She Won't Reveal 51

          She Won’t Reveal (51)

                      Nidhu Bhusan Das

                It’s Sunday. The sun is up, resplendent. The morning is cool, and abuzz with tribal beneficiaries of the welfare schemes of Anu, their Didi (elder sister) whom they’re missing for some time, and eager to see her addressing them from Kolkata via web conference half-an-hour from now. A neon-sign draped with silk below the first floor roof on the front wall of the bungalow names the Charity and defines its mission.A giant screen is set up for the people to see their didi and her parents talking on the Charity to be inaugurated.

            Back in Arunima, Anu and her parents are excited as they’re rehearsing how they would speak to the people away in Amlarem.The entire episode has been scripted by Anu. They’ve gone through several satisfactory mock tests. 15 minutes from 10, Sujata telephoned Anu to be ready and relaxed for the programme. The people begin to chant “Didi Didi” in chorus as the giant screen before them has come to life and they see Anu sitting on the sofa flanked by her mom on the left and papa on the right, all beaming. Anu begins with khublei, khasi for Good Morning. A thunderous clap follows, as after a pause Anu continues,” I’m, believe me, always with you. Now with my mom and papa, and you aren’t less dear to me. Our family is with you from today. My Thammi, I told you about her. She lives in me, I in her. She breathed in me her spirit of conscientiousness and love transcendental. I’ll live with it and outlive it. I’ll reach you when you need me as Thammi reaches me. Please remember, Here is your Didi awake and when asleep.” She, as it were, sings her dirge in the epitaphial statement.

              Now Anu tells the audience,” Please listen to my papa” and motioned to Dr. Anirban.He’s frail yet inspired enough to relate to the people his dear daughter loves.Dr.Anirban’s never been an  articulate talker. He’s a good listener and this quality has helped him to be a successful doctor. He listens more than he talks. The patients feel satisfied, and a few words he utters give them psychological boost. He often tells this when at dinner and breakfast the doctor couple discusses their day to day professional experiences. Both of them love their profession and are happy they can serve the ailing people when they come to them for relief, feeling helpless. In fact, both the doctors religiously follow and creatively apply professional ethics, quite rare for decades in West Bengal.

“Good Morning, friends! Happy to be with you. We seek your participation in our project. It’s your project and your effort could make it meaningful. My daughter loves you and is always with you, heart and soul. My brother Prof Sanyal and our Mom Sujata are there now to inaugurate the facility. We are so happy back here that you’re with them at this auspicious moment. We shall visit you in a month or so.” The doctor smiled all through, a smile he lost, leading to his cardiac attack. The crowd in front of the giant screen murmured,” He looks and sounds God!”Anupama waves hands to the crowd with a lingering smile as the conference ends.

                 Prof Sanyal draws the cover off the neon sign declaring the Charity open. Again a thunderous clap follows. People help themselves with sweetmeat kept aplenty for the occasion. The gathering is gay and optimist. Their belief that the Didi is with them for ever is reinforced today. There has been a lot of speculation that she has left them contrary to her stance and commitment. Now they are assured. Prof Sanyal and Sujata look to it that no one is left without having the sweet. The people are wonderfully disciplined. The professor is face to face with a new reality – he sees that the innocent tribal people are more disciplined and docile than the urban gentry, contrary to the popular belief among the privileged people. Anu with her power of keen observation has understood this. People continue to stay in and around the bungalow premises long after the inauguration is over. The place has got back its life and lustre with the virtual presence of Anu, the soul of the house and the adjacent areas of which it has been the source of hope and service. The people have seen how the abandoned bungalow came alive when Anu entered it and began to live in it.

                      At lunch, the daughter and the parents feel a new life flowing in them.Dr. Arindam regrets that he had never been to the bungalow and whishes to visit it right tomorrow.Anupama supports him and looks to Anu for her approval. She picks up the phone and makes a video call to Sujata: “Dear, papa wants to reach you tomorrow.”

“Why not! He must. Everyone will be happy. People will welcome you all. You don’t know how much they feel for you.”

“He’ll talk to you,” Anu handed over the phone to Arindam.

“Hello uncle, you’re right. People here are ready to welcome you. Catch the morning flight tomorrow.”

“Where’s my borther, your son?”

“Son, please talk to uncle, they’re willing to come tomorrow,” Sujata handed over the telephone.

“Hello Sanyal, do you feel we should come tomorrow?”

“It’ll be a great joy for us and for everybody over here. You don’t know how great people over here will feel.” Words spread like wild fire that the family of Didi comes tomorrow.

                  When they arrive in the late afternoon, the garden is sunny and the area rocks with people gathered to welcome their dear ones back home with their folk music and dance. It’s for them an occasion for celebrations. While her parents interact with the admiring people, Anu hugs the flowers and the plants in tenderness. Prafullada and Angshu hear her talking to these adornments of Nature:” You’re life and love real, and also the people who aren’t detached from Nature, these common folks. Love resides here. Love is feeling, not thought. My parents have it. I have come to understand at last. Here’s joy for us all.Prafullada, you’re happy because you know it.Angshu, I’m your Maa, ain’t I?” She enfolds them and the flowers smile. She realizes,” This is fulfillment.”

                 She sits on the garden chair and looks on. The birds are agog. The rhythm of Thlumuwi waterfall audible here is regaling. (Let’s end).