Year:1970
"Calcutta. The city of joy. The city of Tagore. The city of knowledge. The city of culture.
This is what they say about this 'shohor' (trans. City). Isn't it?"
I asked with a light frown and a soft smile on my face.
"Rubbish." I stated with disgust.
"The ones who see Calcutta through the pages of magazines and describe it with mere 'roshogolla' or 'Victoria memorial', have absolutely no idea about the way Calcutta makes us, the true calcuttians feel."
"If you restrict yourself to a few translated versions of 'chokher bali' or 'kabuliwala' and claim yourself to be a 'khanti bangali' (trans. true bengali) by simply having roadside 'puchkas' or 'jhaalmuri' once a month, then am sorry but you're anything besides a true calcuttian."
I finished with a sarcastic sigh.
"Calcutta, 'amar Calcutta' (trans. My Calcutta) is not just a random city."
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.
"It has a history which is not forgotten and a future which is never neglected." I said with an intense gaze at the audience.
"Calcutta teaches you to be brave like Bose, it teaches you to be creative like Ray. It teaches you to worship women, it teaches you to value knowledge.
Every small shop of Calcutta has a history of its own.
Every narrow lane of Calcutta has a story of its own.
Every busy man walking on the road to catch a bus has a turmoil to share.
Every busy wife lighting a lamp in the night has an agony to share." I said with glittering eyes.
"This city, this city teaches you how hearts connect. This city teaches you how feelings develop. Amar Calcutta, amar shohor, ladies and gentlemen, it teaches you how LOVE happens."
I took a pause and winked at the girls drooling over my charming words, my husky voice and most importantly, ME. The Ronobir Chatterjee.
Honestly, I was pretty bored with the speech which this nerdy Naren had written for me.
Shs! I mentally regretted the time I wasted in threatening him to write it for me. I should have realised earlier, no matter how good he was with books, he was ultimately too bland to suit my enchanting aura and so was his writing!
Now a Ronobir Chatterjee speech couldn't really be over without a few girls fainting right? I couldn't be that cruel. Never. I believed god had trusted me with the duty of spreading love. And like a good devotee, I always abided by his command. That too with utmost sincerity!
That's why, I decided to add my magic to this boring speech!
One wink, all dead. That was my life's mantra based on a personal experience of what? Around 10 years!
"This city made me fall in love with old rusty buildings and green wooden layered windows.
This city made me romanticize hand pulling rickshaws and rainy nights.
This city taught me how to give love, make love and be in love! So here's to Calcutta, here's to its teachings and here's to love!"
I said raising a toast in the air and smirking heavily at phrases like 'fall in love', 'make love' and 'be in love' while the auditorium broke out into hoots, cheers and applause.
I then gave them what they yearned for. My most charming, deadly and perfect smile!
And I think that did it all. Everybody was impressed. The host, the contestants, the faculty, the guests, the audience, the panel! Everybody! Soon the hall rose to its feet to give me a standing ovation. Oh! How easy it was to win hearts when you have greek god like features! I thought as I bent forward to take a bow. Naren and his stupid speech wasn't at all needed! I could have easily won this competition even if I had recited pink floyd lines instead of that melodramatic speech on Calcutta given that I had blessed the audience with that killer smile of mine and flirtatious wink of mine at the very end, I thought. While I was basking myself in self glory, something caught my eye. Or should I say, someone? While even the chief guest was on her toes, clapping for me, there was this young woman in the judges panel who let alone standing, but didn't even bother to clap for me! I stood upright and looked at her with a surprised frown.
She clearly looked disgusted. And what was even more surprising, was that her disgust was for ME!
The heart throb of Calcutta, the one who made even teachers fall for him in his college days, who gave women sleepless nights with his simple smirk, who made the entire city dance on his finger tips with a husky 'hello' was used to all kind of reactions besides disgust!
I looked at her with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out her identity. Who was she! I thought with curiosity.
One thing was clear and that was she being heartless. Because if she had a heart, she would have been on her toes by now, cheering for me! Just like the others.
I pressed my eyes even more to see her face clearly but all I could see was the silhouette of her frown which never seemed to leave her face.
"And that was amazing Dr.Chatterjee! Am sure you are the one taking two things home tonight! First the trophy and second the hearts of all the gorgeous ladies we have here!" The host of the most prestigious public speaking conclave of Calcutta, 'Baani: The Voice' came upto the stage and brought me out of my reverie.
I smiled radiantly at him and shook his hand and then got off the stage. The moment I got off, I was surrounded by people. To be precise, women. And between so many, who would remember that snobbish panelist who didn't even bother to clap for me. I soon found myself getting lost between them and responding to their compliments with small pecks on their wrists.
"Thank you for joining us tonight! It surely was a beautiful evening with many inspiring speeches and motivational stories! Now it's time we announce our winners! You have already met our judges at the beginning of the show but the contestants didn't. So here's reintroducing our very talented panel of judges! To the extreme left, we have, the author known for his wit, Mr. Sourav Rai! Beside him is the very noble politician, Mr. Barun Bose! Next is, the very charming actor, Mr. Kaushik Bagchi! And lastly we have, the first lady of this panel, the very young, the very beautiful, Ms.Mishti Khanna!"
Mishti Khanna.
Hmm. I sighed sadly.
That was her name. That name never really left me though she left me years back.
Why is it that all the Mishtis I meet in my life turn out to be so bitter! I smiled bitterly hearing the name.
I looked up from the crowd of women to look at the lady who had had caught my attention on stage. How funny? The woman who was so glim was named Mishti out of everything! Irony much! Maybe, her parents knew their daughter would grow up to be a grumpy individual so they thought of adding some 'sweetness' in her life by naming her 'Mishti'. I chuckled remembering how this was the same joke I had cracked on my first meeting with Mishti.
I tried to take a better look at her. But she was still invisible in the crowd of so many!
"Since Ms.Khanna is the youngest panelist in the history of 'Baani- The Voice' and also the only lady panelist we have had so far in the last 20 years, I would like to take the privilege of inviting her on stage to announce the name of the winner of the 20th edition of Baani." The host chimed in.
Everybody clapped while a lady with perfect curves, intricately woven bun with a few white flowers tucked in neatly and escatic, embroidered white saree with high neck, full sleeves blouse walked up the stage. I could see her back while she was walking up the stairs and was eagerly waiting for her to turn around. Something about her made me very curious to see her face. It felt as though I would see someone familiar in her. My heart fluttered for a second seeing the outline of her side face while she bent a little to prevent her saree from getting entangled in the stair edges but my brain quickly hushed my stupid heart from going into that direction.
While she was walking up the stairs, I could hear something else as well. Well a lot of things actually.
Murmurs and Gossips.
"Isn't she a 'she'?! How can a 'she' judge so many educated 'he's?" A lady beside me whispered to another.
"I think she is the fiance of the president of the core committee, that's why she is in the panel." Someone else said.
"But no matter what, she is talented. Have you read her daily columns in the Calcutta Times? She is fire!"
My friend, Aranya whispered in my left ear.
"That I don't know, but with the view in front of me, I can clearly say she is fire! Very tempting indeed!"
Arjun, my another friend, whispered in my right ear from behind earning a stern look from both me and Aranya.
"Shs, shut up now! She is about to turn."
I said hushing the two eligible men behind me.
And she turned.
The only yellow stage light in the dark auditorium fell on her face directly, making her glow like a dimly lit moon in a dark night sky.
I looked at her.
And I felt as though time stopped.
My heart stopped.
It skipped a beat. And then another beat.
It was her. Her.
I gasped seeing her. My face got devoid of any kind of emotion. It was not just any other Mishti. She was my Mishti. My Mishti.
I mentally hit myself at my stupidity. Ofcourse it had to be her! Who else could ignore The Ronobir Chatterjee so royally.
It had happened 5 years back. It was happening 5 years later, all over again.
Only she had the audacity of demeaning my charm, or should I say, only she had the right to demean my charm.
I looked at her intently as she took the microphone in her hand and began speaking.
"Nomoshkar"
And she looked at me. Directly.
And that's all it took for me to break the walls I had built all these years around me to protect myself from love.
I fell. Again. All over again.
Hearing just one word, stealing just one glance, I fell. Harder than the last time. All those beautiful times we had spent together came back. Rushing back. The banters, the love, the heart break. Everything. I closed my eyes and sighed.
The casanova of Calcutta was once again fettered. Fettered in love and this was anything but good news.
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A/N: A crossover in Kolkata! All the hype around kolkata in the past two days made me do this! And Ronobir Chatterjee is a character very close to my heart. So, let's see how this turns out to be! I am extremely grateful with all the love you have showered upon my previous works! Hope you all shower this one with the same amount of love!
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