The Unventured Passions

Stolen Lessons on Touch

The summer holidays were just about to began. The air was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of ripe mangoes and jackfruits... and, along with it, the excitement of going on a vacation! That year, the Roy Chowdhurys had planned to spend the summer holidays at their estate in Darjeeling, and needless to say, the two young enthusiastic ones were brimming with jolts of excitement.
The dinner table topics had changed from social and political banters to stories on hills stations and vacation plans. The entire household had a festivity surrounding the excitement of the summers.
It was a Friday, the last day of school. The day after was scheduled as the start of their vacation, adding extra happiness to the ambience. As usual, Anirudh was in his study that afternoon, busy with his law work as suddenly Batuk had burst inside his home office.

"Dada... Guess what... I know how I was born!"

Anirudh had looked up, a little unprepared for this sudden announcement, as he furrowed his eyebrows at the grinning face of his younger brother.
He stretched his neck noticing Bondita standing outside the room, with her bag still hung on her shoulders. They both had turned fourteen that year, an entry to the menacing teens, and both were hit hard by the varying colors of puberty.

"And?" Anirudh had asked quizzically.

"And I know everything!" Batuk took a happy swirl around as he pulled Bondita inside by her hand.
"Bondita... Tell him... What we learnt."

Bondita didn't speak. Infact she hadn't spoken a word to Anirudh since the last few days after their unexpected encounter outside his bathroom.
Anirudh had just taken a bath, just out of his bathroom with only a towel hanging low on his waist. He had sat on a chair, drying his hair with a towel, facing the open window outside to admire the bloom in the mango trees. Unexpectedly, Bondita had crept inside the room, pushing the closed door open, as she too, joined her hands on rubbing his hair from behind. Instinctively and unmindfuly, Anirudh had caught hold of her hand and pulled her infront, making her loose balance. Bondita had fallen straight on his lap, with his hand cradling her body from infront, his bare chest had touched her bosoms, his bare arms had touched her back and before Anirudh could apologize or help her stand, his eyes had fallen on Bondita's black glossy orbs, staring back at him with an unknown astonishment. There was something in her eyes, an incomprehensible look, a desire, a gesture may be, that had made Anirudh swallow hard and clear his throat.

'You should get up.' Anirudh had hushed in slight embarassment.
His Bondita was growing, growing up faster to be a women than he had expected, and this version of her was scaring him more.

'I should do a lot of things.' she had hushed back with an equal intensity, matching the tone of his voice.

'As in?' he had asked her in return, their eyes still fixated on each other, and their hearts beating faster in sync, with apprehensions mixed with an unknown excitement.

'I should start by being your wife', her words were straight, inhibited, making Anirudh gulp in discomfiture.

'What do you mean?'
Anirudh was well aware of what she had meant, but still, it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that somewhere, the equation of their relationship had probably taken an unexpected term.

'You seriously don't know what I mean Barrister Babu?'
Anirudh had helped her stand upright, as he noticed Bondita's eyes roaming around the exposed moist skin of his upper torso. Anirudh had liked it, this little detailed attention from her, but at the same time his mind had hammered ethical senses shattering his timid emotions. 'This was wrong in so many ways', his mind had told him.