She Won't Reveal 39

        She Won’t Reveal (39)

                 Nidhu Bhusan Das

“Bauma (daughter-in-law) what Sujata predicted will come true,” Anupama heard a whisper. She wasn’t sure of the age of the night. She’s accustomed to such a whisper. Her mom-in-law often whispers to her advice and suggestions whenever she feels the daughter-in-law should be guided or encouraged.Anupama knew the whisper’s reliable and useful. Though in a tranquil family ambience, she and her husband have the experience of frequent trying times when the Mom comes to their aid.

At the breakfast table Anupama looked fresh; her anxiety seemed to have receded.

“Auntie, had you a sound sleep?” asked Sujata, curious.

“I slept, dear…’cause you’re with me. Felt the presence of Anu.”

“Anu’s in me and I in her, auntie.”

“I understand, dear. Also you’re so wise, can motivate and read mind.”

“You exaggerate, auntie ‘cause you love me as a mother does. You’re so motherly.”

“A whisper last night confirmed what you’d said.”

“Means?”

“Let’s hurry up. It’s time to go to the clinic,”Anupama dodged the question, and her mind’s set on the nursing home, her ailing husband and daughter. It’s their custom to have the breakfast and dinner together. The ailment of Arindam disrupted the custom. The whisper cheered her. She remembered Mom came to her, lay beside her, rubbed her forehead and advised her not to worry. She assured everything would be alright soon. A confident smile lit the grand old lady. She knows the voice and the face of her mom-in-law more than she knows hers or of anyone else. The mom’s their anchor in the family, and even today she’s the last word. It’s well known it’s only she who can tame Anu whenever she feels it necessary.

Sujata’s phone buzzed. It’s her son.Prof Sanyal’s anxious.Sujata regretted she couldn’t make a call. “Son, Anu fell ill at the airport. She’s taken to the same clinic. So, I couldn’t tell you.”

“What! She’s ill? But how, what’s wrong?” the professor spoke in a breath.

“Anxiety and exertion, son. Nothing to worry. She’s so worried about her papa,” said Sujata.

“How’s she now, what about her papa?”

“He’s out of ICU and in the cabin, recovering quickly.  She’s in observation and must be back to normal by the time. We’re going to the clinic.”

“Keep me updated.”

“Okay, son.”

Sujata hung up. The chauffeur’s ready. They boarded. The road’s yet to be crowded. The car ran smoothly. The air wasn’t heavy with pollutants.” Who’s your son, you’re talking to, Sujata?”Anupama asked.

“He’s a professor of Parapsychology at Guwahati University. He calls me Maa.”

“Is it? Interesting!”

“Anu’s his auntie. He’s affectionate, loves us so much. We want Anu to be with you.Anu resigned and my son exerted his influence with the regional office not to accept the resignation. He arranged for our immediate departure for Kolkata after we read the news.”

“He must be a very good man.”

“Yes auntie, he is, really.”

They reached the clinic.Anupama’s nervous. She’s afraid and found it difficult to cope with the crisis. She staggered up the stairs and waddled into the cabin of Anu.”Oh my God! Where’s my daughter?” she cried and leaned on Sujata, shivering. The nurse rushed to the room to tell her,”She’s with her papa. Just now I’ve taken her there. She persuaded me. Please come.” She ran past three cabins and into the one where the daughter’s rubbing the forehead of her papa. A smile lit the face of Dr. Arindam.Aupama failed to remember when she last saw such a smiling face of her husband.Anu’s absorbed, and unaware of the presence of others in the room. The father and the daughter seemed to be in a frame, looking at each other for ever. They’re in a trance. Others looked at the frame as a mother looks at her smiling baby dreaming a future. None felt like disturbing the eloquent silence between the father and the daughter who’re in a unique communication after a long disruption. Now Dr. Arindam pulled the daughter down to have her warmth energize his heart. The two were overwhelmed and the others in the room shared the joy.Anupama sat on a chair in joy and relief. She again found the oracle in the whisper. It’s time for her to see the future again.

It’s also the time for Dr. Arindam to swallow a capsule after breakfast.Anu’s fit to be released. The nurse called the doctor-patient, and the trance ended.Anu rose.Sujata took and hugged her.Anu went to her mother and the two shed tears clasping each other.Dr. Arindam called Anu and introduced her to the nurses thus:” This is my little mom, so naughty. She loves me so much but never let me know. Rather, she demonstrates her anger. She’s my little angel. I’ll never again let her go away. If she leaves me, I shan’t live.”

“I’ll never again leave you, papa. You and mom are my world. I’m sorry I’ve taken so long a time to understand this,” said Anu, penitent.

Anu’s resurrected. The Anu of Amlarem’s dead. She died in Amlarem and a new soul replaced the old one in her. The demise of the person she had been, began when she found Anuradha and Maqbool literally were out to blackmail her taking advantage of her innocent decision to help them settle. A process of metamorphosis set in and got accelerated in the benign presence of Sujata and her son Prof Sanyal.She understood she had been away from reality and, therefore, thought she could rely on those who had struck a friendship online. The virtual world encouraged her to live in a dream which, she couldn’t foresee, had the potential to backfire. When it occurred, she felt her world was dissolving, and everything in her life was falling apart. In the situation the presence of Sujata and her son was angelic. They helped her look back and feel that she could have real joy in the company of parents whom she had unwittingly wronged. Now the smiling face of the ailing papa worked as the final catalyst for her reincarnation as a daughter to the loving parents.

“Papa, wouldn’t we go to see the immersion of Durga at Babughat this time on?”Anu asked entreatingly.

“Yes, my little angel,” said the father, overwhelmed.

“Papa, I ain’t little, am your maa, so old and experienced.”

“Yes, you’re, I’m your son. When would you take me home?”

“No, no, I won’t. You’re so naughty. Don’t take care of your health.”

“You’re there now to take care of us.”

Anu stroked the nose of her papa and said,” My naughty son, you’ll never go against my wishes. Promise?”

“Promise, dear mom.”

”Sister, when will the doctor come? My son’ll go home today. I cannot live without him,” Anu told the attending nurse. She’d grown into a mother during the course of the intense interaction, perhaps for the first time, between the two. It’s like Anu; she’s more emotional than thoughtful. If it’s the cause of her undoing time and again, it’s also been her strong point and beauty of her character. She might have chosen wrong ones as friends, but good people had also been there to come to support her in distress.Anu appeared to be in composure. Had she learnt from experience, she couldn’t live without her papa now. She came to understand her flaws over time. In her emotional maturity, she realized that she could no 

longer view her emotional state as the responsibility of external forces such as people, forces and fate. She’d come to be able to own responsibility of her omissions and commissions.(to be continued on 12 February 2015)