him for a while, what if he gets bored after that?”

“If I was Maria I would have told goodbye to Dinesh and would have married Rajesh, because she is belongs to that category of woman who are loyal, devoted and affectionate. So with the amount of love Rajesh is eager to give her she will eagerly response.” Mrs. Gupta joined in.

“Have you ever seen how much eager he is to see her happy, and how much he relishes her childish, innocent and sometimes impractical things, which irks Dinesh.” Mrs. Gupta added.

A few months later Mrs. Ghosh informed the other two about the not very sweet progress in the life of the youngsters, Dinesh has fallen head over heel in love with a dazzling beauty and they are about to get married next month.

A deep pain heavied their hearts, they all knew how much Maria loved Dinesh. Then all of a sudden, like sun’s rays light up the earth after a dark night they saw Rajesh and Maria coming toward them. Their faces were shining, one with deep love and happiness and the other with deep respect, happiness and gratitude.

The lie

“I lied to you.” He said, “And most probably God punished me for that.” His eyes welled up.

 

They were sitting side by side on a park bench, facing the river Ganges. Sun was setting, casting a red glow on the silver water of the river.

 

She softly laid her hand on his. “Don’t be so cruel on yourself. That’s a common game married men play, since time immemorial.”

 

“You could have done worse, you might have taken advantage of my blind love for you, which you did not.”

 

“Your wife’s death was an accident. It did not had any thing to do with the trick you played with me. God is not that cruel.”

 

Aritra and Ratri were net friends, who stumbled into each other on internet and had too much in common. They became very good friends. Aritra doted on Ratri, Ratri was quite practical, she knew cyber romances don’t last so she kept her mind in place.

 

Then they met, and she fell in love, he was a unique being. Extremely handsome and virtuous. The thing which bowled her over was through out their date he did not touched her even once.

 

He returned to his town and instantly terminated the romantic side of the friendship, though she tried to win his heart back but it appeared it has become ice cold.

 

“I fell in love the moment I saw you, but I knew I will never be able to cheat you or cause you pain. So I instantly changed myself but I could not forget you.”

 

“Amita was too busy in her career, we have loved each other for first ten years, but then she got completely stuck up in her career, she did not had any time for us. I and our two children, Amit and Aratrika.”

 

“Then I met you on net and I started to flirt with you, but the day I saw you it changed to love.”

 

“Amita was out in one of her business trips last year and a reckless driver rammed into her car. She was dead before arriving to the hospital.”

 

“That’s when I completely vanished from your life. Because I thought I got my punishment and I will spend my days with my children. I never thought you will find me out.”

 

“I still love you.” She softly held his hand and then held it with both her hands firmly.

Letting go

“She will never understand you! A person who is completely immersed in worldly pleasures and desires will never truly realize why Siddhartha left his palace to look for truth.”

 

“She may not say so out loudly due to the fear of scorn, but deep inside she will think that it was worthwhile just because he could become Gautam Buddha,  or else he would have been one of the best losers of human history. She will never even realize the satisfaction behind letting go every thing, including minimum necessities..”

 

“I can assure you, she is dead certain that you are heartbroken and miserable, that is why she keeps on flittering around you and she/her friends keep asking you the same question in fifty forms.”

 

They were sitting side by side, watching the sun set on distant horizon. Its crimson rays were lingering in the sky, clouds and every thing it could touch. Creating a world of magical beauty.

 

Ahana was Kankana’s closest friend. They have been each other’s best friends for years. Recently Ahana has come to visit Kankana from her present home in Delhi.

 

Kankana loved Atanu, they have loved each other for quite a few years, quite deeply. Then Atanu asked his family for the permission to marry her. Permission was granted, but a little time was asked from them, the time to get Atanu’s older brother Santanu get married.

 

His marriage already arranged,, with one of Atanu’s father’s friend’s daughter, Banalata. Santanu wanted to take voluntary retirement from his service in Army before marrying. So did Banalata, because she was scared of the risks.

 

They were waiting for Santanu’s retirement when he was killed in an encounter. To add up to the shock they came to know that Banalata was pregnant with his child. She refused to have him or/her aborted. There was only one choice left and that happened, Atanu married Banalata.

 

Another shock was in store for the family. Santanu came back, he was held captive but not killed. He bluntly refused ever touching Banalata. He went back to his office telling he wont take the VRS as it was no longer required.

 

Atanu’s heart was shattered to pieces. He came to meet Kankana and asked her what he should do.  He was thinking about divorcing Banalata. Though she was quite a docile wife to him and the kid was three years old, called him dad and doted on him. Their marriage blessed them with a daughter, who is yet to complete her first year on earth.

 

Kankana told him to forgive her, if she is loyal to him, may be she faltered only once and lied to save herself from ruin. If she is adulterous then Atanu can always walk away from her he has enough proof to get a divorce.

 

“Don’t think for a second that you will be able to get rid of Banalata’s shadow from your life, as her soul is guilty she will always keep a watch on you.”

 

“It should not have happened this way but sometimes life takes most unpleasant turns but I am glad that it brought out the best in you and molded you into gold.”Ahana held her hand firmly.

 

 

Vendetta

“Has any one ever told you that lie does not have feet to walk on? It cant even stand on its own for long.”

 

“I believed all your stories and helped you to get your vendetta till.. till I saw that girl and mixed with her for a year.”

 

“You were so blinded by your hatred for her family that you thought I am blind, I will act as your puppet and ruin her.”

 

“I don’t know what her family has done, or how they have made your sister commit suicide, but I can tell you one thing that THIS GIRL DID NOT HAD ANY THING TO DO WITH THAT. To be truthful, I am lately having a little doubt on your authenticity. May be you  had some personal problem with the girl….”

 

“Tell me buddy, do you want me to believe that you have mixed with this girl as a friend, stalked, cyberstalked her as her BEST FRIEND for three years and yet you could not realize that she is as pure as a morning rose?”

 

“In all these years of stalking in disguise of a dear friend you never realized that she hates her family as much as you do…”

 

He laid down both his elbows on the table and placed his face on his palms, looking at her very thoughtfully.

 

“Your hatred for her scares me, how vicious you women can become when you are determined to ruin someone, don’t you? You don’t mind pretending as her best friend and slowly sending her to hell, your eyes cry to fool her while your heart jumps with glee… really scary I should say. I am glad that I am bachelor!” he winked at her grimly.

 

“But I will certainly applaud you on your acting and lying skills.”

 

“You had her destruction in your mind from the very beginning. So you rented a house near her home and started to keep a stock on her.”

 

“Then your brother started to pretend that he is in love with her, madly. Of course, you had to interfere, you could not let her in your family, her family made your baby sister kill herself.”

 

“So you forced your brother to marry someone of your choice.” He continued, “Well he did, to a police officer! Even had a daughter.”

 

“But he continued his affair with her, and she was also madly in love with him, even though she knew he was married, now that’s your version, the thing which you convinced me into.”

 

“Again both you and your sister in law became outraged. And vowed that  you will destroy her.”

 

“In place of controlling your brother or confirming with her whether she knows he is married or not, you appointed a goon to harass her.”

 

“That man broadcasted everywhere that she is his mistress, and not only that, he forced his way into their home terrorizing her poor family, to convince the neighbours that he is true.”

 

“Not only that,, my information tell me that the person she loved is your cousin, your brother’s friend, just like it happens in families, his voice is almost like him, he left for UK after knowing that she wont be accepted in his family and your brother started to use his phone number and created a fake id in his name. As they have never met it was not possible for her to realize that her actual lover has been replaced by a fraud with deadly intentions.”

 

“Then you started to reap what you sowed, but even then you did not learned your lesson and you tried to trick me into killing her. “

 

“I sincerely hope that you will get your dues sooner or later. Now you can disappear from my life like I never saw you. But if my men say that they have seen any one harassing that girl I will see you…” his voice sounded eerily ominous.

Unwanted

“So you are confirmed that you will not marry Tanuja, you will marry Rekha?” Chandra asked her brother softly.

“Yes, I don’t like Tanuja, she is too drab, she does not even knows how to move around in society.” Pratim said.

“She knows it very well how to move around in society, but she is too soft and sophisticated for your taste.” Chandra said, “Its your life do what you want. But in future if you realize that Rekha does not wants Sushma sent her to me. I will bring her up.”

“She may not be second mother to Sush but she will bring her up all right.” Pratim said arrogantly. “Now if you will excuse me I will go to bed.”

He went upstairs, taking two steps at a time, leaving Chandra in the drawing room. Sushma was sleeping with Chandra, she loved her pishimoni a lot.

Pratim’s wife passed away during delivery. Chandra was living with them at that time, her husband worked on a ship and was out on his final voyage. He is to return next month and stay. He will be working in Kidderpore after that, in Kolkata office.

Sushma was now three years old. Chandra wanted her brother to marry her college friend Tanuja, she knew Tanuja has loved Pratim but never dared to express it, reason? She knew what Pratim thinks of her. Call it a sixth sense with which only lovers are blessed.

Rekha was Pratim’s sister in law, his in-laws too wanted him to marry her because they had greater faith on their own daughter than Chandra’s friend when it came to loving their grand-daughter.

Chandra’s only reason behind objection was she has noted how cold Rekha was to Sushma and all other children. She did not liked children much, she was one of those women who are more lover than a mother.

As for Tanuja she knew how much she doted after Pratim and she has seen deep affection in her eyes when they were around Sushma. To her she was a piece of him.




The marriage occurred after a month of the discussion between the siblings and Chandra shifted to her new flat a month after that. She took Sushma with her because Pratim was out on honeymoon trip.

She thought it would be best if Sushma stayed with her while Pratim and Rekha settle in their love nest after their return. She decided that she will send her to them when they ask for her.

She was surprised when a couple of months passed away after their return and none showing any interest to take Sushma home. Pratim visited her every day without break for at-least half an hour, that’s all.

Chandra and her husband Dhwanit were quite amused but they thought it better to not ask. It might not be the best for the child if she lands there as an eyesore. And they were quite happy that their own son, who was two years older than Sushma had a playmate.

“Ask Pratim if we can enroll Sushma in Arghya’s school.” Dhwanit asked Chandra. “She will get late if we delay it any further.”

“Do it for now, I will later transfer her to its Bhowanipore branch, once Rekha is settled in home. She is rearranging the whole flat. We may change the flat too, you know, somewhere near to our offices, so we can give more time to Sushma.” Pratim said.

Another six months passed away. That day Pratim came with a box of sweets. “Sushma is going to have a brother or sister.” He laughed merrily.

“In that case let her stay with us Pratim, Rekha will need rest. She will get exhausted with Sushma, she is a bundle of mischief.” Dhwanit said.

“Thanks dada.” Pratim clasped his hand.




The new member arrived seven months later. He was a boy. The nurses and doctors said he was carbon copy of Rekha. Chandra and Dhwanit entered the nursing home with a bouquet of flower and Sushma.

Pratim was waiting for them in the lobby. He was brimming with happiness. They entered the cabin, Rekha was sitting their, glowing like a morning rose. Holding and kissing the new born passionately.

She looked up at them and smiled. “We can bring Sushma back home now. Her little brother will have a playmate.”

“No, she will stay with Chandra.” Pratim said. “I think that will be the best for her.”

Ragini

She arrived in kolkata from a remote village of Bihar with one dream in her eyes, become Tollygunge’s Madhuri Dixit. She ended up as the mistress of a lower rung director, fat, old and ugly…. But with enough money to fulfill her whims, as long as they were logical.

She was sick of the whole affair, she could not break free because she did not had anywhere to go, and she knew that she wont go anywhere with him either. He was married with a son. A son who was couple of years older than her. She felt absolute repulsion whenever he touched her but he has not forced himself upon her, it was she who has trapped and netted him.

She was shopping in a plaza when she saw him shopping at a distance with his family. She took the cover of a shelf so he could not see her. His wife was an average looking, decent woman and his son was autistic. Quite amply autistic, with enough control on limbs but not much control over worldly wisdom or ways.

A couple of months went away, Mr. Sisodia returned home after a trip abroad. His wife Chanchal was waiting for him in the airport.

She gave him a huge smile, “Rakesh has searched a bride for himself. Can you believe it? I like her too. She is from some small town in Bihar.”

“She said she knows you, and respects you a lot.” She added, “She has struggled for a while in Tollygunge before realizing its too dirty. She was working in the same office with Rakesh and they fell in love.”

“She knows me? Well, invite her for dinner tomorrow, I want to see who is she!” he said casually.

“Mom, Dad meet Ragini, the girl I talked about.” Rakesh happily announced. Mr. Sisodia stared at the demure girl standing behind him.

She talked very little, and left after dinner. Both Mrs. Sisodia and Rakesh were charmed by her.

“You did not asked her to send her parents to us to finalize the date?” his wife asked him when they were sitting in the balcony together. Rakesh has gone to drop Ragini home.

Mr. Sisodia only stared at her.

He

“I have told you once, twice and thrice that I don’t give any thing to beggars, now go away before I call the guard.” The woman snarled at him before slamming the door on his face.

“I have not nibbled a single thing in last three days.” He sobbed weakly.

He was one of those who are called “idiots” by their unkind fellow human beings and “autistic” by kinder ones. He did not had much coordination between his limbs and brain. He lived as a burden on his widow mother for the first forty five years of his life, then she was libereated from her miseries by death. Till her last day she worked in fields to feed them, if not every day then atleast once in two days.

His neighbours cremated her and then simply forgot him. They closed doors on him, he spent one month banging on those doors, hoping one will open, none did.

He left the village he has known since childhood and started to walk listlessly in the dusty roads. Begging. Sometimes he got alms or food and sometimes pebbles and stones, pelted at him by cruel children while adults looked nonchalantly.

He has reached this small town late last night and fell asleep on the first doorstep. The woman who was talking with him has opened the door to fetch newspaper and bottle of milk. He has asked for something to eat, and her rebuke was the answer he got.

He got up and started to walk, soon he reached another small home. He saw a bottle of milk and newspaper was lying on the doorstep. He did what he has never done, he picked up the bottle and pried it open and started to drink it. The ice cold milk burned its way through his parched stomach. Causing terrible pain at the end.

“Ma, ma look what that man is doing!!!!!” he heard the shrill shout of a child and looked around him, his gaze was met by the stunned gaze of a small child, hardly five or six years old. She was staring at her from the lawn.

“What happened? ….. Who are you?” a female voice asked, the door behind him has opened and a woman was standing there, staring at him.

“What happened?” this time a male voice joined in.

“He drank all the milk!!!” the child has approached him by that time. “don’t you know its stealing to take things without asking?”

“Stop preaching young miss, go inside and bring some toasts.” Her mother smirked.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, this time softly, she has realized his condition after observing him closely.

He did not answered, She did not expected him to answer either. The child has reappeared with some toasts in a plate. The woman handed him over the plate. He attacked them hungrily.

“Now what Mrs. T?” her husband asked with a soft smile.

“Will you send ramukaka, he can clean him up and give him some clean clothes. I will call up Mrs. Dastidar to ask if there is some place for a hapless creature in her home.” She softly laughed.

Devil’s own

“So you say that you loved her thinking that she was an innocent girl but your views changed after all these years?” he was looking at him with a strange intensity in his eyes, Sitendra shifted uneasily under the stern gaze of those eyes. It appeared as if a dark fire was burning behind those dark eyes.

“All these years which you and your hired men spent stalking her, finding out her wherever she went ? Keep talking, it’s a good story.” His gaze was fixed on his face.

“You are trying to say that you wasted those thousands of dollars I sent you without even knowing that her siblings are usurping that money without giving her a single penny? Not only that, they presented another girl who introduced herself to you as her, then she got married to your son, and then the game was caught but you could not throw her out because your son was in love with her…. Interesting! To compensate you started to monitor Bibhabari’s whereabouts so you could help her, and you pretended as ME to keep an eye on her, as a guardian of course, then you fell in love with her because your wife was a fiend…. You should have opted for a career in movies as a story writer”

“I sometimes really wonder how you men first start lying and then how you keep adding more and more to that thinking everyone else is a fool.”

The speaker was Sarvesh, Sitendra’s friend. His son fell in love with a girl of poor family during his trip to India. Sarvesh asked Sitendra to check in stealth if the girl is alright. There was another reason he wanted to enquire about her a little, although his son Rik was a very handsome man, the girl has repeatedly refused his proposals saying she will never marry. That was the point which bothered him and that was the reason he wanted the investigation in secret. He did not wanted any problem with his daughter in law.. if she was meant to become so.

“As was supposed to happen, when that impostor married your son, my heartbroken son was healed by your daughter and they eventually got married three years back.” Sarvesh chuckled.

“But my mean men are telling me that you made up this story to keep MY money in YOUR family.”

“You know, there are so many flaws in your story… first my men say your son’s wife is Bibhabari’s neighbour, your son used to meet her quite often before marriage. While original Bibhabari was residing in the same i.e. her home, it’s strange that you two, who knew every thing about her slipped on this, I believe all her neighbours call her bibhabari and that impostor Renuka, right??”

“Then comes the question, when you knew that your daughter in law is a fraud, why did not you instantly inform me? If you had spent the money you might have apologized.”

“But in place of that you stalked Bibhabari for last three years faking as me, a widower. And last three years have been nightmarish to her, she has been provoked so much that a normal girl would have committed suicide, its her nerve of steel or may be God has kept her going so I could know the truth.”

“You have been sending her saucy mails year after year using my name, pretending as her well-wisher on net and your hired men have been harassing her out on the street, then your fiend of a wife came to know that….”

“She was as furious as hell and tried to get her murdered and failed..” an expression of boredom crept on Sarvesh’s face. “Phew!!!”

“You brought her to one of your friend’s houses with the help of her brother so you could save her from the fury of your wife.”

“But my nasty men say you did it all to keep her under vigilance, a group of your men always stalked her, and followed her whenever she tried to join a job or have a social life, they followed her as a pack of flees following a deer, as a result she ended up without a job or social life.”

“You know, I trust my men, they are professional and have reputation.” Sarvesh said, “They have even told me about some of the matches you fixed for her, one of the was a severe psychiatric patient, the other a jailbird, third an electrician of another religion..”

“Neither I nor my son have any faith left on you any more. I have already shared your story with my son, he is sitting in the next room listening to your story, and we have unanimously decided that your daughter will go back to you and Bibhabari will become my daughter in law, if any of you object……. You can get your daughter remarried to any one of your selected grooms, I will pay the dowry”

Daughter

“Upasana, I cant deny that you are an adorable person but the real reason behind my marriage is Sakshi. My daughter. I want a wife who will love her as her own. You have been born and brought up in a joint family, and every one says you dote after children, I sincerely hope that you will love my motherless daughter like you loved them.” Prasun looked at her with eyes full of expectation.

“She is not ‘your motherless child’ “ Upasana quipped, “She is our daughter.”

“Do you think you can blindly trust me?” she asked, “Otherwise I will have to regret the decision of marrying you.”

Prasun hugged her tightly. “Thanks sweetheart.”

Prasun loved his first wife very much, she passed away when Sakshi was three years old, he took another ten years to marry Upasana. After realizing that he cant bring up a daughter on his own especially when he has to travel around the country.

He has initially left her with his own brother and sister in law, then one day he came back from a tour all of a sudden and saw him belting her while the rest of his family watched. He came to know later that all the money he spent was used by his family while she was doled out the leftovers.

Then he decided to take the risk of a step mother. To his relief he noted that Upasana and Sakshi became quite fond of each other, pretty quickly.

A couple of years passed by like dream then Upasana became pregnant. They were blessed by a son. Sakshi doted after her baby brother. She loved playing with him for hours, enjoying every thing about him.

It was a beautiful evening, they were playing in the garden, Upasana was working in the kitchen. All of a sudden Sakshi came running, Soham was missing. Sakshi has come inside for a glass of water and he has vanished.

They both searched the whole house, garden and the entire street. There was no sign of him. Prasun was out of station. Upasana called his brother up who instantly reached them.

“This is why we hated that girl so much.” His wife said. “She must have done it on intention, she must have been jealous of the little one.”

“She was like this with our children too. Always watching them like vulture, even at that age.” She added.
“Please don’t say a single word about my daughter. I am already too tired; I don’t have the energy of giving you explanations for my daughter’s behaviour.” Upasana said firmly. There was something in her expression which silenced the other woman.

Blogging

“You want me to believe you.”

“Actually, if I look back I think it was all my mistake. To lay my blind faith on you, trusting you, thinking that you are my friend.” He said solemnly, in an eerily calm voice.

He, Anil, was a gangster, who has been languishing in an US jail on a life term, was released early because of his good conduct.

The person he was talking with was his white-collared friend in India. Mr. S/K. Khemka.

Anil befriended a girl on internet. They became very good friends instantly. The girl was his only contact with a pure hearted creature. He cared a lot for her. She was the youngest child of a huge family. Both her parents were aged and poor.

Anil formed a deep affection for her and wanted her to get settled in life. He requested his friend Mr. Khemka and he said he will see to it.

He appointed the girl in one of his offices, and introduced him to Anil after a year or so. Anil fulfilled all her whims, finally she married Mr. Khemka’s son and Anil showered her with gifts.

One day, while casually surfing through net he stumbled upon a blog, he saw his own name mentioned there., as the author’s greatest friend. He was surprised and befriended the authoress using a fake name.

He realized very soon that this girl was his actual friend. Who of course has worked for Mr. Khemka for two months and have left him after that because of his extreme misbehaviour. She used to surf from office and have lost the password of the account which she used then.

But, as per her Anil was her friend even now, though he has almost vanished but still he sends her a mail or two once a year.

It did not take Anil much to confirm that she was the genuine girl. He did not said a single word to Mr. Khemka and contacted one of his cousins in India. He found out the whole story within a month.

Mr. Khemka had it all planned before appointing the girl, his computer was bugged, they hacked her account, usurped it and made her leave the job. Then he appointed his son’s fiancé, who was not very averse to freebies in the office, asked her to squeeze the money out of Anil.

He befriended Anil’s actual friend using the mails of one of her friends to keep a track on her. First he tried to provoke her to become a nun, then he tried to get her killed but luck saved her. But she got so scared that she started to live a semi-anonymous life, serving Mr. Khemka’s purpose partially.

He never thought that she will start blogging…..

Shelter

Pabak was returning home from Kashmir, he usually preferred traveling in plain clothes, with civilians. He was sitting on the window seat, no one has entered his first class compartment as yet, and the remaining berth was reserved from a station after Kanpur, his home. The train has barely started to move when someone entered his compartment and bolted the door from inside.

He jumped up from his seat; it was a woman in burqa. One of his hands gripped the automatic in his pocket firmly, “Who are you?” his voice became harsh unwillingly. “It’s a reserved compartment.”

The intruder uncovered her face, Pabak stared at her face. He has never seen such a beautiful girl in his whole life. She dropped down on her knees and folded her hands, “Bhaiya please save me. Only God knows how I fooled them and slipped out of their clutches.”

“Sit down.” He said. He handed her over a glass of water. The train has started to move in a nice speed.

“Bhaisaab, please, will you draw the curtains of the window?” she begged.

There was something in her voice which made Pabak listen to her. She had her reasons. She herself voluntarily blabbered out her horrible story to him. She was studying in class tenth, in a small town of Madhya Pradesh when her own mother took her to a trip, a one way trip to Kashmir. She ended up in a brothel and her mother vanished.

It’s been more than four years since that nightmarish journey; she was being taken to Bihar for a dance program. Her escorts being confident that she does not have any where to go have gone slack and she has escaped. She just hopped in the train on the opposite platform when it started to move and barged into the first compartment.

The TT knocked the door; Pabak opened the door and reserved her ticket till Kanpur. They descended in Kanpur and left for the army barracks. Her name was Chandni, Pabak rechristened her as Sugandh.

When he reached his home his wife, small daughter and brother were waiting for him in the verandah. He hugged his wife and understanding her surprise told her they will talk later. “Give her something to wear honey, will you?”

Shraddha was quite comfortable with his husband’s huge heart that was the reason she married him in the first case. So she took Sugandh to the guest room and gave her a set of her clothes, showed her the toilet and asked her to change.

A shiver ran down her spines when she heard her story. She softly clasped Pabak’s hand and said that he did the right thing.



Pabak was one of those human beings who knew true meaning of humanity. She still remembered their first meeting, her friend and he were in love with each other, she asked Shraddha to tell him that the relationship was off because he did not wanted to walk away from his autistic brother and she was not interested to carry his burden for whole life.

She was quite interested to see the man who could let go a dazzling creature like Leena to look after his brother. She saw him and it was love at first sight. He took more than four years to propose.

She was born and brought up in a family which knew to share, so taking Shamik under her wings was nothing special to her, to her he was her first born, her second born was her daughter Pausha, who was brought to life by her.

She had a deep hope that Pausha will love Shamik enough to take care of him when they are no longer around because Shamik was ten years junior to Pabak. He was not severely autistic but he needed someone to save him from cunning people and guide him.

Sugandh slipped into their family gratefully. Pabak and Shraddha told her to become mum about her past. She was introduced as Shraddha’s distant cousin whose parents have passed away.

Months passed into almost a year when Shraddha noted a strange thing, she has noted that Sugandh liked Pabak and Shraddha was suspicious that she has started to love Shamik. She had very serious reasons to stay away from men, she did, Pabak and Shamik were the only exceptions of that rigid rule. She bluntly refused every marriage proposal which was offered to her because of her divine beauty. She told Shraddha that she did not wanted to be touched by any man ever again. But now, Shraddha has seen her more than half a dozen time playing with Shamik’s hair, or hands while he slept or sat with her.

She told Pabak about it and he said, “Lets see! Nothing better can happen for those two, but give Sugandh time.”

“After the hell she has been through, a person as pure and innocent as Shamik must be irresistible to her. But she is a woman of normal intelligence and needs; she may soon wear out of his innocent, childish nature.”

“I have become quite fond of Sugandh, she is a lovely girl but I dote after Shamik.” He said thoughtfully, “And he is my responsibility too.”

“Let’s start some small business for them so they can take care of themselves in case they marry.” Shraddha smiled.

So they just kept observing them, a few years later when Shraddha popped up the question to Sugandh she shyly agreed.

Different hues of life

The dwellers
17.11.2009

“Don’t forget to send the car back after reaching office.” He heard her shrill voice ringing.

“Why does that witch uses phones to eat my brain, she can scream from here, I will be able to hear from esplanade.” He smirked inside.

“Masi, Masi!” her voice ranged out again. He smirked this time openly before pressing the lift button. The liftman saluted him and looked at him through the corner of his eyes.

The whole housing had deep sympathy for him. Some of them smirked at his back, calling it result of his greed but still had some pity for him deep in their soul.

He was born in a poor family. People say he was so poor that he did not knew what butter tasted like before he married Sunaina.

They were collegemates and Ajit got bewitched by the cars which used to pick and drop her. He and a lot of his collegemates used to gawk at those cars.. big and shiny.

None of them were interested in the sharp mouthed young girl who came out of those cars except Ajit.

He was tired of hand to mouth life. His poor father has toiled hard to collect his college fees and books. He knew that he will have to do something immediately after college.

When he saw Sunaina he decided his future plans. He did not had to work very hard. Sunaina’s parents passed away in a freak accident, as if to clear his path.

He won her heart while wiping away her tears. They got married and he realized that he has opened the gateway of hell for himself.


The dwelling:
18.11.09

In next ten years he bitterly regretted his decision of marrying her. He sometimes thought that he might have been better off in that one room set with his parents.

Who can say, he might have procured a decent job, but the alley he chose as a short cut turned out to be a blind alley. Now he is stuck in this darkness forever. Every time he thought about leaving her two tiny hands gripped his legs.. his daughter. He knew he will lose custody battle and Sunaina will torment the child to settle her scores with him. Even though she was her own born still she used her to keep Ajit under control.

A couple of hour later he was sitting in his chamber, it has been hardly a minute since he sat down. There was a massive rally in esplanade resulting in horrible harassment of poor office goers.. a divine experience of getting roasted in their vehicles or dragging themselves wearily under the scorching sun.. to reach office in time.

The phone rang and he picked up, “You were supposed to send the car back an hour ago.” A very familiar voice shrieked out of the phone.

He held the earpiece a little away from his ear and explained the reason behind delay then added, “ This is why I ask you to buy a personal car for yourself sunaina.”

“Who will give the money? You? First earn something on your own merit and then gift me a car with that money.” She snickered. “Send the car back now.”

“Its already on its way.” He answered and disconnected the phone.

“Wonderful way of starting a day in office.” He mused within. He was quite habituated of her poisonous tongue but still it sometimes succeeded in stinging him. because it was always looking for new ways..

“Good morning sir!” a soft voice sounded. It was his secretary entering the chamber. She smiled at him apologetically. “I had to walk from howrah bridge, there was a massive rally in esplanade today.”

“I know, I almost fell asleep in the car. waiting for it to pass.” He said. “There is no need to say sorry, I know you are always on time.”


The escapade:

“Daisy, I am leaving for couple of an hour, if madam calls tell her that I am out on a meeting.” Ajit said before leaving.

Just like any hen pecked man, who cant desert the hen Ajit had other ways to entertain himself. He used to go back home sharp at seven, unless he was stuck in traffic jam but was free as a bird 9 to 7, his huge business covering the whole state gave him ample amount of excuses.

He was not a man of easy morale, he was just tired of constant harassment, he had a friend he loved very much, Meeta. Who was just opposite to Sunaina, sweet natured and soothing. He used to spend regular time with her.

She was a decent girl, who attached herself to him to save herself from falling into black abyss. An orphan tricked out of orphanage on pretext of marriage.

Ajit had heard her story and felt nothing but deep pain for her and other girls like her. she was not beautiful, but was cute and attractive. A guy came to their orphanage and asked for her hand. Mother superior made cursory checks, he seemed perfectly fine.

They lived happily for a year. Then they left for his native place. He already had a wife. She but naturally threw her out of the house the moment she knew who she was. He begged for her forgivance and rented a room for her in the neighbouring town.

Soon his visits became rarer, especially after their first daughter was born. One day the child came under Ajit’s car and they became aware of each other’s presence in earth.

Though their relationship was completely platonic, Ajit often used to think about divorcing Sunaina and marrying her. He used to give her enough money so she could live decently with her daughter. She forbade him for spending any thing but that.


The wrath:

Roguishness and shamelessness walk hand in hands. Rogues are born with a deep confidence that they are always right, and they always justify their evil deeds to themselves.. perfectly.

The rogue who ruined Meeta was no exception. He used to plunder on the money which Ajit gave her, soon his greed started to shoot sky high. He spied on Ajit and found out who he was. Immediately he contacted Sunaina and told her every thing about Meeta. He collected his reward and vanished from the town.

Sunaina hired a detective who confirmed Ajit’s regular visit to her home. She had a showdown with Ajit who vehemently denied her charges about immoral acts.

She was now completely sanguine that he was ditching her. How we tend to forget after a few years of conjugal life that our spouses deserve and owe some quality time and love from us. Sunaina too did the same. She forgot aptly that she has forced Ajit to walk that way by taking his love for granted.

She had a secret meeting with some of her friends and one of them, who was quite jealous of her money concotted an outrageous scheme which sank deep in her vengeful heart.

She went through the photographs taken by the detective and made a few phone calls. A few weeks later a mysterious woman rented a flat in a housing just a few blocks away from Meeta’s flat.

Soon her neighbours find out that she lives a dual life, she comes to this flat after leaving her daughter to school for a few hours, entertains her clients and slips back to her respectable flat a few blocks away, her name on housing society’s register was Neeta.

Sunaina ruined the reputation of her rival by the sheer power of her money. She on one hand tracked her whereabouts, and whenever she was out of home Neeta used to pop up in public view in her shady little flat. She has found out a woman with stunning similarity to Meeta. She made arrangements with Meeta’s husband to show up there from time to time so that every one is convinced.

Her poor victim was at her wit’s end, never realizing what was going on, then she thought it must be because of her mixing with Ajit and she told him so. He proposed her to marry him but she refused saying she wont ruin a family. He walked away broken hearted.

He arranged for a job and flat for her in another place. Meeta naturally shared the information with her ex husband and he in his turn shared it with Sunaina, his new mistress, who was paying him a hefty sum of money every month to help her settle her vengenance.

So Neeta followed Meeta to her new town and the misery continued.

One day, when her ex husband was coming out of a bar fully loaded he had a terrible accident and both of his legs were amputated. He called up Meeta and Ajit and told them every thing.

A few months later Sunaina received divorce papers from her husband. “If you don’t sign them, I will furnish all the proofs of your malicious actions against Meeta. Her ex husband will testify to it.”

Six months later she received an invitation to Ajit and Meeta’s wedding who were now settled in an undisclosed place.

The puppet

He was sitting alone in the park bench. The dusk was slowly settling down, spring wind was blowing, bringing a feeling of nostalgia with it… pain originated of unknown reasons.

He sat there watching the park gate, it was already half past five, she was supposed to be here at five. He was a little worried because she always maintained time, actually it was usually she who reached their meeting places first.

All nearby benches were occupied by lovers, some of them were looking at him, he was quite habituated of these repeated glances at himself, he was as handsome as Apollo himself, that’s what his friends have chanted to him for years.

He was about to pull out the cell phone to call her when he saw her coming toward him. He stood up and waved his hand and she started to come toward him. A sweet smile was lingering on her lips.

They became friends through internet, both were lonely and looking for decent friends in an alien city, where livelihood had sent them and became friends instantly. He was almost crazily in love with her but she did not reciprocated to his love. She kept on saying, “wait till we meet! If we ever do!”

Then they met, and he realized she was right. She was an extremely cultured, sweet natured but ordinary looking girl. Without any charisma at all. All his dreams ended then and there but she fell in love with him.

She was “shattered dreams” to him and he was “dream come true” to her. Even though she was a very practical girl but no matter how hard she tried she could not detach herself from him. The more she tried the more she got tangled in his love.

He left the town after their only meeting because he was promoted to their Delhi office.

He tried to brush her off but a part of his heart felt sympathy for her, because he knew he was irresistible to any woman, so he decided to give her time to recover.

He maintained a friendship and tried his level best to disillusion her. Whereas she became obsessed with him. Whenever he tried to call off the relationship her immense pain pulled him back to her. It appeared as if her very happiness depended on him.
She was just like a puppet in his hands, laughing and crying at the snap of his fingers.

Slowly his attempts started to materialize and he started to feel that the puppet is waking up, she is tugging at her strings to be free.

Then he realized that he is crazily in love with her. He tried to revive the relationship but she inched away.

He started to spend sleepless nights having nightmares of losing her and rushed back to meet her.

“Hi!!!” she smiled at him. “How are you?”

“Perfectly fine.” He smiled back at her. “Lets go and eat something.”

He took her to a small, cozy restaurant. A cubicle was already booked for them.

She sat down and instead of sitting opposite to her he sat down beside her. She looked at him with a little surprise and bowed her head. Her fingers were playing with the napkins.

The waiter left after taking the orders. He softly held her hand and slipped a small ring in her ring finger.

“Will you marry me? I cant live without you.” He softly whispered.

“Are you sure? I don’t think I am your type. You are too good looking for me.” She said. Hiding her eyes from his.

“I love you too much, and if I marry you this love will only increase day by day.” She added, “If you change your mind I will be shattered to pieces.”

“You refused me on our first meeting, may be its pity not love.” She said, “I don’t want your pity.”

He forced her to lift her face and look at him, straight in his eyes. His eyes answered all her questions.

“I may have been fool in the past but a man grows up with time.” He softly smiled, “I am not insane to let a love like yours slip away from my fingers.”

Walking away

“Don’t be afraid.” She said with ample amount of justified sarcasm. “I wont marry him even if he begs me.”

“I know he is one in a million.” She added. “I also know that I will never meet anyone like him still….”

“I am refusing him just because he is your son, I am refusing him because I don’t want to steal your only son from you. Under no circumstances will I live under the same roof with an evil person like you. So it should be better if I part my ways with him.”

She got up and left the room without even looking back at him.

Mr. Mitra was observing the girl sitting opposite him. She was his son’s choice. He could not say no to his son so he used his skills on her. Though he had to admit that it was really nasty but sometimes people do nasty things.. that’s how the real world is. He is not an alien, he is also a part of the earth.

His only son left his palace to marry this girl. He boasted that he will stand on his own feet and marry her. He has fixed his marriage with this girl thinking that she was the daughter of a millionaire, which she was not, to add up she was dead against dowry system.

He backed off from the proposal but his son did not, because he was crazily in love with her.

He joined a small office at a meager salary and they both started to wait for a little raise in his salary so they could get married.

At home, Mr. Mitra’s wife got at his neck, she was not at all happy with her husband’s decisions, her views were primitive.. “We have enough money to feed our daughter in law.”

Mr. Mitra finally faked submission and said he will finalize the marriage but he too holds two conditions, first, his son Rohan will have to complete the MBA in USA which he discontinued and during that period he wants to test the girl personally in secret.

Rohan left for USA and Rumki joined one of Mr. Mitra’s offices at Rohan’s reference. Rumki was not even the least interested in Rohan’s background, because she has loved him just the way he was. So it was easy for Mr. Mitra to sit on her boss’s chair without her knowing who he actually was.

He became abusive in a sly way from the day one. He clearly showed her that she was far two sub standard for them. She was treated more like a servant than an employee.

To further her harassment he used his strong influences and placed a few convicted scoundrells in his office to work with her. who made the life of that girl miserable with their perversion. Saying no to him would have meant landing in jail, so they kept on doing what they were ordered to do.

His next step was getting hold of her cellphones and installing spyware on them, in a way that every call, sms is diverted through his phone. The same software kept him updated about her movements. So he could set loose another group of scoundrels on the street to prove she was a cheap woman.

But his game was caught, one of his pawns told every thing to her and his son after absconding to Middle East.

Mr. Mitra returned home, a letter was waiting for him on his table which said his wife has left to live with his son in USA, it also promised him that Rumki is her future daughter in law.

Nymph

Long long ago an evil demon ruled the demon kingdom. One fine evening he was enjoying the peaceful environment of earth. He came to a small tapovan.

His horses were tired so he released them to wander around and himself took a form of a bird and sat down on a tree to enjoy the solitude.

Suddenly he felt a piercing pain and found himself on the ground with an arrow stuck in his chest. Before he could react he felt two tender palms picking him up.

“Ma, Ma someone was trying to kill this beautiful bird.” He heard a voice sweeter than nightingale and looked at the face of the person who has picked him up.

She was as beautiful as a jasmine flower bathed in early morning dew drops, holy and fragrant. Just trying to reach her youth but childish innocence was still lingering around her.

Her mother took care of his wounds and the girl softly placed him on her window sill and gave him some water. He flew away after a little time. But could not forget her.

He came back in his golden chariot the very next day, he stopped at the gate of the tapovan and seeked the permission to see the girl’s father. He asked her for her hand in marriage which was refused politely.

Meeting the straight forward rejection of the parents he tried to woo the girl. Her name was Tamalika. But his golden chariot failed there too, so did his passion. He wanted that girl but love was yet to form in his heart and that innocent but wise girl could feel lack of love in his amorous advancements. She knew well that soon his passion will ebb away for he had too many temptations in life to tempt him.

The king went back rejected and upset. He kept on returning to the tapovan as the bird to see her. he used to hide behind leaves and follow her around, soaking in her beauty.

With time he became obsessed with her and tried for the last time to impress her or her parents but failed. This time he went back with a vengeful heart.


He called his most charming nymph Ritudaman when he returned to his palace and assigned him the task of conquering the heart of the girl, then breaking it and returning to the kingdom.

The nymph did what he was asked to do. The demon king enjoyed the whole show from his seat behind the leaves. He went back again to the sage after Ritudaman’s return.

This time he took his most beautiful queen with him. He thought in vain that they will be miserable.

He thought about meeting Tamalika to show her what she has missed. He observed with great joy that she was shattered to pieces. A deep sadness has taken over the earlier innocent happiness.

A few months later he went to see her, hoping the longing for her lover must have let down her moral walls and he can renew his offer. To his deep dismay he realized that Tamalika’s whole being was enveloped by an aura of deep peace. As if the arrow dipped with poison has become nectar after touching her blood.

He asked for Ritudaman when he returned to his kingdom for he wanted to see her miserable, shattered down, begging for his love. But Ritudaman was not in his kingdom any more, he has left and have left no trace behind.

In his sheer vanity and confidence he sent another nymph to play with her, then another and another but all failed. The king failed to realize the golden truth that though virtuous people fall for nymphs because they have special powers but they fall only once. They never repeat their mistakes.

Then one day one of his nymphs returned and said that Tamalika is gone from the tapovan. She doesnot lives there any more.

The frustrated king called for his most powerful witch to locate the girl. The witch showed him her image in her silver mirror. She was married to Ritudaman and living with him.

She applied all her magic …. or may be not but could not locate the place they were living in.



Glossary:
Tapovan: in ancient india sages used to build a group of small huts in forests where they lived with their students and sometimes famillies, these were called tapovans.