CHAPTER 6: ANIDITA’S DEPARTURE AND THEIR SECOND ENCOUNTER.
“Take care, Bondita”, Sumati said to her daughter, kissing her on the forehead, tears freely flowing down her eyes.
“Maa, you are so sad. I’m so sad. Is it really necessary to go, Maa? I’m only going because you asked me to. Just say no, Maa. Just say no. I won’t go”, Bondita pleaded, her own eyes brimming with tears.
Sumati shook her head. “No, dear. You have to stay strong. You have to go. Think of your future. Think of your further studies. This is necessary, my dear. Just… Just take care. And call me”, she said, her voice cracking.
Bondita just nodded her head affirmatively. Her eyes lacked their usual sparkle. Her typical smile was not on her face.
Bondita was a girl who’s whole being exuded innocence, cheerfulness and fiery determination. It was rare to see her looking so dejected, defeated and upset. So dull and gloomy.
Bondita embraced her Sampoorna Didi. “I’ll miss you so much Bondita. So much. I don’t want my baby sister to go away”, Sampoorna said, tearfully.
Bondita let out a teary chuckle. “Didi, I’m not a baby. I’m your little sister”.
Sampoorna frowned. “No. You ARE my baby sister. And I’ll miss you. Come back soon. And call me. Never forget your Didi. Or she will strangle you”.
“Same goes for you”.
After a tearful parting with her Maa and Sampoorna Didi, Bondita departed for the hostel with her Mama.
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“Take care of yourself, Dada and don’t forget to call us at least once a day”, Somnath said to his Dada, while he was getting ready to leave for the hostel.
“Tell us how your first day of job went. And as Somnath said, keep contacting us frequently, especially Da”, Binoy said to his son, adjusting his spectacles and patting Anirudh’s shoulder.
“I’ll miss you Big D! I’ll miss you so much. I’m already feeling low”, Batuk stated sadly.
“You people are talking as if I’m going abroad. Come on, I’m going to be in contact with everyone! Cheer up! And where’s Kaka? Call him fast”, Anirudh said, in an attempt to cheer everyone up.
“Sir, your Kaka is in his room. He said he won’t be coming”, Bihari, their manservant informed.
“But now I’ve come”, said a voice from the staircase, and everyone looked up to find Trilochan descending down the stairs.
“Anirudh, my dear, when you had returned from the U.S., I had thought that was the last time, you’d have to be away from home. But…”, he sighed, and continued, “you have the right to choose your job. And now, that is your duty. And duty always comes first. You go and do your job well. I will miss you. I want you to always stay home, but my heart will satisfy itself just with your voice, your messages and occasional visits. I can’t be selfish. I can’t keep you tied down”.
By the time he had finished saying this, Anirudh had rushed forward and tightly embraced his Kaka.
“Kaka, I’ll miss you as much as a small kids miss the warmth of their mother. Because… because you are no less than a mother for me. For all three of us brothers. You have always prioritized us, before yourself. Before everything. I love you Kaka. I’ll miss you”, Anirudh said, wiping the tears that had escaped his eyes.
And soon, he was off.
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‘Dugga Ma! Save me from the horror of a crowded bus!’, Bondita thought as the bus went over another pothole, and all the passengers got pushed to one side.
Bondita was especially facing problem in reaching the rods above, due to her short height. She barely balanced herself. Everyone was cramped up against each other.
Bondita was already feeling stuffy and suffocated. Even though she had travelled through these crowded buses countless times, she’d never get used to the suffocating sensation it gave her. ‘Ouch’, she winced in pain, as someone stepped over her foot.
Soon, the overcrowded bus reached the stoppage, where Bondita and her Mama pushed their way through the crowd of people, and finally stepped out of the bus.
She could finally breath properly. She felt like she had just broken out of a prison.
And very soon, her Mama was waving her goodbye. “Ta-ta, Bondita! Take care of yourself”.
She just waved back and looked at the hostel in front of her.
“SOUTH CALCUTTA CO-ED CAMPUS”
She sighed, and with a heavy heart, entered the campus, and soon found herself being shown around the premises and being explained the rules and regulations by the warden.
Bondita just listened to her, ranting about all the rules and guidelines, asking her to understand them thoroughly and abide by them.
She was finally led to her dormitory, where she was shown her bed. From there, the warden left Bondita on her own and departed from the spot.
Keeping her bags near the bed, Bondita looked around herself. The dormitory was quite spacious and well-kept.
Right now, the dormitory was almost entirely empty, except for a girl sitting on a chair near the window, staring outside. Since the moment Bondita had entered the room, neither had she looked in her direction nor had she uttered a single word. She was silently staring outside the window at God-knows-what.
And Bondita too, wasn’t in the mood for chatting with anyone. She wanted some fresh air and open space, which made her go up to the terrace.
At the terrace, Bondita felt the soothing, pleasant afternoon air hit her face. The warmth of the sun, reminded her of the warmth of her Maa’s love and affection.
She inhaled deeply and slowly let out her breath, her arms spread wide. Bondita started walking around the rooftop, aimlessly. When she reached the edge of the terrace, she didn’t even realise.
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‘This campus has pretty much thoughtful rules and regulations. The surroundings are good too’, Anirudh positively thought.
He was walking around the hostel premises, taking a good look at his new workplace and his temporary residence. The place where he would experience teaching for the first time.
To be honest, he was very much nervous and anxious about his job. He didn’t even consider teaching, a job. He thought it was an art, which required a lot of dedication, hardwork and patience. Dedicated and hardworking, he was. But he had to work on his patience.
He had next to zero teaching experience. Except for tutoring Batuk and helping with his homework, he didn’t know much about teaching. But his interview had went well. So, he expected that even if his first day wouldn’t be a good experience, he would learn to improve his tutoring and teaching skills with time and experience.
He had just come to the terrace, when he saw a girl wandering around the rooftop. He saw her reach the edge of the terrace.
‘Oh, no!’, he thought and rushed forward, shouting, “No! STOP!”.
One shout from Anirudh, was enough to bring Bondita out of her trance and when she noticed that she was at the edge of the terrace, and about to fall down, she quickly moved back.
Turning around she saw a young man rushing forward towards her.
In the process of rushing forward to save the girl, Anirudh had lost control and he himself was about to slip from the edge of the roof. He almost fell off the roof, when the girl stretched her arm in front of him as a barrier and held his shoulder.
By now, Anirudh and Bondita, both were breathing heavily, their hearts hammering.
They both took a moment to catch their breaths. And then, Anirudh’s fierce eyes turned upon Bondita.
“What were you DOING?! ARE YOU MAD?! YOU STUPID SUICIDAL MANIAC!”.
“SHUT IT! Just shut up, you screeching banshee!”, Bondita yelled back, shutting him up.
Pointing her finger at him, she started to say something, but her words died down in her throat as she properly looked at him.
“Rakshak Babu!”, she gasped.
“What are you- oh!”, Anirudh stopped suddenly, as realisation hit him.
“Hey! You are THAT tomato-face girl!”, he asked.
“I’m not ‘that’ girl, mister. I have a name. And my name is Bondita Das”.
“And I am Anirudh Roy Chowdhury! But why were you trying to commit suicide? I thought you were a strong-willed girl! I admired you!”.
“I was NOT committing suicide. Suicide is the option chosen by cowards who either don’t know what life is, or don’t know how to live it! And Bondita is not like that. I can guarantee you this much! Actually, I was just lost in thoughts. I was wandering aimlessly. Didn’t realize when I reached the edge”, Bondita said, shrugging.
“Oh… Ok. Fine then. Are you ok?”, Anirudh asked in concern.
“I’m fine. Are YOU ok?”, Bondita asked back and Anirudh agreed.
“Thank you for coming to my rescue once again. You really ARE my Rakshak Babu!”, Bondita exclaimed, and smiled widely. The first time that she had smiled that day. Anirudh smiled back.
Author’s Notes (A/N): Hello readers! So…. What did you think of this chapter?😃… How was AniDita’s Second Encounter?…
Comment and let me know your thoughts and opinions …
Love you loads 💙💛