The Unventured Passions

Hellfire in Paradise

When in danger, both Anirudh and Bondita had one thing in common. They would both go to their quiet places within, so that they could switch on the more evolved parts of their brains, his logic and practicality, and her creative perspective ability and empathy. For these had always acted as their divinity rod, their pathfinder, and always made them ever ready, and hence safe, in whatever the circumstances life challenged them with.

"Two minutes, Bondita, we have only two minutes." Anirudh had kept down the telephone receiver, his hands pressing his temples determining the next course of action.
Bondita was standing infront, her eyes narrowed at him.

"What happens after two minutes?" Her voice was low in a fearful apprehension.

"I don't know, something terrible."
Anirudh was already infront of their bedroom safe, stuffing bundles of currency notes inside the pocket of his plain cotton kurta.
Bondita stood there, thinking, but only for a second, before she prepared to walk out of the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked her, without looking, and Bondita replied promptly, an empty sling bag in her hand.

"60 seconds... Meet me at the main gate."

"No, not the main, the back gate, in exact one minute."
He shoved a few papers inside his leather suitcase and opened the chest of drawers for more.

Bondita didn't wait to reply.

Exactly a minute, and Anirudh saw his wife coming down, jumping the stairs, sprinting towards him with a hurried urgency, she had her sling college sack on her shoulder.

"Let's go." She panted, and held his hand, almost pulling him out of the dark unexplored back exit of the mansion.
"But, where to Barrister Babu?" She looked up at him, her large eyes widened in question, as they both heard a screeching noise of probably a jeep haulting somewhere near.

"We'll have to figure that out." Anirudh held her shoulders firmly.
"For now, let's just run!"

Bondita nodded silently, no queries, no inhibitions, no further questions... For when her Barrister Babu asks her to run, she just runs... And, this time, his fingers were intertwined with hers, their hands held together, inseparable, and for Bondita that's all what mattered!

..............................................

The antique wall clock dinged ten times, as Raimoti brushed a quick glance at Satyakirth, their eyes meeting once again, both acknowledging the essence of the restricted time. They had each other's expertise, but they needed to hurry, for time was their only drawback. The stone-cold soulless basement of the Raybahadur Palace had suddenly turned into a shrine for the Swadeshi freedom fighters, raiding the place was like drawing direct blessings from the goddess, the motherland, advancing themselves a little forward towards achieving their collective goal, the freedom.
Two boys including Girish stood outside the backdoor, exporting the boxes safely outside the palace premises through the river route, two other's including Ramcharan stood watch at the main gate, overseeing the sleeping guards, while four others under Batuk's leadership waited at the river bank, docking the boxes into the small steamer that they had brought for the purpose.

"How many more?" Satya asked Rai, standing at the threshold, as she handed him a comparatively larger wooden box from inside the basement hall.

"Three medicines, and five boxes of hand grenades." She calculated quickly and started to work on the first of the three medicine boxes.

Satya marvelled at her readiness, but only for a moment.

The hall reeked of gunpower and ethanol, a deadly combination, and after spending two restless hours working inside, Raimoti felt nausceous, as if she would throw up any minute, she gasped in search of fresh air.
"Damn!" She murmured, retching once again, but this wasn't the time to ponder over personal discomfort. She pressed her nose with the free end of her saree and looked around.
The windows were shut, they had been this way forever, and Raimoti felt the urgency of freeing them open. With a few violent pushes, she freed the captivated air inside and in turn was blessed with the freshness of the untarnished oxygen that filled her lung, evading the suffocation of the hall.