They are on Chat

Nidhu Bhusan Das : They are on chat – Rumi and Swarup. Rumi is in Siliguri, West Bengal, India. Swarup is in New York, the USA. Far apart they are. Yet they are very near, intimate, with webcams connected. Rumi goes online after supper regularly at 11 p.m. This is the mutually agreed time. I would give you the copy of one such conversation they had last night. You will find it interesting. Rumi began thus: How are you? Swarup wrote back: Fine. What was the menu for supper? Rice, roti, fish curry and chili chicken. The chat continued for an hour. Think how many words they used, how many emotions they shared. Their interaction was like that of a couple in bed or lovers in an arbor. I was with Rumi that time, and was, therefore privy to the exchange. I will not be able to publish for you the whole conversation. I shall reproduce only those portions which I am permitted to make public. And I shall be honest lest I might be sued for defamation. Well, you may think why I was allowed to be with Rumi at night in her exclusive time. I will tell you in time. For now, I can tell you Rumi is a nice girl. She is excellent and adorable. Every peer around appreciates her beauty in physique, gait, talk and the smile she wears. I am not an exception. Many are there eager to have her hand. It is really difficult for her to negotiate her way through the crowd of adorers. What I can say is that she is agile enough to wade through. Onlookers notice her while her eyes scan the air. Everybody thinks he has won her tender heart, nobody knows her heart travels across the Atlantic every night. You may be jealous that I know so much about her. Be it so. I volunteer to place before you the conversation for your perusal and understanding. Swarup (hereinafter S): My God! A glutton indeed. Take such heavy food at night! Rumi (hereinafter R): Not in the least. I follow what the nutritionist advises. S: Hang your nutritionist. Its common knowledge we should avoid heavy food for healthy life. Forget that. What’s the message for me now? R: For Godsake hold your tongue, and let me love, S: Donne, metaphysical. Good. When shall we shed ‘meta’? R: Naughty boy! Have you had lunch? S: It’s Thursday, baby. Didn’t I tell you I fast on the day? R: O! Yes. I forgot. S: You look nice. Had you been to the parlor? R: It’s bad. You don’t recognize I have natural beauty. ‘Phoney’ is the word Americans cling to. I would say you look nice and exuberant. Has there been anything special to make you exceptionally happy? S: I saw you in dream last dawn. I dreamt we were together in bed looking eye to eye. I see you are excited (the picture on the webcam shows her face reddened). R: I have such dreams every night. Ridiculous! Fiction! Fools live in fiction. I am not a fool, am I? S: No, dear. You are quite sensible. I hope I shall not live long in a fool’s paradise. R: When will you have your real paradise, tentatively at least? S: Soon, very soon – maybe, in a couple of months. R: You left after the honeymoon. Seems ages have glided by. S: The waiting will end soon. How is the weather out there? R: I am wrapped in fur. S: Okay then, go to bed, and under the blanket, clutching bolster. R: Good night! Do you feel Rumi will be with anyone of you? I am sure we shall soon find her away. My mother is so sad she will have her only daughter sent away to a continent across a huge landmass and an ocean.