Anirudh- The Story Of A Misread Barrister

Chapter-104: An unexpected date

(Read with patience.)

"Sakha babu, please....", she sang like a kid but I didn't give in to her trick.

"I am not going to do what you're asking.", I adamantly stood on my ground, getting very irritated.

She came closer to me, staring straight into my eyes with a flicker of romance in those mischievous eyes of hers and called me "Pati babu...", in the sweetest way possible.

Her call stirred something so deep inside my heart that it melted like a snowcap exposed to the warmth of delicate sunrays. For the first time, the word 'pati babu' did something strange, apart from merely reminding me of my responsibilities. It raised my body temperature; which is definitely a sign of the shift in our relationship from platonic to romantic. And there I gave in.

I pulled her closer, gently locking my arms around her elegant figure and crooned lovingly, "You want me to do this?"

Clasping my shirt with her soft hands, she nodded, feeling bashful due to our closeness and the heat of the moment.

"Okay, as you say.", I pecked her forehead reassuringly and agreed to take Chandrachur on a co-brothers' date. Well, not exactly a date, but Bondita wanted me to take a class to Chandrachur, apparently to change his mind. In my opinion, some demons won't leave the body with words. They rather listen to the stiffness of cane sticks. When I tried to explain Bondita the same, she reminded me of our primary goal; that is, to eliminate differences with reasoning (Tark se fark mitana).

She is right. That is our mission. But will Chandrachur change? Only God knows. Yet, I should not give up without trying. If I do so, I will be setting a bad example to my student who followed my every movement diligently and learnt. Besides, my reluctance was not because I lost hope in tark, but my dislike for Chandrachur. And I have so many reasons to dislike him. Still, I thought of trying; for the sake of our mission, for Tupur, and to keep Bondita's trust.

Bondita's conviction was that if I have a brotherly dialogue with Chandrachur about good and bad, he will change for the better.
When I asked how she is so confident about Chandrachur, she gave me an answer which twisted the strings of my heart and made me emotional. She exactly said, "Who is Chandrachur to gain my confidence? I am confident about my sakha babu who can change the worst situations into the best, turn curses into boons and bring about a positive change in the most negative people. My life is an example of your capability, my sakha babu. The social evils you fought with so far are the testimonials."
If my Bondita trusts me so much, then it inevitably becomes my responsibility to live up to her trust, even if it meant to unite the earth and the sky.

This method of 'changing people' was anyway not happening for the first time. It is a general practice. When some issues arise within families, the people responsible for those are counselled by other members of the family, the Panchayat and elders in the village. So, I thought I too can do it and sincerely expected positive outcome for the benefit of Tupur.

I sat in the study room of my new house in Krishnanagar, reading a book, when Chandrachur arrived with a box of sweets. I was already informed about this by Bondita, when she heard Chandrachur telling thakuma about his idea to meet me again and thank or apologize or whatever. So, Bondita wanted me to take this opportunity to give him a piece of my mind.

"Nomoshkor Anirudh babu", he greeted with a warm smile, which I never saw him doing before. I too reciprocated his gesture with a soft smile, trying to be as sincere as possible, while enquiring, "Nomoshkor! How are you doing Chandrachur babu?"

"Doing well", he added in a restrained tone, "with your grace".

"It's my duty towards my profession and nothing more.", I asserted, turning down the formality.