"Nomoshkar."
Mishti folded her hands and greeted everybody in a confident voice.
(A/N: The following speech of Mishti Khanna is being delivered in Bengali completely. But it is written in its translated version to make it easier for the readers to understand)
"I am not a bengali but I speak bengali more than an average person here."
She said with a sarcastic smile.
"Does she know you or what?"
Aranya whispered with a mischievous smile.
I turned to give him a stern look.
"No I mean, the way that line seemed to be directed at you-!"
He shrugged with a tight lipped expression.
I rolled my eyes at him, gesturing him to silence his over enthusiastic self and turned to look at her.
But, ouch.
That did hurt.
That taunt did hit exactly where she wanted it to.
The person who was just a few minutes back speaking so greatly of bangla and Calcutta barely spoke in it or about it in his real life.
I mean, I have nothing against Bangla and Calcutta but who would want to speak of it when you could always drool over England and throw around attitude with a few curse words of English.
And she knew it. She knew me too well to see through the nation lover act I had pulled off a few minutes back.
Seeing the look she had when she said it, I knew tonight was going to be a memorable one. Just not in my favour, but definitely a memorable one.
Afterall, it's not everyday that Dr.Ronobir Chatterjee is degraded, that too openly.
I shrugged away the stinging pain caused by her taunt and focused on what she was saying, like always.
"We had many great speakers here today. Some spoke about Tagore and his contribution to bengali literature, some drew similarities between Calcutta and New York, which was quite surprising and funny honestly, some tried to play with emotions and stressed over 'pithe-payesh-puli' (trans.bengali sweets) and some, some hopeless speakers thought a wink would make them win."
There came another one.
Another arrow piercing my heart.
This girl was on a mission of making me regret my entire existence. And she was surely succeeding in it.
"Shut up! We loved Karan's wink!"
A girl among the audience shouted and many girls joined her into saying a loud
'YES'.
My friends laughed meekly behind while I just looked down in embarrassment because I knew what was coming next. These girls had no clue what 'Mishti Khanna' was!
"You surely did! But there is a reason why you are there, below the stage, in darkness and I am here, amongst one of the panelist sweetheart."
She said with extremely fake sweetness making the girl who spoke want to just vanish from there.
Well, that was Mishti Khanna.
Satire wasn't a part of her. She was
The Satire.
"So, it seems as if more than words, people's looks matter to today's audience. Sad. Very sad. I wonder what all the greatest leaders of Calcutta of all times must be thinking seeing at its future! If this is what the future of Calcutta looks like then atleast I wouldn't like to be a part of it."
She took a pause. The atmosphere had intensified already. The ones who had questioned her credibility at the beginning were now listening to her, eagerly. That was her aura. Her charm.
In all these years, one thing remained constant in her besides her satire. And that was her hypnotizing charisma.
I looked at her intently, not at all worried about the taunts that were yet to be directed at me because no matter how 'chivalrous' and 'casanova-like' I pretended to be, I knew I deserved everything she said. Especially after what I had done then. Especially after all that I had done in the past years.
"Ladies and gentlemen, understand, 'Baani' is not just a random college fest where all you want to do is win the trophy! This is one of the most prestigious speaking conclaves where you should speak with a desire to move people listening to you with your ideas, words and passion. The winner of today's speaking conclave was supposed to get featured on the Calcutta Times with the speech he delivered tonight along with a few other questions asked by me, personally after this felicitation ceremony.
Tomorrow's Calcutta was supposed to hear what the youth has got to say about this city! Do you realise the magnanimity of this event? I guess not. That's why with half hearted, broken bengali sentences here and there somewhere in their long, absolutely rubbish speeches that too completely in English, we had contestants gushing over themselves.
I mean, just think about the irony. You are speaking about bangla and Calcutta, in what? English! How much more pathetic could these contestants even get!"
She asked a rhetoric with a laugh in disbelief.
"She definitely is one of your exes. I am telling you!"
Arjun whispered in my ears with a controlled laughter.
"Rono, you are gone today!"
Aranya exclaimed with fake concern, suppressing his laugh but failing in doing so miserable.
"Shut up, you two!" I eyed at them.
The only person to speak in English that night was me. I had thought that doing so would create a good impression on the panelists but I had forgotten that life happens when you're busy making other plans. And Mishti was that life for me. My lifeline then, but nothing more than a bitter life now.
I could feel my cheeks getting flushed when I saw a lot of stares at me. It seemed as though the spell of my sharp features and flirtatious smile had worn off. People looked at me with eyes which ridiculed me. Not everyone, ofcourse, there were girls who were still extremely stupid to get the blunder I had done, but many gave me those looks which I had never ever received from anybody other than the person ridiculing me on stage.
"But but but, like every mango you bought can't be rotten, there were a few good ones too! Speeches which focused not just on the literary aspect of Calcutta and the Bengali culture but also talked about the economic growth of Calcutta, the political atmosphere of this city, the potential solutions to some existing crises of today's times and ofcourse, the future of the industries which are being built now.
These were the topics which not just me, but all the panelists wanted you all to focus on. But only when someone's focus shifts from 'HOW he looks' to 'WHAT he says' can we expect a meaningful speech from him."
Okay, that was pretty direct.
The last line of hers made me regret my entire existence on this planet.
Every action of mine came rushing back to me. And surprisingly she didn't even dig into my past. She said nothing about my character. She only said a few, though heartbreaking, but only a few things about my that night's performance. That's all. But those three back to back digs which she took at me made me reflect back on my journey.
Was I that bad?
I questioned.
Perhaps.
Otherwise someone, who was so empathetic towards everybody from always, why would that person hate me so much.
But she didn't know the truth.
Didn't know what happened after she left.
I wasn't the same person I was five years back.
Her going away had changed me internally. I didn't show it then, neither did I show it anywhere after that but I had indeed changed.
I myself had been living in denial for the longest. The 'casanovic' image was so deeply ingrained in my mind that I couldn't recognize my own real self.
The occasional flings, the flirtatious lines, the rumours, all of them were just a result of the conflict I had been having with my real self and portrayed self after she left. But when I did find my true self, it was too late. I had already created an image of mine unintentionally which I couldn't change no matter what.
I had no where been involved after a wave of realization regarding my true self hit me.
But the rumours said I perhaps had a dozen of girls impregnated with my sperms.
Funny right?
But to me, it was anything but funny.
I might have been a people's pleaser, a ladies man from always, but just because I smile at them and enjoy the attention they give me, doesn't mean I I around sleeping with all of them.
Everyone believed that I had a lot of girls in my kitty. But if I ask them to name just one, they would all go silent.
Absolutely silent.
And that's because these are nothing but baseless rumors! Rumours which others enjoyed but I despised.
She must have believed them. Like everybody else, she must have too. But I couldn't really blame her, could I? The man she left was very well capable of doing everything the rumours said. Everything.
I signed in bitterness while she continued with her speech.
"Anyway, if I go on and on regarding my disappointments of today's event then I shall perhaps be forced out of this auditorium by some well built guards for insulting some abled men we have amongst us tonight."
She joked and everyone laughed while I just smiled bitterly realising that the joke was on me.
"So here's the moment for which all of you had been waiting with awaited breaths. It's time to announce the winner of the 20th edition of 'Bani-The Voice'. So please put your hands together for someone who had moved the entire panel with his speech, the very talented, the one taking home the trophy tonight, Mr.Naren Saha!"
Silence fell over the audience.But it was only for a few seconds before everyone joined in clapping.
Being silent was their instinctive behavior as they had initially thought that only charm gets home both girls and awards. But her words had moved them. She perhaps had made them realise the true value of talent. She, Mishti Khanna, her words had the effect which my wink and words of love could never match.
Naren.
I chuckled seeing him get on stage.
The one who had written my speech was the one lifting the trophy.
This was the real irony. I had forgotten how he too was contesting for this and how I had snatched his speech from him at the last moment and ruined it completely with my unnecessary and forced charisma.
God has his own way of giving it back to people.
Her many years old words echoed in my ears.
I was flawed. There was no doubt in it. But not the way most people assumed. I was flawed because I had a superiority complex which was unchangeable. I was always made to believe that I was above all and that's why I did look down upon people. I had gained some control over it when she was there with me but once she left, I left some good habits like I left some bad ones too.
I wasn't a heartless man, but I was an arrogant person.
I wasn't a womanizer, but I was a flirt.
I wasn't ashamed of Calcutta, but I was inclined towards England.
I wasn't a self centered person, but I did love myself.
My friends kept their hands on my shoulders to reassure me that everything was fine and it was just a petty competition.
I smiled at them and assured them that I was fine and then looked at the stage, clapping.
I saw Naren waiting impatiently to receive the trophy while Mishti waved at somebody in the wings.
I tried to peek into the curtains by standing on my toes but I couldn't make out who it was.
Just then, Mishti took the mic and began speaking again and I shifted my gaze at her.
"I think it's not fair for someone as young as me to present such a prestigious award to tonight's winner. I will wait for a few more years, gain some more experience and only then will I do the honours." She said with a smile.
Humility. Something which she had and I lacked. There was so much she tried to teach me but my stupid past self failed her everytime. Every damn time. I clenched my fists and regretted not listening to her then. If I would have listened to her, life would have been different. Besides everything, she would have been in it. With me. Today. This time.
"So, I shall now request, the president of the core committee of 'Bani-The voice', Mr. Ujjan Rai to kindly present our winner with the prestigious winner's award." She announced with an ear to ear smile.
There walked in, a well built, fairly handsome, tall man, probably in his early 30s with all his glory. But instead of stopping to present the award, he walked past Naren and stood near Mishti. He then engulfed her in a side hug with one of his arms and made her hold the trophy alongside him with the other. She looked at him and smiled lovingly before presenting the award to Naren together with the man whom most suspected to be the love of her life.
So all the rumours doing rounds of this auditorium weren't false actually.
Some were true.
Some were definitely too.
Right person, wrong time.
That day I understood what this line meant. We were the perfect match. Perfect! Its just that we met at the wrong time and that's why we fell apart.
I smiled hysterically at my fate and looked at the happy duo chatting away with Naren and the other panelists with a hevay heart.
You deserve it Rono.
For all the hearts you have broken in this life, your heart was meant to be broken most ruthlessly.
I sighed and turned around wiping a tear drop rolling down my cheek.
I'll be a better person in next life Mishti.
A person who would deserve you.
But in this life, we are better apart.
Better apart.
Thinking this to myself, I left the auditorium, leaving my past who could have been my present and future behind. Forever.
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A/N: I know it's been a very long time! Sorry for the delay! And I also know this chapter was not worth the wait. Extremely sorry for that too.
But this story too has a happy ending. It is just not the usual, conventional happy ending. Sometimes, separating your paths is for the best.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers!
