My Destination, My Bondita

140 - I Fell Not For Your Form, But For Your Soul

Bondita had snuck one of the bottles into the blouse of her saree when nobody was looking. She had to show this medication to Anirudh. If he agreed, then this could be what they had been seeking all along. 

She hid it in her wardrobe, hoping that she could show him when the time was right. The romance novel she still hadn't read was still in there, and until he returned as Roopa, she decided she would just stay in her room and read the novel. 

Batuk on the other hand, was outside in the front yard with Tupur, while she was eyeing him wondering who he was. 

His face was red, and he was about to turn around and run away, when he remembered that he was a zamindar. Why did he have to be afraid? 

He stuck his chest out with confidence and walked straight up to the pretty girl. 

"I'm a zamindar! Zamindar Batuk Roy Choudhary!" he said, and then bit his tongue -- was he not supposed to say that? The Roy Choudharys were forbidden to come to this side of the haveli. 

"Roy Choudhary?" Tupur asked, her eyes lighting up, "But you're not supposed to be here! If Thakumaa finds out, then she will get very mad!" 

But he was a Roy Choudhary -- he was from Bondita's sasural, and Bondita wore Banarasi sarees and beautiful jewelry. 

Neither Batuk nor Tupur knew exactly what problem Thakumaa had with the Roy Choudharys. 

"I'm not afraid of anyone!" Batuk answered, making Tupur smile. 

He was kind of cute. 

"Why have you come?" she asked. 

"To meet someone," Batuk said, looking directly into her eyes. 

"To meet Bondita?" Tupur asked, feeling a pang of jealousy in her heart. 

"Yes, but maybe I was destined to meet someone else," Batuk said -- the romance novels were really giving him good lines. 

Tupur blushed and asked, "Oh... who?" 

"A pretty girl who I didn't know existed until this moment," Batuk answered, a blush on his face.  

A deep blush on her cheeks, Tupur just said breathlessly, "I have to go." 

Then she ran away from there, her face red, her heart hammering hard. Batuk just smiled too, and in a trance, he also turned around and walked the opposite way towards his side of the haveli, forgetting the initial reason he wanted to come here.

On the way back home, Batuk noticed another beautiful lady rush towards Thakumaa's haveli -- she was married. She was tall and had sindoor on, but she was pretty.  Except, she didn't look to be of high social status. Her saree looked cheap and so did her jewelry. 

The lady, Roopa, didn't notice Batuk as he ran towards the haveli, eager to see his Bondita again. 

When Bondita went to the living room after a few hours, she asked, "Did Roopa not come back?" 

Thakumaa looked up from her chair and said, "She's on the roof washing clothes. Why do you need her?" 

"Oh... no reason, I wanted to ask her to do some things for me," Bondita said, and then turned around and walked away while Thakumaa watched her suspiciously. 

Why did it seem like Bondita was very interested in Roopa? 

Bondita ran to the rooftop, upset at the idea of her Pati Babu washing clothes. She rushed over to him -- he was sitting in front of two buckets of water and a slab that he was using to wash a saree.