My Destination, My Bondita

21 - The Speechless Barrister and his Fiery Wife

When she finally got her Pati Babu's attention, she walked right over to him. Anirudh gulped and leaned back in his sitting position, trying to get away from her. 

After her act just now where she had almost removed her dress in front of him, he was beyond dumbstruck. He didn't know how to react, nor did he know what to say. 

Bondita had once again rendered Barrister Anirudh Roy Choudhary speechless -- so much so, to the point he was barely able to process anything. 

"All you do is stay study study study!" Bondita began, leaning towards him, her hands on her hips showing that she was upset. 

He leaned further back, feeling a sweat emerge on his brow. 

She was standing right in front of him. 

"But you didn't once wonder why I did that!" Bondita continued. "Barrister Babu, I was only concerned about your back!" 

When Bondita called him Barrister Babu instead of Birristira Babu, he felt a punch in his chest. 

"You spent all night holding me, and the night before you slept outside on the floor! Your body must hurt! I just wanted your body to be okay!" Bondita went on. "And about the money! Kakasasurji did a Puja in my name for my birthday and this was the prasad! Weren't you listening when I told you that he gave me prasad?" 

Anirudh gulped again. He felt bad when she said she was worried about him and was only thinking about his well-being. Then when she asked him if he hadn't been paying attention to her, he looked down. 

"Did you not listen to me when I told you about the prasad Barrister Babu?" she repeated. "Did you not hear me?" 

"I...I..." he stammered. 

"Where has your attention been?" she demanded, feeling sad that she hadn't had her Pati Babu's undivided attention on the walk back from school. 

Anirudh closed his eyes and thought back to his conflicted feelings. How could he explain to her what he was going through? She was too young to understand all of these things. 

"And on top of that, you're mad at me because I want to cook!  At the haveli, I used to balance both cooking for the whole family and studying," she went on. "Are you underestimating my capabilities Barrister Babu? You yourself had said that I'm intelligent, right?"

It sounded like she was presenting him with many pieces of evidence, and they were in a courtroom right now. 

Even though her words sounded harsh, she was saying it in more of a sad tone than an angry one. 

"Even more so Barrister Babu, I wanted to change my clothes but you kept telling me to study!" Bondita went on, listing her arguments, making Anirudh look down with guilt. "So I had no choice but to do this to get your attention!" 

Anirudh looked up at her with a start. He felt like hitting himself for not remembering that she had other needs too. Things had been so stressful for him, that he hadn't been able to think straight.

He dropped the onion he had been trying to peel and he got up. He picked up some bedsheets and hung them, creating a divider that could be parted to the side. 

"You can change behind here," he informed her. 

Bondita without another word, took her saree behind the curtain and closed it to change. 

He gulped and went back to peeling his onion. He very rarely saw this side of hers, but when it came out, even Anirudh Roy Choudhary in his worst of moods had nothing more to say.