“Reborn Moon” Episode-03

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  Ela Devi had never been on a motorcycle before. Her chronic fear of two-wheelers was well known to people close to her. According to her, the paranoia had set in when, at a young age, she had witnessed a road accident. But today, sitting on the pillion seat of Bhaskar’s bike, she seemed disturbed neither by the high speed nor the zig-zag, bumpy roads. Well, had she been noticing any of that, she might’ve been affected. But she had been almost lost to the world from the moment Bhaskar had read out an SMS informing of Raktim Chaudhari’s death.

But despite the state of shock, coming to Lakhnabad on Bhaskar’s bike had been Ela Devi’s own decision. She had figured that hiring a taxi would surely get them stuck in the city traffic. And she couldn’t bear even a single second’s delay in meeting her daughter. Other than once at a highway petrol pump, she had not allowed Bhaskar any stops on the way. So in about two hours and a quarter, Bhaskar managed to bring her to Hayaat Colony.

As soon as the bike took the final turn into the lane leading to Chaudhari Bhavan, Ela Devi felt a terrible jolt. There, under the tall, shadowy gulmohar tree, she could see her daughter bathed in white, almost ghost-like in appearance. Before she could even attempt coming to terms with it, Aparajita turned too, and their eyes met.

Had circumstances been normal, Aparajita would have had called up her mother as soon as she had reached Chaudhari Bhavan. But then the news that had shattered all of Lakhnabad had distracted her, too, to put it lightly.

It was when her mother rushed and tearfully squeezed her in an embrace that something struck Aparajita as strange. Not a single outsider had visited the Chaudhari family since the tragic news had broken.

That changed the very next second when an elegant, luxurious maroon car smoothly, almost silently eased into the lane. In the rear seat, Raktim’s childhood buddy Vikram Chauhan sat deep in thought, but not deep enough to miss the beauteous young woman under the tree.

It was not her beauty that had caught Vikram’s attention, though. It was something else: something very familiar about her face. But it wasn’t the usual kind of feeling, of having come across just some face from the past. Though he couldn’t recollect when or where he had seen her, he knew for sure that there was something weird about this person. It disturbed him.

As Aparajita was still in the embrace of her mother, she was able to catch a glimpse of the soundless vehicle only when it was entering Chaudhari Bhavan through the main gate.

***

“Your beloved is alive! And he is about to return to you any moment now!”

GD was almost jumping and at his dramatic best as he narrated the next scene to his film’s leading lady in the vanity van. But all his antics failed to penetrate the invisible armour of preoccupation surrounding Ananya’s mind.

Three hours had passed since she’d got that devastating news about Raktim, but she hadn’t been able to process the information as yet. In fact, she had continued working as if nothing had happened, and even got a long monologue okayed in a single shot just a few minutes ago. She had put the actress in her to good use at a time she needed her the most. She so wanted this whole thing to be a pretence, a piece of fiction. Even though it wasn’t really true or selfless love that she had for Raktim, she had wanted him alive. What was he worth otherwise?

***

There were several concerns on Vikram Chauhan’s mind as he waited outside Madhumita’s room.

Inside, Nayanadevi and Urvashi watched Dr. Burman, the old family physician, check the pulse of Madhumita who, though still weak, was awake now. Soon the doctor assured them that she had fainted due to all the the mental stress, and was fine otherwise.

Vikram waited for the doctor to leave, and then got in step with Nayanadevi who headed back downstairs to the hall. Not knowing how else to start a conversation under the circumstances, he made a lame attempt.

“How’s Madhu Aunty now, Thakurma?”

Pat came the reply, “She’s not the only one affected by Raktim’s death, is she?”

Before Vikram could react, the old lady asked, “Is the news confirmed?”

“Well,” Vikram cleared his throat. “Our friends in the police are searching all possible accident-prone roads leading to Lakhnabad,” he informed, before adding, “Anshuman and Bipasha are also calling up friends for help.”

“I hope someone finds the dead bodies soon.”

Vikram gulped. Even without looking at him, Nayanadevi could hear the sudden rise of his heartbeats and read his thoughts.

“Vikram, my dear, I have seen the world,” she explained after a deep sigh. “I can tell when a rumour is just a rumour, and when it is not.”

“No no! Please don’t say that, Thakurma!”

It was Ananya. Having decided that waiting any longer would get her nowhere, she had suddenly walked out of the film set, and drove herself down to Chaudhari Bhavan.

“Nothing will happen to Raktim!” she said rushing towards the stairs, looking extremely earnest and concerned in her second passionate monologue delivery of the day. “My heart says that he is alive, and that any moment he will walk in that door!”

Nayanadevi was clearly peeved by the melodrama. One disdainful look from her conveyed the message and Ananya shut up at once.

“Whether Raktim is alive or not is my family matter; we don’t need outsiders to guess or give their opinion.”

Ananya didn’t know where to look. None of her acting skills came to her rescue to camouflage the embarrassment that was written all over her face.

This was Vikram’s chance. To become Ananya’s saviour in distress. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, “Er… by the way, Thakurma, may I ask something?”

Honestly speaking, the question he wanted to ask had more to do with his own curiosity than with just the desire to win brownie points with Ananya.

“Do you have any idea about a young woman in white saree standing outside the house?”

Nayanadevi was about to reach the end of the stairs, but her left foot stopped mid air. She slowly turned and looked at Vikram in disbelief.

“She’s not gone?”

***

“Come back home, Apu.”

Ela Devi could not think of any other option after her daughter had been clearly rejected by Raktim’s family. In fact, she didn’t want her there, now that he was gone.

But even while she pleaded, she knew that Aparajita wouldn’t listen. Despite being a good daughter, she always did what she wanted. And if living in Chaudhari Bhavan as Raktim’s widow was what she wanted, she would succeed at any cost, of that Ela Devi was certain.

“You have a whole life ahead of you, darling,” Ela Devi had to persist. “You do know how this family has been inauspicious for us in the past.”

Aparajita raised her eyes and stared at her mother. She didn’t have to be reminded of that.

Ela Devi sighed in defeat. But just as she was poised to launch one last argument, they were distracted by Vikram Chauhan who was walking out of Chaudhari Bhavan.

Bhaskar, who had been leaning on his bike at a distance, now involuntarily moved in a manner as if shielding the women from Vikram. But Aparajita gestured at him that it was okay.

Vikram was still trying to recollect where he had seen her, and stopping a couple of feet away, he just said, “Thakurma, er, Nayanadevi has asked you to come in.”

Aparajita looked on blankly for a couple of seconds, and then turned to look at her mother. See?

There was nothing that Ela Devi could say anymore, the matter had been settled. Vikram waited even as Aparajita saw off her mother and Bhaskar.

“You’re Vikram,” said Aparajita, confidently, when she was being escorted towards the bungalow.

He got confused. “How do you know my name?”

She just let out a subtle smile in response.

“From the moment I saw you here, I have been trying to recollect where we have met before,” he awkwardly informed her.

“We haven’t met before.”

“Really? How did you recognize me, then?”

“That scar on your forehead.”

Vikram involuntarily touched his forehead to feel the slight bulge of the said blemish. It was not even an inch long, and given the way it blended with his complexion, not really visible – or so he had thought. Clearly, he was wrong.

“Raktim used to talk a lot about his close friends.”

From the moment Nayanadevi had told him about this young woman’s claim to be Raktim’s widow, Vikram had become jittery. And now such talk only added to his discomfort.

They had reached the threshold of the main gate when Aparajita’s mobile rang. She let out a subtle warm smile as she saw the caller’s name, and answered.

“What’s the status?” asked Sanyal, the middle-aged caller. “Have you entered Chaudhari Bhavan?”

She glanced at Vikram who had moved a few steps ahead by now as she had stopped. “Well, I’ve been called inside just now.”

“I knew it!”

Sanyal smiled, even if grimly, and he disconnected. It was true – he really had known it. The Chaudharis had no other choice.

***

“Why did you want to see me?” Aparajita asked the matriarch at once upon reaching, totally ignoring the presence of Bipasha, Anshuman, Urvashi and even Vikram.

“Why were you waiting outside the house?” Nayanadevi lost no time in coming to the point.

“I was wondering what to do,” Aparajita said, honestly, before adding, “Raktim had wanted me to come and stay with him here, but with him gone…”

“How dare you say that my brother is gone?! There is no proof yet!!” shouted Bipasha.

“Indeed, Bipasha,” Nayanadevi calmly interrupted. “But even when we find his dead body…”

She paused for effect. ‘When,’ she’d said, not ‘if’.   The old lady was rubbing it in, and it seemed to Aparajita that she was secretly loving it, too.

“Even then,” Nayanadevi addressed Aparajita now, “if what you say is true, if you really did get married to Raktim without our knowledge…”

“What are you talking about, Thakurma?” It was Ananya who interrupted this time. “Raktim would never…”

Nayanadevi totally ignored the interruption, and spoke louder over the din, to Aparajita. “Do you have any proof that you got married?”

That shut Ananya up. She suddenly seemed to like Raktim’s otherwise despicable granny’s line of interrogation.

“P-proof?” Aparajita stammered a bit nervously.

Anshuman respectfully took charge now. “Yes, Ma’am, any photograph, maybe?”

“No, sorry,” Aparajita mumbled, and tried to explain, “You see, Raktim had wanted our wedding to be a secret till the time was right enough to tell everyone. So he was against getting photographed with me.”

Bipasha guffawed.

Madhumita was weakly coming down the stairs by then. All the commotion had gotten her curious.

Nayanadevi continued, “Okay, Aparajita, tell me which temple did you get married in?”

Aparajita was stunned for a moment. Not because of what she was asked, but because the old lady had remembered her name only from a single mention a few hours ago.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult to remember, should it?” Nayanadevi persisted.

“Er… no… it was not at a temple,” Aparajita mumbled. But added just when Bipasha was about to laugh again, “It was a registered wedding.”

A few seconds of silence followed, before Nayanadevi spoke again, like a detached, unemotional judge, “OK, so you have a marriage certificate, then.”

“No, I don’t,” blurted Aparajita.

“Enough of this question-answer session, Thakurma!” Bipasha screamed. “This woman is a liar and is here to con us! We have to get her arrested and make her confess as to where she and her people have taken Raktim and what…”

“The certificate was with Raktim.”

Bipasha stopped mid-sentence. The others were stunned, too.

“He thought I was very naïve and incapable of keeping a secret,” Aparajita couldn’t believe that she was saying this, but she had to say something: anything , if only to buy time. “He once spoke about a little box he had, where he’d keep all his secret little things.”

She paused, and realized that they were all glued to the story that she was telling them. It made her nervous for sure, but she managed not to let it show. “You know, little things that he had secretly collected from his childhood. And hidden in that box. I think he said it was blue, that box.”

The extreme silence pierced her eardrums and she decided to stop. She was too numbed to register the voices that followed. She could just feebly comprehend that Bipasha argued something about the impossibility of her brother having kept any secrets from her, and then Nayanadevi making Anshuman take Bipasha away from there, before summoning Duggadas and sending Vikram with him to check Raktim’s room for any blue box that could be hidden somewhere.

But all that Aparajita could actually hear was the ticking of a wall clock that filled her ears and took her back in time to the day when she’d had her first interaction with Raktim.

***

That day back then:

“Sorry, no way!” Mitter Babu said bluntly. “You cannot meet Raktim today!”

It was the same man whom she had met the previous fortnight outside Chaudhari Bhavan. She’d been informed that this man was more than a Personal Assistant to Raktim, almost like a mentor and guide. Consequently, she was seeking his help in getting an appointment with Raktim. But he was acting too pricey now.

“Come on, young lady! Who do you think you are, huh? Raktim Chaudhari is the CEO! Why would he want to waste his time meeting someone seeking a small job in the accounts department?”

“Hey, Mitter Babu?”

It was the first time she heard that golden voice. Unsure and certain at the same time, she turned and her gaze locked on the just arrived Raktim Chaudhari. Raktim was looking at Mitter Babu, though, softly requesting him to be nice with guests. But now as he addressed her, asking her to wait for him in his office, he faltered a little for some reason. And as he walked away, he couldn’t help glancing back at her. In response, she too checked out the handsome man. He was alerted when he got a call on his mobile, and he stopped to answer it.

He was only a few feet away, and he was openly staring now. Aparajita knew how she looked in her blue and white polka-dotted skirt; it accentuated her assets rather wonderfully, and was also short enough to display her smooth, shapely legs.

Meeting Raktim’s gaze, she felt her heartbeats rising. Her lips parted. Oh, how she longed to be held in those arms. For those fleeting moments, she had forgotten the purpose of why she was there. The real purpose.

“This way!” Mitter Babu’s shrill voice interrupted her fantasy.

As she walked away, she saw Raktim stepping behind a cubicle partition, out of view from everyone except her. She suspected a faint smile at her even as he spoke on the phone.

But the very next second, he moved further behind the partition, totally cutting her view off.

***

The tick-tock had eased and she could comprehend the ambient sounds as she came back to the present. Some birds chirping outside. Some distant vehicle sounds. The faint whirr of the ceiling fan. But no voices whatsoever.

Though everyone was still there, she noticed that they weren’t even looking at her. There was shock and disbelief on all those faces. She turned to look in the direction they were looking.

On the stairs, Vikram Chauhan was slowly, awkwardly alighting, with Duggadas in tow. And it was when Aparajita strained her eyes a little that she saw it.

Duggadas was holding a small aluminium box.

It was padlocked.

And it was blue in colour.

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