RECAP

Years have passed by in their silent world when one night Ila finally takes a step. She touches Nihar and once the first step is taken, the rest follows. She’s in his arms, being comforted and comforting Nihar in return. She feels grateful at having been loved so immensely. They fall asleep in each other’s arms as dawn breaks out.

 
CHAPTER 24

She must have slept like she hadn’t slept in ages because when she awoke, Nihar was gone and the nurse sat in the chair by her bed. She lay in bed for a while, wondering if she had dreamt it all up. But she felt so light that she would defy gravity if she let go off the mattress that she was now clutching on to. She was so scared to let go, to drift up and bang into the ceiling, or perhaps get entangled on the fan. She shivered and clung harder to the mattress. The nurse, noticing that Ila was awake, went to her and gently easing away the fingers, helped her get up. She took Ila to the bathroom and helped her carry out the morning needful. 

So had she indeed imagined it all, she wondered. Imagined that she had suddenly stepped out of her capsule and felt the lightness of being human once again? The nurse drew the bedroom curtains and draped the petticoat, blouse and sari around Ila.

Professor Nihar Dasgupta looked out of the window of the Calcutta University classroom, at the spire adorning the roof of the adjacent Calcutta Medical College building. The spire against the smoggy winter morning sky was all that he could have seen from where he stood, but he saw nothing. He couldn’t believe what had happened last night; he was so afraid to hope that as soon as the nurse arrived in the morning, he came away to work. Even though he was actually dying to stay back home, even though he was so hopelessly lost in the drift of his own thoughts, that he was finding it impossible to teach. With an apologetic smile at us his students, he mumbled something about being too distracted to teach today and walked away. Dare I eat a peach, he thought, suddenly borrowing from Eliot, as he walked down the dark university corridor, dressed in his dhoti and kurta. He didn’t go back to the staff room that he shared with his department colleagues, being in no mood to talk. Instead he walked to the nearby Coffee House. Sitting down to a cup whose taste was a comforting constant in life, he allowed himself to feel a little hope. Perhaps he would go home slightly early today. Perhaps he would buy a bunch of Rajnigandhas on his way home...

An uncanny feeling woke her up from her afternoon siesta and she almost screamed when she saw Dipta sitting next to her, looking as he used to so many years ago. He looked at her with a gaze that was tired and calm. Ila smiled at him and as he got up, she softly followed him out of the room. The nurse was dozing in her chair. They sat on the living room sofa and he held her hand as she wept. After some time, she got up and went to the kitchen to make him a cup of tea but the kitchen door was locked. She came back to the living room which was suddenly empty. She looked around desperately but he was gone. The newspaper suddenly caught her eye, lying prominently on a table, as if trying to seek her attention. It was a small article about how justice had finally been achieved in the case of Dipta Chowdhury, the social worker who had been killed in Asaam by the armed forces some twenty years ago. Dipta’s father had fought a long legal battle, managed to eventually get orders for the body to be exhumed, and it was finally proved that his son had not killed himself but been killed in cold blood. The article was accompanied by a small photo of Dipta. The people of Mangaon had, in Dipta’s memory, converted his home into a shelter for orphans. Dipta’s father was quoted saying that he never approved of the life his son had chosen, but today he was proud of him.

Nihar let himself in quietly, as always, and was surprised to find Ila sitting in the living room. As he came towards her, she held out the newspaper to him and in a sort of reflex action, he held out the bunch of Rajnigandhas to her. He read the small column, sitting next to her, knowing at last a bit about those missing months, at least being able to take a guess. He noticed the newspaper was a few months old but didn’t ask her how she had dug it out.  He put the newspaper down and she got up to take a flower vase from a shelf. She filled it with water and put the flowers in the vase. It was so wonderful to see her doing something so commonplace. The nurse came in and was too surprised to say anything. Nihar told her that she could leave since he was home early today.  

She hadn’t yet spoken a word but as Nihar asked her whether she would like to have some tea, she nodded her head. He was no longer a lovesick youth but his heart still fluttered as he went to the kitchen. Two special china cups on the tray, and some nut corners he had picked up from Kookie Jar. He hummed many a tune as the tea brewed for the tunes were all getting jumbled up today. Unexpectedly, he felt her presence in the kitchen, felt her coming up to where he was standing. She came even closer and put her arms around him from behind and rested her head on his back. He tried turning around; she didn’t let him but held on with fierceness. After a long time, she loosened her grip and said very feebly,
‘Won’t you pour out the tea?’

Her first words in twenty years... He poured out the tea, trying not to spill it, but his hands did tremble a bit. He carried the tea to the living room and they sat together and sipped. Afterwards there were many words uttered, questions asked and answered, and some unasked ones answered as well. We will leave them there for now, they deserve these moments of happiness and seclusion.

                                     To be continued ....