--------------------------------------------------------------------Uddalak banerjee(UBJ)
Note: All characters of the story are purely fictional and are created in the mind of Uddalak Banerjee . If ever any character finds similarity with any other person or character. The same will be taken as purely coincidental.
“Tick tick tick tick tick……great background music for a great Monday morning in a great newspaper like The Statesman .”,short and orexic man sitting at the desk third from the editors desk mused .Well there was a quite a crowd for a Monday morning.People from all walks of life have crowded the office today .Each of them have a different purpose to their coming .Some have their husbands missing ,some daughters,some have come just to give some news of any new occurance in their schools,some have come just pay money to have their name in the matrimonials seeking applications from eligible women and men as the case may be.“you are being called by boss ,mr uddalak”,pintu ,the new peon came and reported.”dushh!not again”,said uddalak.Rajiv ,my fellow journalist smirked ,”Boss really loves you ,he can’t live a day without calling you ..SEE!!!(smiles)”.”ya !ya! I know “,uddalak said.Pintu,who was standing across the table all this while glancing for some movement on uddalak’s part,hesitantly putting up a straight face,”BOSS is waiting ! he told you to meet him .You should go fast .He is not in a good mood”.Uddalak silently said “ya I know he is truly a busy man indeed!” but his voice was lost in the typing noises which have gradually increased in pace and noise on their own without much of notice.
“Yes !MR banerjee ..so kind of you to carry your devine self on to my office !!First of all a big thank you for taking so much pains to be here after absenting yourself for straight 3 days without any prior notice.Amazing is your workculture!I asked you to get news on the sweta khare murder case .So where is the news??”,editor Mr Mehta asked.”Do you think this is the culture of our news daily? Is this the way we have won the Economic Times best crime reporting award for the straight third year??”,gruntled the pentagenerian editor,”The day I hired you I had a lot of hopes on you .I saw a gleam in your eyes ,the desire to succeed ,to be the first to get to the news and bring it on to me .But I am sorry to say I think today the newspaper would be better off without people like you .So I think you need not come from tomorrow.”.”NO Sir ! please sir! Sir I brought the news but it was just a touch late maybe! I submitted the news today at the very first hour !you can ask priya ,suman ,anyone”,came the first real resistance from the otherwise nonchalant young jeornalist. “Kid you are a reporter not a lay reader!you must know the difference between news of yesterday and today !For a reporter every second counts .The news was telecasted yesterday and was taken out by The hindu in yesterday afternoon daily itself.It was Rajiv who brought the news while you were sleeping.And you could have had the news from there itself .What you reported today is worth 9 pennies and nothing more.IN todays world of competition and you are living in “Once upon a time “’s world.Jeornalism is not your cup of tea my boy ,go home and rest.And it is best you chose a separate profession.”,replied the authoritarian editor.”But sir I brought you the original conversation of Rajiv Khare ,her husband .It took me some time to catch up to him .He was in Goa .I had to go to Goa and in the transit I lost 2 days.I had to ferret out his hiding too.SO it took time.”,uddalak defended.”what??You were at Goa?Why did u not inform me before that ?We have already two jeornalists there Ratan and Samir ,they could have easily taken over!Anyways the news have been got and printed way before you reported and hence as has been the newspapers policy “best survive and rest are shown the door!So from tomorrow you are just a supernumerary that’s all.Bye and do collect your remaining PF and gratuity from the cash counter I had already instructed Rohini to get you that .As you go out do me a final favour Please call in Mr Ronald who is waiting outside .I really donot have time.”Uddalak knew it was useless to quarrel to the” Rock of gibralter”(as other staff call him) so he just silently made his way out of editors office.”hey!what happened?”,asked Rajiv standing up from his desk as I collected my papers bemusedly and rose to go.”He fired me !”.The moment I let out the word ,the clock of the office came to stop and every body in shock began to give their resultant reactions .Mr Mishra in my left desk stood up saying”What? How ?why?”.Uddalak did not reply much ,he just said “you know!”.”So where will you go now?”,asked Rajiv generating some enthusiasm.”May be I will go back home to my village.”,came Uddalak’s final reply.
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In the mean time at 26/3 parkstreet ,Kolkata at Mehta resisdence the day has brought with it its regular share of pestilential rummage.”BRING out the car I said !Just bring out the car .Hareram Singh just bring out the Car !I want to go to the party it begins at 12 it is already 10:35 and it will take some time to reach Maya’s house.My friends are coming .I wont wait here !IF you don’t bring the car out I will show you my daily dose of cup plate show again today .Remember this ..”,EJ emerged from the dinning room and strolled straight through the garden to the garage.”I want my santro !now!”,she screamed as the cortege followed blindfolded,”Are you all fools ,god damn it ! Seventeen servents and cant handle a car!!!All fools ,you should all be hanged…..Wait I will get all of you out today.I am calling daddy and you Hareram Singh it is your last day here .I will tell dad that you had stolen money from his wallet which he left in the car ”.”Madam please! I am poor person .the key of the car is with your father .We can’t do much .It is his instruction that I should not let you go out today .”,hareram Singh replied.”huh!(breath) okay we will see who goes to the party..”(picks up the cup and throws it straight at hareram Singh ).Well it missed but narrowly but unrelented EJ picked up the second cup and throws it again at Hareram Singh and misses again.And this process continues until about four pairs of cups and dishes were destroyed.Some even had traces of tea which had been served to the four garage attendents just a few minutes back.Hareram Singh using his previous experience and an uncharacteristic agility even in his upper sixties did manage to dodge past these cups and dishes with great precision although the lastone was rather close to hitting his forehead he managed to swerve it too.It was strict orders from Boman Mehta that under no circumstance should EJ be allowed to leave the residence today because today was the day when Mr Chautala and his son was about to come to see her.Mr CHauntala was a child hood friend of Mr BOman Mehta ,he had just completed an engineering degree from University of Prinston and is returning with a job at Deutsh Bank with a pay package of 17 lakhs p.a..Well as such Mr Chautala’s son Sailesh was rather formal and good looking too but he lacked any variety something that EJ hated and hence even after knowing that her father had an inherent desire to make him his son-in-law she liked to dodge him.Last time when Sailesh had been to India he visited to Ej’s house and said,”I have brought a diamond ruby just for you .People say who ever wears the ruby become his who had gifted it .”.To this Ej replied ,”hmm.nice diamond ruby but it’s sides are bent .I would rather have a ruby whose sides are not bent .By the way ,It is looking rather light too.I need something heavier.”.Sailesh said,”Ok!I would have u another one”.This time when Sailesh came back from America he brought it with him to EJ’s house and gave it to her infront of her father .Well this was perhaps not the most ideal and romantic way to give a ruby to your fiancée but Sailesh very well knew that Ej had a bybirth inclination to throw things which ever she found within close range whenever she gets angry and the only safety one can do with is her father .Ej respected her father and wont do anything silly infront of him.Ej was motherless from her very birth and hence could not have ever run the risk of making him angry.So atleast she used to try to be civilized when infront of her father.
At about 2 o clock ,her father came back home.The moment the gate was opened and the gatekeepers saluted.Ej knew it was her father who is entering the courtyard.She from child hood had this ability to sense her father’s arrival.She knew what sound his car made ,what noise his boots made when walking ….everything.She had always been her daddy’s girl but today her hatred for Sailesh was way to greater than her love for Daddy.The moment Her daddy entered the house he found a heap of broken plates and utensils lying all around at the vestibule,at the dining room ,at the hallaway .everywhere.The moment he saw the broken cups in the vestibule he knew what had happened.”Ramsingh..Hareramsingh…where have u all gone?”and then continued thirty servents and one girl and still you all cannot tame her ???Are you all nuts Or do I not feed you well ?Yes HareramSingh you were saying something on phone..what was it ?”.HareramSIngh was the chief of sorts of the cortege of servents that Mr Boman Mehta afforded.He was once a sweeper but that was thirty five years back now he was the chief and the most revered and old servent of the house.”Master I told you that Our Ej is not ready to listen and was demanding for her santro.I told her that you have the keys but she was not ready to listen and…”.”hmm! fools really ..where is she ?Does she not know that there are people who will come to see her tonight and does she not know that if they see this how bad my reputation would be?”.”foolish girl!”,exclaimed Mehta to himself.
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In the Howrah Station,the crowd was in a rush as usual as Uddalak finally boarded a train for Patna at 4 pm in the evening.The trains name was Janshatabdi express and it was full of daily passengers who were discussing their days work with each other as they returned back to their homes.As such there was no ticket cheque before kharagpur so Uddalak was affording a nap as he sat drolling after a frustrated days work.Uddalak had always liked to sleep when in train,it someways used to remind him of the days of his youth when his mother used to sing sweet nothings and putting him on her lap used to move her legs gently as the moon used to peep and gently fall on his face.Those were the real days he thought.Then suddenly came a big jurk from the side.Half asleep Uddalak replied,”there is no space for one more ..”.
And again fell to sleep but soon as the stations started to pass silently he silently felt someone elses weight falling on his neck.”don’t push I will fall!”,he said petulantly.”Sorry! “,came the female voice.
Immediately by impulse uddalak opened his eyes and tried to figure out who see is.”Yes?”he asked groping for some answers.The woman turned her face saying “huh!”.Well with that “Huh!” his sleep had finally made a premature exit so in a way to strike a conversation uddalak said plaintively ,”So you areeeee “.“No one !!!mind your own business” ,bang came the answer.Then after five minutes of no talk suddenly the woman said”do you have some money .I have this chain of mine which is worth 500 dollars I can give it to you in 500 rupees only .I am in great need of money so …I am making this deal”.For the first time she looked at uddalak and the glimmer of her eyes the charm of her eyebrows and inherent style was so magical that it simply swept him out and for one instance he felt asif he was a lonely sailor in the deep sea lost and yet sailing in the deep blue sea all alone at the middle of the night.She wore a green saree and in one of the attaché bags letter “E” was inscribed and in the other letter “J”.Uddalak paused and trying to collect himself finally said,”but this is a copper chain with silver coating on it .IT will hardly cost thirty rupees may be..”.Ej became silent . The train passed Balichak station and the TT arrived chequeing tickets.”Ticket please Miss”,TT asked.”I left it ..wait a minute “,rushedly the woman started to browse through her two attaché bags which were rather big.”Sorry can’t get it ..where WIl l I have to go now?”.Uddalak was a mute spector of this TT episode sofar finally stepped to action.”This is her ticket and I in hurry have forgotten mine .This is the fine ..actually there was no time and so…”.The T.T smiled and looked at E.J and smilingly –“be careful sir from the next time ..these days rules have become rather strict sir.” The moment T.T left ,Ej said ,”what is your address? Give me in writing I will send you the money with interest.Ej doesnot keep anybodies loans or in that matter bunificience”.uddalak said ,”hmm! So what will u take tea or coffee?”.”tea!” ,bang came the petulant answer. “oye chaiwala do cup de panch wala …”,uddalak shouted at the tea seller who then stooped and gave away two cups of tea.”yakh !yakh!thu thu thu ..”,EJ threw the cup out through the windows,”is this tea ?is this potable?only animals should drink such a….”.uddalak said to himself “my five rupees!!!a waste”.
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In the mean time Kharagpur junction arrived and Uddalak alighted to have a newspaper ,the hindu afternoon edition.Surprisingly there was a big column in second page which read like –“a young woman in her twenties dressed in a green saree and having two attache bags with letters E and J have gone missing and anybody who gives her address would get 10 lakhs as award.”.The address for correspondence was given as –“12/3,balganghadhar street,parkstreet.” but no name of the applicant was given which made the advertisement bit fishy.”But considering that the news was put as a headline on second page of the hindu it would have easily cost around 7000-10000 rs for one day . Nobody would waste that amount of money to fool anyone for fun.“ well uddalak’s first reaction was to buy off all the newspapers in the shop and burn them so that no body else of that locality could get to know of her and hence obviously would not come in between.But here again he felt bad too for he had just began to like her and in the event of him handing her over there was very limited scope of getting to marry her.But then maybe his eroded sense of pragmatism driven home by his boss’s hammering in the morning brought about some late after effect and he decided to go for the prize first because he badly needed the money to have a press by himself and have his name established as a leading jeornalist and lastly but not leastly to get one up on Mehta ,his nemesis.
“So where are u going ?”Uddalak asked EJ.EJ’s repartee reply followed soon,”patna .”.”patna!! where in patna?Because I also live in Patna so I want to know..”.”Near jharbhumi patli bus stand”,came Ej’s answer.Taken aback by the name uddalak asked ”where? I have come to patna umpteen number of times never in my life had I heard such a name of place..”.”It is near mota hathi ke paet .Do you know now?”,EJ explained.”What !!!Sorry I think I cant get it..Ok anyways may I come with you to leave you to you house ..I think by ur expressions and the mode you are travelling in that is without any money ..i think you wont be able to go that far..anyways without some financial support ..”.Ej resisted initially but later relented thinking that if he does provide some money what harm can it possibly be.The train moved passed Jharkhand and then took a turn and finally reached Patna .Uddalak had no luggage as such just a carry bag hence he picked up EJ’s two attaché bags.They were heavy and really hard to move.Uddalak asked “What have u kept in these ?IS your uncle a manufacturer of bricks ..that u are taking samples with u”.Ej replied,”clothes that s all,that too not all just a few , my favourite ones .hence handle with care ..”.Uddalak said ,”Never miss those ha ?”.Ej said,”what do you mean?hey explain to me first ..”.Uddalak smiled and said ,“areee just joking .tell the cab the address where u want to go “.
IT was 12 at night and the cab continued to travel and search pillar to post for the jhar bhumi patli bus stand,which was practically inexistent.Even though the cab owner who was a man in his mid sixties born and brought up in patna itself finally gave up after three hours of travor search which spanned G.T road and national Highway 17 .IT was 3 at night and since at this time even most hotels at the central patna are closed finally they had to settle for a below standard hotel named “Paragon Queen” near the aditya pur bus stop.All this while uddalak was unsettled for the fact that there might be other competitors who may crop up soon to snatch the booty from him.Now the “Paragon hotel had a rule which was that anyone could come and stay at any hour of night but they have to family members “.The promulgation of this rule had been done to avoid the one night tryst s which has started to grow as an order in metro cities mostly and have passed the germ to cities like patna too.So having no other alternative and weighing all options they finally decided to play the drama of husband and wife and stay out for the night because firstly ,it would have been wholly impractical to go back to the railway station ,at this hour of night and secondly,to stay out in an unknown city like patna notorious for criminals and politicians would have been more foolishness.
At night they portioned the room into two halves and got the bed sheet in between the bed making them comfortable to sleep.However at the moment in the morning when the aucourant owner of the hotel came to ask for breakfast they made a brief exception by removing the bedsheet wall from between . But all this was uddalak’s plan Ej had to acquencise because there was no other plan or possibility.But waking up in the morning Ej was rather depressed .She was feeling as if she had committed a great crime and was penitent for it .INfact she thought that running away from home was a big mistake and then staying with a stranger like this was a bigger mistake.”Dad will never forgive me for this”, she thought.Well as always a late riser uddalak was fast asleep when Ej awoke and took her bath and then did a deep 2 hour analysis of her deeds uptil now.
With the morning light Ej had realized that the room was far from beautiful and at night it was not completely visible but now in light the half painted walls and stony or brick made skeleton was bluntly visible.And looking at uddalak EJ mused ,”well I donot know what exactly he is upto but yes he had been a fine guide and confidant in these strange lands.He is not that beautiful or charming as she might have wondered or dreamed of but yes he was pretty frank and served his purpose.I need to get to Maya ‘s house she thought .She would definitely not sacrifice her camouflauge.Maya had been her friend since school and both have a strong camaraderie and have always stood up for each other in school and later in college.Once in school when she did not bring her homework it was Maya who always gave her copy to the teacher just to keep her from crying which she used to out of rage on being insulted.Well,truth is that Ej was never a bright student ,she was moreover the pushover type and early loss of her mother had made her a bit hitlerian in temper ,her irrasible attitude however was not potent enough to bring a wall in the friendship that she and Maya so endearingly shared.Even the propositions that boys used to come up with to Ej used to get thoroughly discussed by Maya and Ej and they used to laugh over them.Apart from these Maya was also daughter of Mahinder Mungiwal one of the richest in business and a close confidant of Ej’s father .”.In the mean time ,the door knock was heard.Ej thought twice before pushing uddalak,she thought “should I! shouldn’t I!” but the macbethian conflict was soon resolved by the sudden knock again this time more severe and frantic .Uddalak rose up and removed the bedsheet and said ,”I am opening the door you sleep…..(opens the door)yes Sir ?good morning. “.”Good morning Sir ,would like to have tea or coffee ?bread with butter or jam?or anything else .Even nonveg is allowed if u wish so ..bread omlet?” came the sprouting replies from the owner.”No thanks said Uddalak (looking at Ej)” .”No I need a cup of coffee and some good quality jam and bread with some chocolates “, commanded Ej.The owner had kept a strict eye on them since they had come for in his experienced eyes the great contrast in behavior of the two was rather obvious.Although Uddalak had tried his best to avoid it by just saying ,“Sir this is our honeymoon ,cant you remember how it was for you .hmm?”.But still the owner a man in his sixties was old enough to see through wordplay .He laughed and said punitively “I had heard once that water and oil donot mix but here we find that the do mix after all.” and thereafter left for the kitchen.
It was a small hotel so it had only the owner and his wife to fulfill all the errands starting from cooking to room service.There is no news print here in Patna or even in all of Bihar .It had to imported from Kolkata so news takes time to reach here.But sixty year old had a sharp eye .HE read the news today in the morning and immediately matched the scenario,deep within he always knew that these two were just cannot be man and wife because from the distance that they maintained from each other it was quite amply evident.And worst of all the woman wore a green saree and two attaché bags as has been mentioned in todays newspaper.After reading the news itself he felt that well this is his day.He could sense the coins falling from the sky ten lakhs of them.
As Ej gobbled the food ,she had been hungry and uddalak just stood to see her gobble the food like a passionate gourmet.All though Ej was thin her passion for chocolates was intense.After paying off the bills uddalak asked Ej to go up and himself went to the nearby small vendor and ordered a bowl of tea and some rice and dal with some roti.Every thing was over by Rs 15 ,his daily quota for food for the day”.On returning back,Ej replied,”Don’t you think you are being little extra polite?hmm? I mean why should be with me to this hotel ,are u taking this as a chance ?I am me and I am independent and I don’t want to stay with u because u are nothing but useless .What bare would be your income ?Your clothes they stink and they are all old .I donot know how you live with them.Yakh! I am thinking of throwing them out.”.”hmm..”,came the only reply asif already assigned himself to fate.”what hmm.. you really are a funny guy ,how many more women have u done this with? This kind of extra gratitude ?”.”None..”,came the curt reply.Suddenly uddalaks eyes fell on the attaché bags they were in a sitting posture before they left room for breakfast and now they are standing.So uddalak asked ,”did you erect those attaché s of yours?”.”NO! I thought u did “,came Ej’s reply.It took no time for the yester years ace jeornalist to figure out what happened.He immediately told Ej ,”listen I have no interest to stay with you barring that your family members have given a ten lakh award on anyone who reports on you.And apart from that from what you said in the cab about your would be husband I believe he would be the ideal match for u and u should go back to your father and family.They are rich and will be able to keep you clean and beautiful which u really are ,tremendously beautiful.I wish that you should go back to your house yourself rather than by making someone else rich by 10 lakhs”.Ej was expecting some action from her fathers side but that this would be this drastic and fast even she could not imagine.She said,”ok so you don’t want me here .Isn’t it?Ok .I don’t stay at places where there is no value for me.I am going then .Thank you for the favours .”.”Wait! let me dress up too..you know husband and wife should not be alone you know ?(smiles)and this is a strange town with Biharis crowding up .You don’t even know their language and with the booty hanging on your head you could be an easy scrape goat.”,said uddalak.”so yet another favour !”,said Ej.”not really !there may be some booty for me at the end!!you never know .Every coin I invested may yield surprising dividends”,said uddalak with a wry smile.”We don’t marry out of our community !so you better be prepared for a gigantic loss.If profit is what u are running for.” Advised Ej.
They checked out of the hotel and inspite of vehement pleas from the owner who said they had already cooked the food for lunch and that would go a waste if they don’t stay on for lunch.But at heart of hearts even uddalak knew the reason.The owner had just given a call to the Editor of the hindu and by lunch time they might just be here.The howrah-patna mail arrives at 2 pm at patna .Uddalak knew it .
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Well considering that he had twelve thousand rupees cashed in from his benefits which a reporter is entitled to have when he is fired or about to leave by himself of which one thousand had already been spent in yesterdays odyssey.And knowing the hightastes of Ej ,uddalak had no other alternative but to take her to the nearest friend Arjun’s house.Well Arjun was married and is currently a working at PWD .He was childless and used to spend most of his time with children of the nearby orphanage.But they were best of best friends since college .”they had played together badminton ,tennis and cricket for their college and also been part of the core group whose motto was –“best way to clear an examination was cooperation from generation to generation”,uddalak mused and a dry smile passed the corners of his lips.
Although a surprise guest usually evokes a lot of resentment but the ties between uddalak and arjun was real strong and he was shocked to find uddalak come to his house with his wife of whom he had not been informed at all.Arjun’s initial reaction was vociferous as he opened the door finding uddalak ,”O my God !UBJ !great!!! Smita look whose here !”.His eyes fell on the sidereal volupterous pristine cherubic beauty.Restraining himself he looked back on Uddalak saying,”U got married!!!!! And u did not inform me !!o my God!”.uddalak trying to coverup had to say,”NO !yes ! no ! just don’t jump to conclusions as yet ..actually the situation was tense ……karni thi kissi aur ki shaadi akhir me hogayi meri shaadi ..kuch aisa hogaya last me ..actually.So could not inform actually infact mujhe khud nahi pata chala kab meri shaadi hogayi .This is a long drawn story I will tell you letter.”,then turning towards Smita saying ,”Bhabi can we have some fabulous snacks from you hand .Really missing those for years.Really feeling hungry.”.
As the story goes,Smita was a wonderful lady really kindhearted and she and arjun made a fine match but Smita had a brother too who was a detective story reader and had an inherent craze for detective stories and used to read newspapers allday long. His name was Sorabjeet.He was two time divorcee and had ever since lived his life taking himself as a detective.Now the moment these two stepped in their house Sorabjeet smelled fish.Starting from the dining table to their room he used to follow them like a spy.In the dining table however even Arjun felt that they may well be real life husband wife but they don’t look to be one.While Arjun shared the plate with his wife but they were far from it .Infact inorder to cover up for this uddalak did try to put some more curry in Ej’s plate but it ended up leading to flooring of the plate itself.in the end Ej understood the whole thing and she said ,”see your friend he cant even pour some curry into my plate.How will I be with him all my life I myself don’t know.All day long he just knows to look at my eyes.That’s it .No job no nothing just sit and and look at my eyes.”.To this Arjun defended and said,”No it is not right ,he writes well and is very popular with it and then he also plays well and does active threatre too and reads well too ..what more can a man do?women always search for places to find faults..even my miss sitting beside you is no different .She would say I cant cook ,I cant sing, I cant write poetries etc a long list actually”.”huh!!had he read well then he would not have been a jobless freak like this..and he never told poetries to me either ..I don’t know why .”,Ej retorted looking directly towards Uddalak.”UuuBBBJ JJJ comeon have a few lines now …had this been college I bet you wont have stood this insult without a fight ..comeon the entire male race is looking at you for answers now.You cant just sit back and yawn.it is your wife who is wanting it ..Come on please a few lines …..pleasee”.”Leave it ,with life taking toll everyday and future so uncertain how can one write poetries anymore ?College days have passed times have changed.There are lakhs of pressure from all angles ..poetry has somewhat dried up in that pressure.”,uddalak replied.”I also love poetries and drama too.I have heard a lot about your role in Tempest as Prospero.”said smita ,” We all want to hear poetries.Take your time, today evening we will organize a bit of homely party when we dress your wife up in the brides gown and make some fun ..After all we could have that at the time of your marriage.”Uddalak replied ,”As you wish my queen!”.
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Arjun’s house was situated near the Shailendrapur village at the outskirts of patna .The population of the place was barely thirty thousand with a very low population density.At the dusk, the streets would start to get empty and only rickshawpullers are usually seen that too few and far inbetween.Aizwal district is known for undevelopment with majority of roads are kucha and make life horrible in the rains .The degree of underdevelopment can be further deduced from the very fact that even street lights are nonfunctional most of the times.But Arjuns house stands tall amidst all these wants .His house is a well constructed 3 storied building which has a garden in the front and jungle at the back .Jungle has trees mostly cidar and spruce.
As night slowly caught up with the day ,the light faded away silently into the night and the creepers sang and danced with crickets telling tales of love in near by jungle at the back of the house.Their sound was still so palpable. Fireworms were seen floating here and there in the roof.Thesmoke from dhoopsticks began to make a spiral it rose up into the sky.The stars were asusual twinkling perhaps discussing there views of the upcoming party.It was truly a magical climate and add to that the scent of the firecandles producing some dusky evening as the moon light began to fall on the sanctified slow and beautiful roseate climate of the roof as the four people arjun and smita and uddalak and EJ took their seats.The moment Ej took her seat opposite uddalak,a sudden pall of wind hit him it was chilly cold and yet he felt warm. With Uddalak silent in a way to strike a conversation Ej said ,”I did not want to dress .Smita told to dress I just did it ..Anyways how am I looking?This Saree also belongs to Smita only.I just wore it on because they were not ready to yield.”As the moonlight fell on her elastic silky smooth well hair began to silently flowing with the wind,cascading and making rounds in the air.She was dressed in brides gown and her lips were all red with makeup (even without makeup she looks so awesome) and the puerlle eyes of hers looked slightly red at corners with her veins looking brightly red in the terrain of white with the magical deepbluish solution floating around the black eyeballs with diamond borders.Really and truly it would have taken a great sculpture years to produce the great design in her eyes.It was truly mesmerizing .With the wind quietly pushing her hair towards her face trying somewhat in vain to reduce her eternal charm . And in saree she was one of the most beautiful bride perhaps the world has ever seen,beating the likes of Katrina and Deepika by shear beauty and grace.With the moonlight falling on her face and eyes ,she was looking all the more heavenly.Her eyes were shining bright and as themoon light reflected of her arms the arms itself were looking white.Arjun broke the ice ,”hey UBj start with your poems please..UBj keeps on looking deep into her eyes and says with a tender tone ,
“IN a moonlit night ,with stars on sight,
The lamp of love in a river devine set sail,
With what hope shall a small mug smoat,
Knowing the lamp to capsize near the shore?”.
“When the boy of streets,
Draws colors in tatters
Those funny letters end in feters,
In dark dunjeons of fate.”
UBj relented.Smita looking at her husband said,”See how romantic and see you ..after our marriage have u ever looked me liked this ?”.Ej was silent too and morosed ,her tenebrous eyes looked gloomy.She said, “I want to take a break ”.For a few minutes there was silence at the roof and no body was speaking .The cold winter wind was just touching each of them and each of their breathes made a magical haze at the roof along with the sweet frangnance of the dhoopsticks.
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At 9 they took their dinner ,arjun and smita was very interested to talk but neither Ej nor uddalak were wiling to talk.In the meantime Sorabjeet had already been able to get to the bottom of his major mystry and with ten lakh guaranteed reward he was very very content and happy .”Now I will show to my brother in law how great an investigator I am..”,he mused.He had already informed “12/3,balganghadhar street,parkstreet” and they would be coming any time he thought.When the four were at the roof sorabjeet had also verified the E and J symbol on the attaché cases too.So there no chance of a fluke.
At their room ,Ej said to Uddalak ,”I want to go to Maya .Can you take me to her ?”.”Why ?what happened?”enquired Uddalak ,”having any problems here?.I know that maybe that much of hospitality cannot be provided here as you may have been enjoying in your house with thirty forty servants.”.Ej said ”No I am used to this now but I feel u don’t want me here I feel so ..the poem you said was a tragic one.I feel that something is coming between u and me .. I don’t know what it is .”.uddalak said wryly ,”10 lakh rupees is quite an amount !maybe I ….”.Ej said ,”No had I Felt that then I would have gone long back.”.”Then?”,uddalak.Ej said ,” I don’t know .But I trust you more than myself now.But what you did today on the roof was not right.Like an actor who has forgotten his dialogues you sat there at the end of the 8 liner ,I was feeling just like those supporting actors who were also part of the stage in the act but inspite of the not forgetting a single dialogue they have to endure the shame and all the laughters that come the way of the beleaguered actor who forgot the dialogue.”.”I felt a strange force within me which tells me to go to Maya.After all she loves me ..”.Ej continued.”Just take me there and all our problems are solved.U go your way I mine.”To this uddalak finally said ,”See this clock,it is stuck and it is not running for 3 days now,see the shirts they are so old and I have not even bought some detergent,see my moneybag it has got just 8 thousand rupees.The last of my pennies.I donot have any source income,no land no job no nothing .I wanted to see you happy and safe .The moment this 8 thousand finishes I am nothing .I don’t even money to buy a bowl of poisson.From where I stand you are a fiction that lives in a canoe in the sky near the moon.A story which may be I will tell my children and their children.It was a nice pleasure to be with you and thank you that you had not hit me with those cups and dishes because I don’t have enough money to pay them back.I had hopes of being an editor of an independent daily too just like your father .But perhaps there are always more candles extinguished in an altar than those that are lighted.You a dream a mystry that lived in a land by itself .I don’t know what I am doing with you is right or not .I don’t even know I can live without you or not .Rabindranath once said “ami ja chai ta bhul kore chai ar ja chai ta paina”( what I get I don’t want and what I want I never get).After l leave you at your friends house I will be totally totally jobless,atleast now to talk to you is my job ,to be with you is my job but tomorrow when u will be gone I will be jobless totally.”Moving towards the window,Uddalak continued” do you know Ej I have always been late .every single time.I have been to the station always 2 minutes late and I had to wait and see as my train moved out of the station.This time too I have been to the station caught the train yet I am to watch as the train of my life whissles by slowly and gradually”.With water filled tenebrous eyes Ej said “I want to go now !right now !”.She took out her attaché bags and tried to pull them out.It was night and Arjun and smita were at sleep.Uddalak wrote a letter and left it on Arjuns desk.And then followed Ej to the door.
Just an hour late from the time they left Mr Mehta’s assistant Rashmi arrived at Arjun’s house to take stock of the situation.Sorabjeet who was so full of energy waiting for the moment became suddenly dry on finding that ej and uddalak had already left.From the letter Arjun however got to know everything finally .
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They took the train back to Kolkata .And this time in train Ej made do with the 5 rupees tea which was served.The two did not talk much until Uddalak mumbled ,”You were really looking stunning that day.Ornaments really go well with you..With mehendi on your hands and then the gold bracelet on your neck ,the golden satrap on your head.In moonlight you were looking devine.You are truly made for all these luxuries.”.Ej replied ,”Romance is the previledge of the Rich not the profession of the poor .”Ubj did not say anything more.As soon as they alighted at Kolkata they moved towards Belvue homes near burra bazaar ,maya’s house.Ej had already intimated everything to Maya via phone call.On reaching Maya’s residence,Ej with full energy leapt out of the cab ,”Saying this is my friends house!!just take care that you donot speak “tum tum “ in there they may make wrong interpretations.And she wants to meet u and wants to thank you for what u had done for me.So come in .And I had told her to give you a job also at some place which will give you enough to make a living.”.Uddalak was silent he relieved the cab and paid the bill .And moved in with Ej.The entire house seemed empty.EJ went first knocked the door .It was already open.She sensed something wrong.She felt that it would be Maya who would open the door but it did not happen.”How could this be?”,she thought.Well it did not take much time to figure that out.Uddalak at her back kept on saying ,”Ej I want to say something to you “.”not now I will talk to you later..not now please..!” ej said yearningly searching from someone.Finally as soon as she was about to take the stair case a tall dark figure started to come down .She was shocked to see it was her father.Her father said ,” hareramsingh pradip take her in immediately.”.immediately from the rear the two of the servants came and started to drag her to the dining room at the right.”just wait “,said Ej and relieving herself somehow she came rushing in fury towards uddalak.”YOU liar! you bastard !you sold me .I thought You loved me but now I Know that poor people are always the same ,greedy and good for nothing but treachery.God will never forgive you for this heneous act.your pernicious mercenary had you wanted money u could have told me I would have given you bastard!” And while moving back she slapped Uddalak.immediately hareramsingh and pradip caught hold of her and dragged her out now with greater force.”bravo !bravo! bravo ! my boy you had proved yourself as a master jeornalist.You have been at the right place at the right time .I knew you would succeed.The gleam in your eyes was not fake and you have proved.Anyways the day after tomorrow is my daughter s wedding please do come .” And looking into his shirt he dragged out a cheque ,”this is for you a cheque of 12 lakh rupees.You had earned it my child .I have given 2 lakhs more for ur bravery and honesty and your reportings which were very precise.You are a true reporter.”
After giving the cheque when Mr boman Mehta turned back to move towards the dining room to meet his daughter immediately uddalak said “excuse me Sir .I want to say something.”.Mehta turned and said ,“what?”.Uddalak said ,”Sir when I first met your daughter I did not know her but as time passed I began to know her , I heard her story ,her perception ,her way of visualization of things and liked her open hearted comments which may have been terse and acrid at times but still I liked them for their authenticity .I had to fly of and forfend many other contenders to finally win the prize but truth to say her silent eyes and her simplicity in charm and reallife confessions had made her be my best friend.I got to know from her that she is about to get married.I am a struggling jeornalist .I cannot give her much.So sir I want to give this cheque to her on the wedding day but I maynot come as I am living kolkata today perhaps forever and go to my village and try to help my father who is ill and needs treatment and also to help the family profession of cloth selling .That u praised me I will remember for life and also the great invaluable time that we two friends had together.(deep breath).THankyou Sir ”.Uddalak handed over the cheque and wrote the name of Ej on it. “But !!!!”the shocked editor exclaimed.”bye !”and then looked yearningly at the door of the dining room and said silently to himself”bye!”.Ej at the mean time was looking and hearing all this from the dining room and when she found that he had handed over the cheque ,all her anger disappeared.She pushed the door so hard that the hinge itself broke and she ran out following UBJ’s trail.
As Uddalak finally went out of the building he looked back and saw it for the last time.From the outside it resembled a monastery with so many rooms and sculpture.For every step that he took there happened to be a backward pull which continually implored him to go back to the house to say Ej a final adieu.The Gotterdammerang was near.The denoument of the final act had come it was time to depart for ever into the 110 crore people whose faces are so obstruse and similar to other with no separate existence.”Perhaps she will forget me and that we ever met will just be forgotten record in the Paragon Queens diary itself.”,Ubj thought,”IT was better for her too.He couldnot have provided all those luxuries that she perhaps was born for .It was best that it should have ended this way.”Arjun was standing outside he said ,”got what u wanted?where is the cheque?”.Uddalak said looking into his pocket,”areee lost it .”.”Lost the ten lakhs cheque!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” ,exclaimed Arjun.”But you left her also for that how could you lose the cheque?”, Arjun asked.”leave it lets go!”,said uddalak.”Wait !!!“came a female voice from across the street.”you have got something with you which belongs to me and I have something which belongs to you …..Give it back then go ..”said Ej.”What is it?I have given back everything.”said confused Ubj.”come here “,said Ej.As soon as uddalak went within her grasp she tied her hands across his neck and said now look into my eyes cant you see something which is yours?even if you cant I can in my eyes someone who is mine “.UBj smiled and said “I think we have thirty minutes time for Kolkata patna janshatabdi express to leave .If we hurry we can..”.”Where will we go ?” asked Ej .Uddalak replied,”jharbhumi patli bus stand near mota hathi ke paet”.
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