The Estranged Lovers

To be or not to be is the question

The only sound which could be heard in the room were those of the curtain rustling in response to the strong wind blowing outside. A heavy rain looked imminent as Bondita stood by the open window, her long tresses scattering behind her in the wind. "A heavy shower is brewing up" Bondita spoke in a low voice, as she sensed a much-awaited arrival in the room. "It will cause only destruction" a reply came through gritted teeth of the other person in the room. "Come on, you can't say that. Whether this rainfall drowns the endings or washes the way for new beginnings, only time can be its judge" Bondita expressed her melancholy, moving away from the window to face her. "The rain is all you can talk about, Barrister Bondita Das after you and that Sakha babu of yours convicted my husband of all your baseless assumption? After my husband will be sentenced for God knows how long as a result of your petitions? After you have once again ruined your own sister's happiness?" The accusation echoed in the room as the voice got louder and louder with each livid remark. "Of course not, take a seat, Tupur" Bondita mustered up, in an attempt to re-establish their strained relationship.

"Do you recognize this signature?" she questioned with a steady voice, pushing an old receipt towards Tupur. "This is my husband's sign" Tupur acknowledged. "Oh, so now, you are trying to turn me against my husband?" she snarled, standing up from her chair. "No, not at all, Tupur" Bondita's voice remained steady "I just wanted to inform you that these were the very signatures found on receipts of buying both poison and kulfi far away in Dhaka, in an attempt to not be caught. It was these signatures that proved that Chandrachur babu was the one who bought them to serve those poisonous kulfis to the Roy Chowdharys, nearly killing them in the process, which as we both know, laid the foundation of the decade-old rivalry between the two villages as we see it today." Tupur did not utter a word, all she did was glare at the old receipt from eight years ago, wishing Bondita would have never seen it.

Bondita sighed at her younger sister's silence as she stood up to retrieve the sketch of a young Chandrachur, before gently handling it over to Tupur. "This is the sketch of the man who planned and funded the assault on Mr. Binoy Roy Chowdhary while he was in Dhaka, on a business trip, which left Mr. Binoy, a once-proud business, mentally unstable. It was made eight years ago, drawn as described by Musa, the main assailant of Mr. Binoy. However, this was shoved under the racks after the investigating police team accepted a huge bribe from Chandrachur Babu's family only to be revealed now when Anirudh babu and the police began re-questioning the responsible authorities from years ago. This..." Bondita stopped seeing Tupur's raised hand in demand for silence. "Oh please, Bondita, if the only reason you called me here was to boast how you and your Anirudh babu managed to catch my husband red-handed, then please spare me from it. I have already heard this in court. Congratulations to both of you." Tupur, remarked in disdain as she got up to leave. "I called you not to boast but to do two things: one to inform you something and other to ask you a question" Bondita spoke with finality making Tupur pause on the threshold of the room. "Tomorrow, before the judge declares his punishment, another charge against Mr. Chandrachur Basu will be filled by me" Tupur let out a mirthless smile, "I knew it, may I know what charge is still left to be submitted against my husband, Barrister?" she spoke, menacingly. "Charge of domestic violence on his wife, Mrs. Tupur Basu," Bondita responded with a straight face.

"What!?" Tupur was at a loss for words. Bondita slowly breathed out as her voice turned gentle, "Did you really think that those marks of physical abuse and manhandling on your body will remain hidden under that pallu forever?" Getting no reply from the younger one, Bondita continued with the same tone, "Now onto the question, why are so hell-bent in believing the innocence of a monster?" "The man whom you love and care for is the same man who nearly killed an entire family by poisoning. He is the same man who is responsible for the loss of your parents. Countless people have lost their lives to fuel the fire of revenge which he started, years ago. He is the same heartless man who reduced one of the most respectable men in the village to a mere madman. He is the same man who mistreats you. Yet, yet why do you still refuse to accept his faults?" Bondita's voice broke.

"Because that man is my husband" Tupur's strained voice thundered across the room. "Protecting and believing in my husband is my duty." "It is a virtue I have learned, since childhood while reading our ancient scriptures when you were lost reading those books from abroad. But how will you know anything about virtue, Barrister Bondita Das?"

"You are right, I am still unknown to a ton of religious things but there is one thing I seem to recollect. In Ramayana, there were two women. One wedded to Ram, while the other to Ravana. While a pregnant Sita accepted another 7 years of exile, to stay true to her dignity, Ravana's wife Mandodari, who even went to great lengths to secure Amrit for her husband, remained silent as she watched her husband commit countless sins. Blind in her devotion to her husband, she never attempted to truly stop him, which ended in the downfall of both her husband and his kingdom" Bondita recounted, in a calm voice. "Both of them are remembered even today. Goddess Sita, as a righteous and perfect wife, while an innocent Queen Mandodari, as a silent accomplice in her husband's crimes. They made their choice then. Now, you stand at the same crossroad, Tupur. Whether you stand against evil or with the evil, the choice is yours."