She Won't Reveal 26

            She Won’t Reveal (26)

                      Nidhu Bhusan Das

The dinner’s sumptuous. Fine Basmati rice, fish curry, Egg Foo Yung, Chicken Masala, dal and dissert were prepared by Anu, with Sujata helping her silently. Again there’s a shower of praise on Anu.The atmosphere appeared to be congenial for the talk to begin after the dinner. The professor announced he’d throw a dinner on the occasion of the birthday of Anu tomorrow and his MAA would take the responsibility of cooking. A clapping followed.Anu doesn’t celebrate the birthday throwing party, and this would also be a private affair.So, she nodded while she appeared to be brooding. Half-an-hour after the dinner, all were in the drawing room. The professor sought to set the tone with the prologue: “We’re going to celebrate the birthday of my auntie in a befitting manner tomorrow.Prafullada will supply the best flowers and a big bouquet, Angshu must create a brilliant image of her with floral background on the computer and my MAA would sing paean of praise to honour the human qualities of the auntie.”

            All said ‘Agreed’ in a chorus.Anu smiled and like a lightning it lit her clouded face. She said,” Let’s begin. I think Prafullada and Angshu have decided to leave me. I believe in personal freedom of taking decision.” A silence followed.”Anu’s like that; she never budges from her position,” thought Sujata.The professor’s taken aback at what Anu said.” Does she want to preempt any move towards reconciliation?” thought the professor.” Well auntie, do you think they should leave you?” asked Prof. Sanyal, visibly disturbed.

“It’s up to them. The decision’s theirs,” Anu said unperturbed.

“If they continue to stay with you?”

“Son, let them decide. None’s indispensable, you know,” she said harshly.

“We’ve come here anxiously to see you happy. If you’re happy without them we’ve nothing to say.                 Everyone’s the right to think none’s indispensable. But there’re times when the indispensability’s a stark reality. You may have for now the feeling they are dispensable, maybe you’ve your own plan,” said the professor without emotion, reading the mind of the determined girl. Meanwhile, Sujata’d told him about Maqbool and her intimacy with the Kashmiri boy during the college days. Sujata herself is distraught at the attitude of Anu.She’s always been her prop whenever Anu’s in crisis. She now feels she and her son aren’t also indispensable for Anu now. She doesn’t feel she’s crisis-ridden and cannot visualize the perils that would follow when she’d implement her reckless plan to marry the possibly innocent girl to her playboy Mostaq and keep them with her. The professor yawned and said he’d like to go to bed. “Tomorrow we’ll have to celebrate the birthday of auntie and undertake the journey back to Guwahati,” said the professor yawning. Sujata rose to help her son go to the guest room. The cell phone of Anu rang. “Hello Anuradha, how’re you?”

“What! Am I bound to tell you Maqbool’s my friend? I told you he’s my classmate. Isn’t that enough?” cried Anu, furious.

“What! Maqbool’s told you I’m his beloved and that’s why I want to keep you two with me? What nonsense!”

“Maqbool, don’t be silly. I’ve told you I won’t marry, and we devised the plan to keep it to ourselves, not to share with anyone. And you did it to scandalize me, isn’t it? Okay, do whatever you like; I’m no longer in such things.”

“Well, you don’t understand Maqbool; it’s a grievous wrong you’ve committed.”

“Anuradha, what you’ll do is absolutely your matter. Whether you’ll marry him or not is no longer my concern, understand?”

“You won’t? Okay, never disturb me again, Anuradha.I’m not interested to know what you think bigamy and if you’d be party to bigamy or not. There should be a limit to stupidity, Maqbool,” she cried into the phone and ending the call hurried to her bedroom, leaving behind the others.

            Everyone’s stunned at the development. It’s obviously a conference call, Anuradha calling the shot. The professor found the report of Angshu corroborated.Sujata’d the sad relief. She’s sad Anu played with fire and relieved that her reckless plan fell flat, and the innocent Anuradha might have been saved by providence.Sujata took her son to the guest room, Angshu followed. She bade them good night and went upstairs to the room of Angshu, silently.Prafullada went to his room.Anu heard Sujata barred the door, and understood her friend-in-need’s angry and disturbed. The way Auradha and Maqbool interpreted her plan’d caused pain to her. She found it wise now to jettison them altogether. She hadn’t been able to assess Maqbool and understand he’d turned a rascal. She relented and knocked on the door to talk to Sujata who’s awake. The door was opened in no time.Anu hurled herself on to Sujata and began to cry, relentlessness.Sujata let her cry. This continued about 10 minutes. Now looking straight at Sujata she said,”Sujata, dear do you believe what you’ve heard?

“What do you mean?”Sujata feigned innocence.

“What you’ve heard I was talking into the phone,” she said.

“I don’t know about Anuradha and Maqbool.So, I am not interested,”Sujata showed indifference.

“Maqbool’s that Kashmiri boy, our classmate at college,” said Anu.

“My knowledge about him’s that he’s an abandoned child and the idea’s that he’s a pimp. You may have a good opinion of him and I am not going to contradict you since you could till date keep relation with that guy,” said Sujata in a breath.

“What could I do? He collected my cell number somehow, maybe from Arup and made contact.”

“I would have discouraged him, you’re so silly,” Sujata reprimanded.

“I’m sorry.”

“What about the girl? How she got connected with you and Maqbool, I mean how the triangle got formed?”

“She’s my e-friend and also of Maqbool,” Said Anu.

“And so you’ve arranged for their marriage. The girl must be honest and is now in the clutches of a pimp.Very sad,” Suajata said in agony.

“Believe me Sujata, I couldn’t understand he’d try to blackmail and scandalize me.”

“If you’ve the clean mind, I should say there’s a larger conspiracy involving the sister of Arup who provoked you to resign. You should have understood it.”

“Yes, I should have. Now what should I do?”

“It’s up to you to decide. We have nothing to say because you don’t hear. My son is disturbed at the development. Let me consult him. You may also talk to him.”

“Let’s go and talk to him. He must be awake, being disturbed.”

“Let it be in the morning. Take time to firm up your mind. You must jettison both the friends, or we wouldn’t be interested to suggest and guide.”

“I’ve decided.”

“But before that you must tell the girl about the nature of Maqbool and prove to her that you’ve snapped relation with the rascal.”

             Anu at once telephoned her e-friend, told her everything and said an e-mail would follow. Now she drafted the mail: “You might have misunderstood me. You know I’m not responsible for your friendship with Maqbool.It’s your decision.Maqbool might have referred to my name to win your confidence, and you’ve developed love relation without my knowledge. Yes, Maqbool’s my classmate, and he may have tender feeling for me that I don’t know. I understand now he’s the mind to blackmail and scandalize me. So, I’ve snapped contact with him. What you’ll do is your matter. I’ve nothing to say. What I would like to say and emphasize is that don’t try to contact me any more. That’s all. Be happy.”

            Anu showed Sujata the draft and asked for suggestions for addition and alteration, if necessary.Sujata read it minutely and suggested that ‘…and he may have tender feeling for me that I don’t know ‘portion be dropped and be replaced by ‘many told at our college that Maqbool’s an abandoned child and a pimp which we didn’t take seriously since we didn’t have much interactions with the boy having effeminate manner.” Anu agreed and edited the draft accordingly and sent it immediately. ( continued on 13th November , 2014)