Anirudh- The Story Of A Misread Barrister

Chapter-96: The Poisonous Scandal

The incidents of the scandal flashed before me as I began to feel the pain of that raw wound again.

The evening when I started from Krishnanagar to Tulsipur, I first met Subash before going home and learnt everything about what happened in my absence.

"Senior! I am glad that you came back at the right time.", Subash cried in relief, on seeing me.

"Things have gone out of control in your absence.", he began to say, "Bondita Bhojanalay has been sealed for serving poisoned food and the police arrested Shyam kaka, Radha kaki and Latha."

Latha is an abandoned woman who sought shelter in our shelter home 'Maa'. Since Shyam kaka and Radha kaki have aged, I assigned Latha the duty of helping them with food preparation and maintenance of our Bhojanalay, thereby also providing her with an opportunity to earn her livelihood.

The news shook me to the core. Hundreds of questions popped up in my head leaving me numb for a while.

"Any loss of....life?", I anxiously enquired.

"So far no deaths have been reported but doctor Somnath says many of them are critical."

I held my head in exasperation, feeling so helpless, defeated and most importantly guilty. Guilty for the fact that many people were battling with death by eating the food from our food centre which is in the name of my Bondita.

When I started it, I prayed to Durga ma to give me the capacity to satiate the hunger of as many people as I can, and in return immensely bless my Bondita. Now my heart broke thinking about the curses and abuses that must have come from the victims and their families towards us.

As soon as I heard about it, apparently I said prayers for the victims and their long lives. Then my thoughts went to the old couple and Latha who were held responsible for the whole thing. I trust them thoroughly because I have known them for a decade. Although Latha joined much later, she is a nice girl too. Why would she poison the food which was providing her with livelihood?

Besides, the thought of Latha in jail made me fear about her safety as I didn't trust the English police. It's not that everyone is a pervert, but there's a high possibility for a man to show his ugly side when he comes across a lonely helpless woman. It is not just the English police but I didn't trust the society on the whole in this matter.

"Did you try for the bail?", I worriedly asked.

"Yes; they are out now."

This made me breathe a sigh of relief.

"Is Latha fine?"

"Don't worry; she is fine but obviously sad about the whole thing. All three of them are too much petrified due to the accusation. Also, they are guilty that such a mishap took place under their supervision."

"Subash, in the last decade not even once I heard about food getting stale in Bondita Bhojanalay; poisoning is something beyond question."

"I know, whatever happened is very unfortunate.", he commented.

"So, is this the reason my Bondita is cursed without any fault of hers? Just because the food centre is named after her..?", I asked, as a tear drop rolled down my cheek.

Subash nodded apologetically while I asked him to narrate the whole incident with every small detail.

"That day I went to Roy Chowdhary haweli to meet your family and see if everything is fine, before sending you a telegram. To my surprise, Bondita mam's thakuma and brother-in-law along with some elders of their village also came with the marriage proposal.