Chapter 3: Second First Meeting
Bondhita offered a small nervous smile to the family members as she offered then Prasad, which they begrudgingly accepted—she took that as a good sign. Handing the puja thali to Bihari kaka, she bent down to take aashirwad; first from the older man clad in a purple kurta, Trilochan Kaka-he was the eldest in the house and a god-fearing man who believed in the age-old traditions their society had laid out. Bihari Kaka had given her a good run-down of her immediate family
Trilochan raised his right hand to bless the young woman, she was the kind of the girl that he would’ve arranged Annirudh’s marriage in the future with, good looking but more importantly rooted in her traditions. “Jeetein raho,” he said, his voice stern as ever. Before Bondhita could turn towards Binoy, he spoke again. “Bahu, aaj jo kiya hain woh har roz karna padega. Shikayat ka mauka nahi milna chahiye,” he warned, though his words now held a certain softness to it.
Binoy for his part only rolled his eyes, of course it would be this easy to convince Trilochan da—he had wanted an educated girl for his Annirudh, the boy was a London educated barrister after all, not a village belle. He took a step back, as their daughter-in-law moved forward to touch his feet, “Koi zaroorat nahi hain.” Binoy shortly replied, not wanting a conversation with the girl. Turning his attention to Bihari, “Bihari, aaj ka natak khatam hogaya ho to mera nashta lagwa do,” he said. “Dusre kaafi kaam hain mujhe.” He added snidely.
Bondhita’s face fell at the crassness of Annirudh’s father, she didn’t care or wish to be the family’s daughter-in-law but she had hoped to find someone like her on father in Binoy Roy Chuadhary—given that both men were well-educated. Trilochan kaka misunderstood the distraught on her face, “fikar mat karo bahu, Binoy gussa tumse nahi, halat se hain—kaafi sapne the uske Annirudh ki shaadi ko leke.” His eyes trailing to her bare forehead at the mention of Annirudh a small frown appearing on his face. “Sindoor Kyun nahi lagaya?” he sternly questioned the bride.
“Kaka, who Annirudh-jee…” Bondhita trailed off, not knowing how to put the circumstances and unease the couple felt towards their own marriage into words. Thankfully, Trilochan kaka nodded as if he understood her dilemma or maybe he looked at the entire situation differently.
“Woh study mein hoga apni, use bhi jaldi uthne ki aadat hain.” He explained. “Jao, wahi use aarti deke aao aur use hi sindoor lagwa lena, Som study tak chhod ke aao apni baudhi ko,” he instructed the elder son, making his way to the mandir, “main apni Pooja kar loon tab tak—baad mein rishtendaaron ko bhi bulana hain rasmo ke liye,” Trilochan said, more to himself than the kids, listing the tasks to himself as he covered the shot distance towards the house-mandir
Hearing Trilochan’s orders Bondhita looked like a deer stuck in headlights. This was not what she had meant. Infact, it was the opposite of what she had meant. She really didn’t want to see Annirudh after their exchange from the night before, looking back at Trilochan kaka and then upstairs towards his room where she had last seen him; wondering how she could get herself out of seeing him. Any indication of their marriage infront of him would be like rubbing salt in his wound.
“Aap chalengi bhi, ya murti ki tarah yaha pe khadi rahenge,” Somnath’s words broke her out of her trance, he most definitely had inherited Binoy’s anger. Bondhita nodded, picking up the puja thali that Bihari kaka had deposited on the coffee table with trembling hands—following behind Somnath, while the youngest Batuk trailed behind them. Under normal circumstances, she would have made conversation with Batuk, but her heart was caught in her throat at the thought of having a possible conversation with a sober Annirudh.
The small katori in the puja thali rattled as her hands trembled, tightening her grip to stop showing any indication of her nervousness, and soon they were outside the glassdoors. Even before Somnath could say anything, Bondhita could see Annirudh on the opposite side, engrossed in a brown leather-bound book. She couldn't make out the title from this far.
"Dada, andar hi hain," Somnath said, stepping aside so his unwanted Boudhi could knock on the door. He didn't want to be on the opposite end of Annirudh's wrath when he was disturbed while studying.
Bondhita stepped closer to the door, gulping her nervousness down, as she raised her hand slowly to knock on the door. The two younger brothers watching her actions with interest, curious about how their dada's would react to the new entity in their household. She tucked her fingers in a fist and looked at Somnath, "Tum dedo na aarti, wasie bhi dada hai tumhare, Tumse naraz thodi na honge" she said looking at him pleadingly.
Somnath, on his part, vehemently shook his head, “Aap bhi toh patni hain, aap hi dede. Waise bhi maine snan nahi kiya, paap nahi lagta kya,” He decided, it was too risky to stay and watch the interaction as interesting as that would be. He gave Batuk a silent signal to make their exit.
“Haan, Kaka aaye,” Batuk called out, to something Bondhita hadn’t even heard. She narrowed her eyes at the two brothers. “Trilochan kaka bula rahe hain, hum chalete hain,” the younger boy cutely informed her, tugging Somnath’s hand and pulling him away down the hall until they were out of her sight.
Bondhita let her shoulders drop in disappointment, contemplating her next steps before taking a deep breath to gather the courage she often boasted about and knocked sharply on the door.
Annirudh looked up from the book he was reading, Elements of Law by Thomas Hobbes, hoping to pick up something that would help him bring about change in his own home country, maybe find something to help his newly-wedded bride. He was frustrated at the lack of his own findings, and the knock only served to annoy him—he knew he had been on the edge lately; given the turn his own life had took, he shouldn’t be the one to be blames. He opened the door, disinterest clear on his face and a rude ‘kya?’ ready on the tip of his tongue; but that was cut off before he could get a sound out.
Bondhita didn’t even need to look at him to know that he was annoyed, she didn’t really even know he was annoyed, basing her judgement on their very short interaction the night before, “Dekhe, hum aapko pareshaan nahi karna chahte the,” she quickly explained before he could say a word, her eyes trained on the ground. “Woh toh Trilochan Kaka ne bhej diya—apko aarti dene,” leaving the part about getting him to put her sindoor on for her out of her explanation. “Aur maine Somnath aur Batuk ko bhi bola par woh dono akele chhod ke chale gaye.” Bondhita rattled off in one breathe and finally looked up at him—there was a confused amusement etched on his face…It did put her slightly to ease.
Anirudh had expected one of the house-help here to call him down to breakfast; he certainly hadn’t expected her—what was her name again? ‘Bondhita’; He hadn’t expected her to be here and look so terrified by him. He had heard whispers of his behaviour from the night before, and he had dismissed it but seeing its affect in her—though her tirade of words did serve his amusement, “Kal raat ke liye, maanf kar dena—who halat kuch ese the,” Annirudh softly said, hoping she’d understand.
Bondhita tilted her head to the side in confusion, an apology was unexpected—and she certainly didn’t want him to apologize. Not after he’d dragged her out of her very personal hell. “Maanfi ki koi zaroorat nahi hain, aap ne humare liye jo kiya…” she trailed off, looking around—she’d come to realize that even the walls had ears in his house…and the two of them needed to have a conversation that would be private—discuss whatever their relationship was would lead to. “hum andar aa jaiye? Aapse baat karni hain…aur yah ape sabki nazar aur kaan hum dono par hain.” She said, nervously playing with the end of her saree—stepping inside the study as he stepped aside leading her to the sofa, finally catching the title of his book and then back at him—as if seeing him in a new light, assessing him. ‘huh, she hadn’t expected him to be of the liberal mindset”
Bondhita’s silent judgement wasn’t lost on Annirudh, He raised her eyebrows at her, “kya?” he finally asked.
“Kuch nahi, humein laga tha ki aap ko Descartes ki philosophy of order zyada pasand hogi,” she muttered offhandedly as she eyed his study, a near replication of her own from back home. There were more books than one can count; paper scattered everywhere with half-baked ideas and law changes she wanted to see in her own country—it brought a rare smile on her face; a smile that faded that this wasn’t hers nor was the one that she was comparing it too. Her eyes lost its shine and she once again covered back into her shell.
Bondhita’s comment had Annirudh looking at her in interest, his own father didn’t know of these philosophers and here she was with a very clear understanding of them. He had many questions for her but the bridge closed as soon as it had opened; and a pensive look took over her face—like life had kicked her one too many times. He’ll ask her about it later; afterall, he had noticed the intelligence that hid behind her brown eyes.
Chapter 4 is finally up--again, wasn't sure how to end it. THe next chapter would just be Anirudh-Bondhita's conversation regarding their status--again these are two intellectual people who want to do good, stuck in an unsavoury situation.
This is also going to be a slow-burn romance--there isn't going to be an instant connection or falling in love--so a slow build up of a very strong relationship that will start at mutual respect.
I really hope you enjoy it. Let me know how you like it.
Lemme know who you'd think would be a perfect grown-up Bondhita opposite Pravisht as Annirudh (at his current age in the show)
~Aashna
Edited by llPULCHITRUDEll - 5 years ago
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