Anirudh- The Story Of A Misread Barrister

Epilogue

It had been a week since our ashirbad ceremony, which meant we were officially engaged now. It also meant, we weren't supposed to see each other until the wedding which was due after a week. Despite all the restrictions, I managed to find ways to keep in touch with Bondita. For which, I insisted staying in the Krishnanagar house, in spite of the resistance from kaka and thakuma.

I spoke in legal terms about how no one has the right to drive me away from my own house and so on. And they were left with no other option but to give up. However, the elders appointed sentinels on either side to prevent us from meeting. On the bride's side this duty was bestowed to Tapur, Tupur and Sumati maa; while on my end, Somnath, Chandrachur and my children took the responsibility.

Baba, Kaka and thakuma on the other hand looked after the arrangements. They planned a very grand event by involving the two villages. This time I didn't oppose; because I was too happy, genuinely, after years of doubt, guilt and yearning. Finally, I was going to marry my Bondita who was not the innocent and fragile child, but a complete woman who had chosen me with all her heart.

Although the separation was tormenting, there was a strange kind of thrill and excitement in having your beloved within your vicinity yet not being able to reach her. There's a beauty in waiting, which we were getting to experience. Perhaps, these traditions were made with a noble intention of testing one's mental strength, patience and heighten one's desire to have the other person in their life.

Still, I had promised myself to break the rules and meet Bondita every day, because I found those secret escapades even more thrilling. I suddenly felt the need to have wholesome fun in my bland life, especially after our Romeo - Juliet moment, our first kiss. It was a moment I would cherish my entire life. We literally burst into tears after the kiss and stood in each other's embrace for a long time before dispersing.

The kiss made me bolder, breaking the walls of my restraint. Whereas for Bondita, it made her timid, to an extent that she stopped meeting my eyes as much as she can. I noticed that she secretly watched me through the corner of her eyes, or directly, when she thought I wasn't seeing her. I would laugh quietly at this.

This new nuance of our love redefined our relationship, putting it in a new light, by erasing all the past memories of childishness and inappropriateness. It had transformed our relation into a romantic one from platonic. Now there's no doubt that I need her in every way like a husband would need his wife. And so did she.

I would throw paper rockets into her balcony with sweet nothings written. Her aim was not up to the mark. So, she wouldn't risk flying rockets but send her replies cleverly through children. Sometimes she deliberately delayed the replies to torture me, avenging all my past errors. Well, I enjoyed that too.

We kept the secrecy of our conversations by using English as the medium. In her house she was the only one to know English and hence the risk was less anyway. But on my side, there was Som and Chandrachur who could read both English and Bengali.

Whenever I would plan something to approach Bondita, the two boys would raise their brows, placing their hands on my shoulders. And I could do nothing but sink into my study chair with a book. But who were they dealing with? - barrister Anirudh Roy Chowdhary. I made settlements by showing some incentives.

I promised Chandrachur to arrange for his romantic trysts with Tupur. And for Som, I promised to find a suitable partner. This same promise I had to reiterate to Tapur when she bumped into me on my way to sneaking into Bondita's room.

"Jomoi babu...this is too unfair."
" Every (good) thing is fair in love and war, dear sister-in-law. Anyway, don't you want us to cooperate when your time comes?"