I was disappointed with the way makers handled today's episode. Wrote a one shot. Didn't know how much it suited Bon's age but felt like putting everything I wanted to happen.
Hope it is not disappointing to read. Rotten tomatoes are allowed.
A cruel truth breaks a tender heart
Anirudh had shut the door on her face. With a single thud, Bondita's world came crashing down. Tears blurred her vision but she stood rooted to the spot hoping her pati babu will open the door the next minute. Minutes turned into hours but her pati babu didn't open the door, didn't come to rescue her from the abyss she was drowning into. Her muffled cries didn't melt his burning heart.
Bondita started receding from his study. Every step she took, she looked back but the door remained closed, curtains drawn. She reached his room, which she foolishly thought was hers as well. She looked around and was reminded of her first day here. How he asked her to stay in the guest room and she insisted on staying in his room as it was her right. She touched his belongings without his permission, pushed them aside on the dressing table and set her things there. He didn't object not because he didn't mind but he was helpless.
She gave him a place in her heart, next to her mother because that's what her pati babu deserves and she was nothing but a burden that wore him out. The photo frame which used to bring a bright smile on her face is mocking her cruelly now. His words reverberating through the walls. "Yeh ek swaang hai, Bondita. Ek ku prata. Mann se nahi juda hai. Bas zimmedari ho". He was her mentor, her barristara babu, her pati babu. Then why is she nothing but a zimmedari to him. The answer stared at her through the photo frame. She is just a little girl, unfit to be his wife.
Her stomach burnt with hunger. She was so excited from the morning for this special day. She thought of having food with him after the celebration. Now, even the sweet taste of roshgulle will not be able to keep the bile rising from her stomach down. Suddenly his room suffocated her and Bondita ran.
She dashed through the corridor and met Kaka sasurji in the way. His eyes were red with tears as well, Bondita hugged him and started uttering incoherent words between muffled sobs. "Isliye aap sab mujhe pehle nahi pasand karte tena. Mein pati babu ki majboori mein judi bhoj hu. Unki khushiyon ka grahan".
"Nahi bahu. Tum toh is ghar ki grih lakshmi ho", kaka sasurji knelt down and tried to soothe Bondita. But his words could not ease her pain. " Anirudh ko samaj nahi hai", he tried to convince her but Bondita took few steps back. Her mother had told her to believe in her pati babu completely and do as he says. If he had said their relationship is nothing but a farce, it must be the truth.
"Nahi", she didn't let kaka sasurji finish the sentence and ran from there. She went to the balcony and a scene flashed in front of her mind. How beautifully it was decorated on the night she came here, the day of her wedding and how brutally he thrashed everything aside. It was for buri didi, to celebrate their relationship. Bondita put an end to all of his dreams. And few days ago, she pushed herself so hard, day in day out, to fall in love with him.
She wanted to barge into the study and ask him why he didn't tell her the truth before. Why did he treat her better than most husbands treated their wives. Why did he help her at every step and made her feel his equal and cast her now aside as nothing but a mere responsibility. Can she ask him? Does she have any rights to ask him?
All these thoughts twirled in her mind, creating a chaos and pulling her in. The emotional turmoil drained her from inside and she slept on the floor of the balcony.
The first rays of the sun hit her eyes and Bondita's sleep was broken. Anirudh stood in front of her, his eyes a mixture of worry and awkwardness and Bondita jolted upwards. She couldn't look him in the eyes afraid she would burst into tears again.
"Yaha kyu soyi ho Bondita?", Anirudh's voice held a slight quiver. But Bondita remained silent, her face facing the ground.
" Tum teekh ho na?" Aniruddh asked her. Bondita nodded her head in a no.
"Tumne galat samjha hai, Bondita. Meine aaj tak jo bhi kiya sirf zimmedaari samajh kar kiya. Kisi aur ki zimmedaari leta toh uske liye bhi karta", his words were like a slap on her face, a shard to her heart. Her lower lip wobbled and a sob escaped her eyes even though she tried to suppress it.
Anirudh knelt down and said, "Isme tumhari galti nahi hai, Bondita. Samaaj ne tumhe galat seekh di. Tumhara umar padne likhne ki hai.Seekh kar kuch kar dikhani ki hi. Tum bohot khaas ho Bondita, bohot hoshiyaar ho. Tumhara lakshya sirf barrister banna hona chahiye".
" Agar mere do lakshya hai to? " Bondita asked innocently. "To be a barrister and your wife?"
Anirudh was stunned into silence. His posture and look were of a defeated and a helpless man.
"Galat hai? " Bondita continued. "Aap aaj bhi buri didi se prem karte hai?"
"Nahi mein kisise prem nahi karta", Anirudh replied.
" Toh phir?" Bondita could not hold back.
"Bondita", Anirudh's voice raised in exasperation. "Tum abhi choti ho. Yeh vichar sahi nahi hai"
"Jab mein badi hojaungi tab teekh hai? " Bondita wanted to know. She didn't want to be just a zimmedaari for him.
"Humare beech mein pati-patni ka rishta kabhie nahi ho sakta. Kyunki woh galat tha, hai or rahega", Anirudh said with a finality in his tone. The sooner she accepts the cruel truth, the fewer times, her tender heart will break.
But looking at the hope dying in her eyes and filling them with fresh tears drenched him in further guilt. He was a fool to forget the fact that Bondita would grow up one day. She might have other desires apart from being a barrister or inspiration to other girls. It is not wrong but it is wrong between them.
His heart went out for her and he tried to hold her shoulders with his hands but Bondita stepped back.
She took a deep breath, her eyes were red with tears but her face had a resolution.
"Thoda samay dedijiye barrister babu", her voice faltering at the word barrister but Bondita continued, " Mein vidyalay jaane ke liye tayyar hojaungi".
"Aaj chutti le sakti ho tum", Anirudh tried to convince her but she replied, "Aapka jeevan meine barbaad kar diye par mehnat toh barbaad nahi hone dungi".
And her words and the loss of playfulness from her face had hurt him deeper than he can ever fathom.
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