Do you know a secret?
Seeing Shrabani and hearing Jhanak’s name brought a moment of realization in Aniruddh. He was taken back to that fateful day, the day he wanted to end his life out of sorrow of losing the sole support system of his life, his dad.
Flashback, 3 years back
Even after days after his father’s death, Aniruddh was unable to come to terms with the dreadful fact that his dad was no more. The very thought that he was an orphan now made him feel miserable that he wanted to end his life. Finally, he gathers all his courage, goes to a drawer, takes out a cutter and is about to slit his wrist when there is a knock on his door. At first he ignores it and is about to slit his wrist, but there is a knock again and then again. Finally, Aniruddh leaves the cutter and opens the door. When he opens the door, there is Shrabani on the other side. Aniruddh did not recognize her because he had never met her before. Shrabani, “You don’t know me Aniruddh baba but I know you. I work for your dad and it’s been years since I have been working for him.” Aniruddh, “Oh I see, but sorry to disappoint you, he is no more. So, I don’t think he can help you anymore.” He is about to shut the door saying that but before he could Shrabani stops him saying, “Wait baba, I know Bose Saab is no more and I am really sorry for your loss and I am also sorry that I can’t do anything to reduce your pain but I have something for you.” She opens her bag and takes out a letter. Aniruddh looked at it quizzically. Shrabani explains, “Bose Saab had a friend who and his wife died in an accident leaving behind their infant daughter. After the death of the parents, since the relatives of that child abandoned her, it was Bose Saab who took the responsibility of that child and hired me as her Nanny. Bose Saab sponsored for all her needs through me but wished that his identity remained a secret to her. As the child started growing up, she wanted to meet Bose Saab; however Bose Saab always wanted his identity to be hidden to her. But, when she persistently insisted, Bose Saab gave an idea of allowing her to send a letter to him on her birthday where she can write down all that she wants to her sponsor through words.” Shrabani holds forwards the letter to Aniruddh and says, “And this is that letter for today is her 18th birthday.” Aniruddh looked questioningly at Shrabani and the letter as if he indirectly asked Shrabani, “Now what should I do with this letter?” Shrabani understanding his thoughts tells him, “I’m not asking you to continue the work which your father had started for I can take full responsibility of that girl from now onwards, but just read this letter; it has the words of emotions of a girl who lost her everything just like you, maybe you feel better after reading it.” Aniruddh was not really convinced however he unwillingly takes the letter, bids Shrabani adieu, goes inside and leaves the letter on the table. Then, he takes the cutter again and is about to slit his wrist when the letter flies from the table and falls onto his feet. Aniruddh was surprised. He takes the letter and leaves it on the drawer and is about to slit his wrist when the letter flies again and gets stuck onto his face. This time, Aniruddh was really irked so he leaves the cutter and opens the letter to read what is written inside. The letter read like this:
“Pronaam Sirji,
Kemon achen? Apnar shorir thik ache to? (How are you? How is your health?) If you ask about me I’m absolutely fine thanks to you and today as you know I have turned eighteen and all that I want to say to you is that:
Please know that you’re never alone, even if it feels that way because no matter who stands by you or not, I will surely stand by you. There might be moments of deep pain in your life which you might find unbearable, like they’ll never end—but Sirji they will pass, even if it’s hard to believe right now because life has a way of shifting in ways we can’t foresee. If you ever feel that there is nobody for you then please always remember me for I deeply care about you and want to help you carry the weight of all your pain and struggles, even if it’s just a little bit at a time and trust me Sirji, there will be someone in your life who will help you find a way through all your dark moments for you deserve to find all the happiness of this world.
With love,
JHANAK
There were tears in Aniruddh’s eyes as he finished reading the letter. He quickly wiped his tears and went out to see if he can find Shrabani anywhere but he couldn’t find her. Disappointedly, he walks back into his house and looks at the cutter and Jhanak’s letter both kept besides each other on the table. He takes the cutter and throws it away. Then he smilingly takes the letter and tells, “Thank you for saving my life Jhanak!” Flashback ends.
Aniruddh was taken out of his flashback by Shrabani’s screams; it took a moment for Aniruddh to realize that the girl who is in his arms right now, battling for her life is the same girl who saved his life 3 years ago. (Jhanak dramatic bgm plays in the background) He doesn’t think twice and quickly runs outside with Jhanak in his arms. However, outside the media block his way with questions, “Sir who is this girl in your life?” “Is Jhanak Chatterjee your mistress?” “Please tell us more about your relationship?” etc. etc. Aniruddh pushes them and shouts at them, “I don’t have time right now to answer any of your questions because I have to take this girl to the hospital as she is fighting for her life!!!” The media reporters compliantly move away and give way for Aniruddh. Aniruddh runs towards his car, opens the back door and puts Jhanak in the back seat along with Shrabani. Then he sits in the driver’s seat and drives the car as fast as he could.
In the hospital
Jhanak is taken into the Intensive Care Unit. Aniruddh and Shrabani are asked to wait outside. Shrabani excuses herself and comes back in an hour with a box. Aniruddh was perplexed. Shrabani hands over the box to Aniruddh and says, I went back to the house and brought this box with great difficulty hiding it from the media. It contains the letters which Jhanak had been writing to her Sirji in the past three years and this, she hands him a neatly concealed envelope, is the letter which she had written for her Sirji today. I had hidden to her the fact that her sponsor is no more in this world now and she kept writing the letters. I strongly believe that you should read these letters. Aniruddh was reluctant at first however when Shrabani insisted, he gives in. He starts reading the letters starting from the past ones and was shocked to find that in her every letter, she had mentioned about him, “How his hardwork inspired her” “How she felt he had a hidden pain in his eyes” “How his secretive persona which was something disliked by his other fans, attracted her towards him seeing his modesty and humility behind it” etc. etc. All the three letters had something related to her admiration for him. Finally the last letter read like this:
“Pronaam Sirji,
Kemon achen? I am writing to you this time to describe something unusual which happened last night. At midnight, when the clock ticked twelve, I saw my idol and my inspiration “The Aniruddh Bose” standing in front of my eyes. It was like the best birthday present that I could get. The whole night, we spent quality time together as two normal individuals and not like a star and his fan. I should say Sirji that Aniruddh Bose is such a hot-headed curt arrogant man but behind his arrogance and discourteousy there is a hidden pain, a pain which he hides within himself and wants it to stay hidden to the outside world. It’s the pain of losing your dear ones. Yesterday, when I saw that pain in his eyes more closely, it attracted me more towards him as I have been through the same pain and this morning when he left, I felt a strong emptiness in my heart. I don’t know Sirji I think I have started falling for “The Aniruddh Bose”. I’m saying all this to you because you are the closest to my heart even though I have never seen you.
With love,
JHANAK
Tears rolled down Aniruddh’s cheek as he read through Jhanak’s emotions neatly written through words in the letter. He caught the letter close to his heart and cried bitterly.
A few hours later, Aniruddh’s press conference
Aniruddh states in the press conference, “The photo of me and that girl that is currently doing the rounds in the media is just a publicity stunt. There is NO relationship between me and that girl.”
At the hospital
Shrabani smiles seeing the press conference online and runs to break the news to Jhanak. She asks the Doctor if Jhanak has gained consciousness. The doctor denies however permits her to meet Jhanak for once when she constantly persuades him. She goes inside the intensive care unit and tells an unconscious Jhanak. “Look Jhanak, Aniruddh has cleared your name in front of media. Now, nobody will question your character!!” Jhanak gradually opened her eyes hearing that. Shrabani and the nurses were shocked seeing Jhanak regain consciousness.
Aniruddh’s press conference
Arshi gets up angrily from her seat hearing Aniruddh denying all allegations put on him and Jhanak, asks him, “If there is no relationship between you and that girl then why is that you are sleeping in her lap? Would you sleep like that in any stranger woman’s lap?” Aniruddh was enraged hearing that. He closed his fists, took a long breath and tells her, “That was an accident!! I was too tired that night that I did not realize where I fell asleep.” Arshi is about to ask another question but before that Aniruddh says in a loud tone, “Let me make things clear to everyone. Jhanak Chaterjee is neither my mistress, nor my fiancée nor my girlfriend…She is just an ordinary commoner who gave me refuge in her house when I was trying to hide from the media. That’s it!!!” The whole hall was silenced hearing that, Arshi sat back angrily onto her seat. Aniruddh walked out furiously after saying that. Nobody dared to neither follow him nor ask him questions anymore.
An hour later, In the hospital
Shrabani feeds Jhanak, who was now shifted to the casualty medicines, and asks her, “Now that all the allegations put on you are cleared, do you feel better?” Jhanak nods in agreement. Just then, the door opens and Aniruddh meekly enters looking downwards without lifting his head up unable to look at Jhanak. He asks Shrabani, “Can I talk to Jhanak privately for 2 minutes?” Shrabani nods and is about to go outside but Jhanak catches her hand and signs her not to go. Shrabani assures her, “Don’t worry Jhanak, I’m right outside.” Jhanak gradually leaves her hand and Shrabani goes outside. After Shrabani goes out, Aniruddh slowly moved towards Jhanak and sits beside her. She turned her head away from him. Aniruddh touches her hand but she moves her hand away. He is about to say, “Jhanak, I…” but before he could, Jhanak shows her hand and stops him. She signs, “Look I don’t want to hear anything from you nor see your face. Just go away from here!!” Aniruddh tries to convince her but she gets agitated which scares him that she might have a panic attack once again. So he dejectedly leaves the room.
Outside Shrabani asks him if he had a talk with Jhanak. Aniruddh shakes his head in denial. Shrabani tells him, “Just give her some time…” However, Aniruddh was too heartbroken that he does not pay attention to Shrabani’s words and leaves from the hospital. After that, he was never seen to the outer world, he disappeared completely.
A few days later, Jhanak gets discharged from the hospital when she is handed over a letter from her Sirji by Shrabani. Jhanak was surprised to receive it as she had always sent him letters but never received any letter from him till date. The letter read like this:
I know what happened with you but turn your pain into power; let this be the start of a stronger, braver you, Jhanak!
Regards,
Sirji
Those words motivated Jhanak a lot that she decided to forget all that had happened and decided to focus on her career. Her Sirji continued to motivate her through his letters and support her financially for her needs.
A few years passed and Jhanak turned into a world renowned dancer. She was offered acting projects several times but she turned them all down. Not just acting projects, she rejected every marriage proposal which Shrabani had bought for her because deep down in her heart, she felt a strong emptiness, an emptiness which only Aniruddh Bose could fill. But Aniruddh Bose was nowhere to be found since the day of Jhanak’s birthday when he was last seen in the hospital. The media speculated the news of Aniruddh’s disappearance for a while but after that the news died just like the other hot news and 9 years passed with no news of Aniruddh anywhere.
2023, Jhanak’s birthday
Jhanak had turned 30 but she was still single. Although, there were still proposals coming for her, she rejected them all. That day, after all the party celebrations, Shrabani hands over Sirji’s letter to Jhanak. But before Shrabani could leave, Jhanak catches her hand and asks her “You have kept the identity of Sirji a secret all these years but now I really want to know who it is, Tell me Shrabani Mashi, who it is, what is his name, tell me!!” Shrabani stays silent and turns around to leave but Jhanak comes in front of her and signs “Tomar kasam (I swear on you), Shrabani Mashi, tell me who it is!!” Shrabani blurts out, “Aniruddh Bose!!” Jhanak was thunderstruck to hear that name.
———-
To be continued.
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