Anirudh- The Story Of A Misread Barrister

Chapter-73: Chaos in the kitchen.... when 'sondesh' carries a message

Mrs.Kali had suggested me to pick up a flower at the feet of Durga ma and give it to Bondita while proposing. Acting according to her instructions, I picked up a rose from the altar and walked towards the kitchen. As a matter of fact, Bondita was not alone there, but in the company of two other people. One was Kamala, the cook and the other was Bisnu kaka, her aged father who worked as the househelp. Bondita was flattening the dough balls to make luchis while merrily chattering with the father-daughter duo. It seems she had made friends with them already. "Anyway, how am I to speak to Bondita in private?", I thought.

I knocked the door thrice as per our code, asking for water, hoping that Bondita would understand the cue, but in vain. The elderly man appeared before me with a glass in less than a minute.

"Why are you taking the trouble? My wife should've brought it for me.", I said.

The cheerful man with a wide smile assured, "No sir, I don't have any trouble. You're our guest and it's our duty to serve you. We are strictly instructed by our madam to take good care of you two. However, your kind-hearted wife is insisting on helping us. She is a lovely child who is being affectionate and respectful even towards these poor souls, just like our madam."

"Indeed, she is loving. But, kaka, rich or poor, everyone deserves respect and affection", I said, feeling proud about my 'wife'.

"What? You called me kaka too? This is enough for this poor soul to rejoice.", he said throwing his hands up in joy. I smiled and accepted the water he brought. While I lifted the glass to drink, I saw Bondita peeping at me amidst her work. I raised my brows asking her what the matter was. She moved her head horizontally. I pouted my lower lip and gestured her to come with me for a few minutes. This time she moved her head quickly from left to right, thereby denying my request outright. I pleaded again with my fingers this time and she showed the flattened piece of dough indicating that she needs to cook.

I heaved a sigh of despair and nodded, agreeing to wait until she was done with her cooking. Meanwhile, my eyes fell on the coconuts that were kept in a basket. The sight brought the memory of our coco –phone and my eyes sparkled. I stepped inside the kitchen, not knowing the reason for standing at the threshold for so long. Even before anyone could waste my time with questions, I broke a coconut in haste, spilling its water on the floor and earning a hopeless look from Bondita. In an instant, my hands went to hold my ears to apologise.

Anyway, I didn't stop with that. I went on to separate the flesh of the coconut from its shell, in the process of which I pierced my hand with the knife and let out a loud painful cry. Bondita sprinted towards me anxiously. The wound was undoubtedly mine but pain was gifted to her. She burst into tears and went about aimlessly searching for the bottle of turmeric here and there, as she didn't know the exact location. "Someone please give me turmeric quickly.", she cried.

Kamla handed the box to Bondita who came running towards me and applied the powder on my wound. "What were you doing?", she asked angrily amidst her sobs.

"Trying to make our coco phone."

"You could've asked me or someone to get you the coconut shells".

"Didn't I ask you to come with me for some time?". Her eye lids drooped as she sniffled.

"I was the one to be wounded but you seem to be the sufferer, why?" I asked, thinking that she would straight away say 'because I love you'. But she became furious and seriously questioned, "Don't you know?".

"Wait, I will show you.", said she, taking the knife and getting ready to pierce her own palm. I was utterly shocked at this and quickly snatched away the knife from her hands.