Sharp Shooter
Paramita Satpathy Translated by Mona Lisa Jena
“What are you doing there? “Oh sir, Namaskar...speaking sir...” he whispered into the phone, pressing his mobile and right palm against his ear and covering his mouth with the other hand. As he spoke, he tiptoed out of the Bhavan theatre and once he reached the foyer, straightened up and smiled. “Namaskar, I had just dropped in... The Corporation MD had called me here...” “What’s happening there?” “Who knows? Some anniversary of some dead poet. His son was a high ranking officer in the Ministry of External Affairs. This MD fellow, with whom I have come, is a friend of one of the family member. I just accompanied him.” “Whose anniversary is it? Some Oriya poet?” “The name is written outside. There’s a banner on the stage inside carrying his name, but I can’t remember off hand. Would you like to know, sir? Let me go inside and check again.” “Oh no, don’t bother!” The man disconnected the call. This MD fellow is really boring. But what to do, mused the man, and felt quite delighted within. Whatever it took, the officer had fallen neatly into his trap. Initially he was behaving like he was a paragon of honesty. But he knew every trick in the book to entice such hard-to-please officers. Fine, it took a little more time than expected, but aren’t patience and sweet words the biggest weapons in this trade?? The man again smiled self-contentedly and looked at his watch. Oh, its 7.30 pm already! God knows what this MD is doing inside? It was so difficult to tame him! It took almost six months. And this guy wrote poetry too, with two collections to his credit, and meetings and speeches on his literary works! He had to attend all of them. Such a waste of time! Initially he went to survey the audience to see if there were some high-up officers or dignitaries among the audience. Then he would sit at a distance, checking his e- mails on his palm-sized mobile phone. In his trade it was essential to call up important persons once in a while and enquire about their well being, as well as offer his services in case they required anything! He would stay in touch with them and send some funny messages on the mobile. A handful of flattering ones too! Such exchange of messages and e-mailing is how he engaged himself into such meetings. Rest talking to them can be done while travelling. The MD bastard was still inside the auditorium. It was seven forty five. There were so many speakers yet on the stage to deliver winding speeches on the poet! They were elaborating; he was like this and he was like that, and he was such a fine writer! Look brother, whatsoever he did, he did; now he is dead, why should there be so many lectures on him to waste the time and energy of so many people? Rubbish! He was getting restless. He called for his driver, and instructed him to wait for the gentleman who had come with him and drop him wherever he wanted. He also briefed him not to tell the MD how he himself had gone home. He got into a running auto rickshaw and asked him to drop him at the market building. He sent a message to the MD that he had to rush home to attend to his son’s illness; the car was left behind for his use. He called his wife on the way, “Today I fixed a big deal. Get ready quick and join me for dinner.” “Accha!” his wife exclaimed with joy, “But we have king size crabs from Chilka lake. Tunu has already eaten the crab curry and is saying it tastes fabulous. Let us eat at home tonight.” She kept silent for a second, and then resumed, “Look, I had gone to the Hanuman temple this morning and offered a silver laddoo and it bore fruits so quickly. You were so busy for the last few days. Where are you? The temple must be open now. Why don’t you go and pay your obeisance.” True! He contemplated and directed the auto rickshaw driver to take him to the Hanuman temple. Again his cell phone rang. ‘Didn’t I tell you that I had ordered a gold chain two months ago? It is a very thin one studded with only twelve diamonds. The shop owner said it would cost one and half lakh rupees. I sensed that something good was coming our way since this morning. I have booked that jewellery piece,” she said ingratiatingly. “Okay, do whatever you wish”, the man appeared to be in a jubilant mood. Today is an auspicious day, he thought while returning from the temple. He had been pursuing this project for the past six months and had finally achieved his goal. He complimented himself. Initially it seemed so tough! He had wondered if he could bite into this hard nut. The officer behaved very stubborn and unyielding; he would never look him straight in the eye! He was really very apprehensive in the beginning. It took a lot of effort to bring him slowly into the web of his confidence. What did he not do for him? He had accompanied him to Bhitarkanika to count the crocodiles and then to watch the nesting of Olive Ridley turtles he had spent the entire night on the sandy beach at Rushikulya river mouth… such ridiculous stuff! The officer had a passion for greens. He was a simple man but he had to be trapped anyhow. To please him, he had to order a dozen high -priced books on animals and environment from abroad. It is fruitless to ponder over those matters now. Finally his arrow had hit the mark and proved he was a real sharp shooter! He reclined in the auto rickshaw comfortably. The trick is that, one has to be an apt listener, paying attention to whatever the man said. Then to figure out his character, whether he was simple or clever. Then one had to find out about his requirements and make a list. After that these needs had to be magnified in such an exaggerated manner that his target should feel the pangs of loss if he could not get them. It has to be consciously drilled into his psyche and that too subtly. He has to be convinced about what would happen without fulfilment of those longings and also how acquiring them would transform his life and so on. He had to know the man’s special interest-areas and tell him that he too enjoyed them. Time, energy, money had to be invested on these assignments. The most important thing was to have loads of patience and develop an extremely soft spoken demeanour. In other words, one had to be a servile ‘Yes Sir’ man all along and nod to everything he would say! But look at the returns! Where was he and where he had reached in life! Fifteen years back, he was riding a second-hand scooter and now he has three big cars, one scooter for the driver and a moped for his cook. He had come up the success ladder and shifted to a huge apartment in the city from their scant two room first floor flat. Besides he also had flats in all the major metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The value of this real estate shot up every year. He also owned some five to six farm houses in Orissa with residential buildings in them. There was a time when he could not afford to gift his wife even a gold chain. Now she purchased diamond necklaces every month and would not look at silver or gold anymore. They have half a dozen servants at home. He invites important and powerful people home for lunch and dinner. Every political leader, high official, industrialist and businessman was his personal friend. The fact was that he had got the dark secrets of these men by luring them into his confidence and intimacy, and he exploited them to his own benefit. But he himself did not possess any such vile qualities. He had a reason to pride himself on the fact that he did not smoke or booze and was never in bad company, nor was he generally promiscuous. He never harmed anyone. But his enemies would swear about his cunningness. Let them say what they want! All these were signs of their jealous back biting. Like everybody else he was trying to earn a living and why should he bother about those who can’t achieve anything in life? Today a 275crore-worth project deal was struck. It was not a slight matter. The middleman’s dues were ten percent and one percent of that was his own share—two crores and 75 lakhs! Later, officers and politicians who had made ill-gotten money from the deal would also approach him to invest their money. Whatever interest would be earned would be shared fifty fifty. He could not even imagine the total profit he would finally pocket! His heart swelled with an unimaginable happiness. He could not help complimenting himself on his efficiency. Rarely does one achieve so much. Many, equally efficient and clever had not done as well and had lagged behind in the line. He was favoured both by destiny and god. He joined his palms and prayed, “Oh, Lord Hanuman!” he would remind his wife to arrange for a yagyan and a feast for Brahmins at his home next Tuesday. The phone rang. “Hope I didn,t trouble you much. The meeting was so absorbing that I sat through It.”, the MD was on the phone. “No Sir, what are you saying? I too liked it, but what to do? I had to take my son to the doctor. He had flu but he is fine now. How was your meeting?” “It was excellent. I never imagined that such a serious literary discourse could be so interesting. I would have missed a real good time had I not attended. Did you know what the first speaker said! He said—Mansingh was a romantic poet, and he recited line after line from his poetry! How enchanting and deep were his love poems are really….. Ei sahakara tale, sedina priyara karakankana bedhi thila moro gale…(Under this mango tree, that night, I was in your embrace…) Can’t get over the poems really. Okay boss, thanks a ton. Do come over tomorrow or the day after,” the MD hung up. His overwhelming words kept echoing in the man’s ears for some time. Although he had heard poems earlier he had neither the patience nor the inclination to understand the deep meaning. The poet’s name was Mansingh but he could not even recall his first name. The speaker was reciting the lines ---- Love poems! Does this MD even write love poems? When his book was released two months ago, he himself had organized a party in a five star hotel. The MD had gifted him two copies of the book, making it seem as if he was giving him two bricks of gold! And he had told him, you must read the book and let me know your opinion positively. Later, he had flicked through the book. But as he was not in the habit of reading anything beyond the daily newspapers, he had no patience to poetry. He had no love for poetry also and wondered why so many people go ga ga over such stuff after all! He had asked his wife to scribble a few lines of comments on the back page of the book so that he could quote them to the MD when they met next. She even added that the gentleman’s poems were really good. Very endearing love poems, Tuma doi nila akhira atala gahirare…(in the depth of your blue eyes). This had irritated him that day. While his wife was thus praising the MD’s poems, there was a call on his cell phone. While he was still on the line, his wife left the place and he too completely forgot about the book. But love? What kind of love is this? Although he kept mentioning his age as fifty, he knew he was past fifty one now. Half of his hair had turned grey and since the past one decade he had started dying it. His eldest son was studying in the U.S. and his daughter was through her post graduation and his youngest son was to appear for his higher secondary final. In such a long life, he never pondered about love. He was neither handsome nor possessed a personality a girl would fall for. He had no memory of any girl speaking to him when in school, although he would steal glances at them. While in college, he would watch girls fluttering like colourful butterflies, their duppattas flowing, their bosoms taut and their gurgling giggles! But he never had the guts to interact with them. He noticed them doting on brilliant and handsome boys in the class, but he was not in that privileged section. By the time he graduated, he was under pressure to support his family. Since he was the eldest son, he was forced to marry at the early age of twenty six. When he protested that he could not support a wife, his father decided that he would somehow manage. He was married off to an ordinary girl from an ordinary family. His marital relationship with is wife was not great but he was not attracted to any other woman either. He was smitten by worldly riches. “Do you know the man who has only one life partner has a short life”, one of his classmates had mentioned to him years ago. Actually he was in need of money then and his friend had fulfilled that willingly. They had gone to Kolkata and had stayed in a five star hotel. For the first time he had asked for a call girl….But that experience was not particularly exciting, and so he never went for it again. But what is love indeed! On reaching home he went straight into his bedroom and called his wife loudly. She rushed in hurriedly and then spread the jewellery box with the diamond necklace before him. But the man was distracted. ‘Do you like me? I mean are you in love with me?’ he turned his wife’s face towards him holding her by the shoulders and peered into her eyes for an answer. She was initially too shocked to react and simply stared at him. In her right hand was the half open diamond box. “Tell me the truth, do you love me?”, he sounded impatient. By now she had regained her composure and shook herself from his grip and put the diamond box on the dressing table. Then she turned sideways and looked at her husband, ‘What do you mean by this? What a strange question! If I don’t love you, who else do you think I Love? Why are you bringing up such silly things? Come, dinner is served downstairs. It will get cold.” she scurried back to the ground floor. This was not the reply he wanted to hear. Was she deliberately evading him? When he was getting ready for his office next morning, his eyes fell on the book written by the MD. He picked it up and put it inside his expensive leather briefcase and got into the car. He could not concentrate on anything. This was quite unusual. He was feeling very depressed too. He took out the book and began to read. Then he stared beyond the glass panes of his window and stood up to leave. It was four in the afternoon. He let go off his driver that day and took the wheel on the broad main road. He was unmindful and had no destination indeed. Suddenly a white hued temple caught his eyes right by the way side. This beautiful temple never existed for him before. He parked his car and entered the shrine. Everything was scrupulously clean inside and it was sparsely crowded. It was a Jagannath temple. He came to the main sanctum where a recital was going on. He bowed before the deity and sat down leaning against a pilaster. The girl who was reciting devotional songs was completely immersed in her singing. A lovely honeyed voice she had. There were a few listeners sitting around. “You sing so well! Your voice is very sweet and you have a good sense of music.” She was walking with her head slightly bowed and was startled and paused for a moment and then looked at the man. She seemed relieved a bit. ‘These days one does not get to hear someone singing so devotedly. Of late both the content and style of singing had changed drastically.’ While he praised her like this he took out two five hundred rupee notes and extended those to her This enraged the girl and she blurted,’ I don’t receive charity from my listeners. I sing at the temple and I receive a salary for this. If you want to donate to the temple, there is a donation box, go and leave it there.’ She turned and rushed out of his sight. Till she disappeared through the door, he kept standing rooted to the ground. Then he climbed back up the stairs and deposited the notes in the donation box and returned. He was completely absentminded but a smile flickered on his lips now. Next day he finished off his day’s work quickly enough and drove his car himself to the temple. The singing session was on inside. Like the day before, he leaned on the piller and kept watching the girl. She was even looking more beautiful and fresh than before, and was completely absorbed in her singing. He could not follow her song; he was simply staring at her. Like the day before, after her singing was over, the crowd dispersed and the girl got up and bowed to the deity. When she turned back, her eyes fell on the man and a feeble smile played on her face. She was easy now with her reactions and looked at him with a hint of recognition. He got up and came to face her. She hesitated for a while, wondering whether it would be proper to take the ride. Then she got into the front seat. ‘Is your school a government one?’ He was a bit startled and screeched the car to a halt. She jumped out of the car and thanking him walked away hurriedly. He continued to sit in his car. Such a good looking and talented girl was going through such hardship! He had forgotten about such kind of life for long. He felt restless the entire evening and the next day too. He postponed his work for the next morning and reached the temple exactly at four. She was opening the harmonium. She saw him entering and smiled sweetly at him. He was waiting anxiously for her to finish her singing. He offered to drop her and she sat in his car quite effortlessly. Instead of getting down at the particular square she instructed him to drive a further two kilometres. The car cannot go up to her house and there were no tuitions that day, she informed him before getting down. The man told him that they would meet the next day and instructed her to bring her biodata. On his return he was wondering whether the girl had no tuitions today so that they could go on a drive a little further! He felt disappointed for losing such an opportunity. Next day he met her at the temple and drove towards her home. ‘Cant you skip your tuitions today?’ ‘As such there is not much difference between us. Like you I too had faced lots of struggle once. It is by sheer effort and good luck that I am where I am today.’ He held her hands now. She did not resist. He wrapped his arms around her and she put her head on his left shoulder. ‘I don’t like to pay for a woman’s body. I need real love’, he spoke softly, inaudibly. Days passed by. He had never imagined that life could be so smooth and pleasant without any obstacles. He thrived in wealth and had lots of assignments in his hands. But he experienced real pleasure in life only now. He had bought an acre of land in her name on the outskirts of the city and had built a three room house for her. The entire location was decked in greenery. There were three people to look after the house. He also made some deposits in her name in a bank and had bought her three ambassador cars, which were put in taxi service by a travel agency. She got money from the service every month. Apart from these, all her worldly desires were being fulfilled by him without any hesitation. She was not too keen on expensive jewellery or sarees or other household items. The man was also feeling relieved that he could manage so much with so little money and was very happy for that. To get such kind of happiness without any hurdles was beyond his expectation. His blissful family life with his wife and children and his affair with this younger girl and his wealth which kept on increasing, what else can one desire from life? He was feeling comforted by the fact that he was not neglecting his marital responsibilities. He fulfilled all their requirements and looked after the others in the family too. Once a year he would take his family on a pleasure trip to a foreign country and two three times he would take along this girl on business trips inside India. ‘It would have been nice if you had a child.” Sometime he would express his despair and desire before her. ‘Did I know that I would ever have a relationship with you? I cannot become a father anymore. After three children….’ he said with genuine regret. With work pressure and busy schedules, his blood pressure was high and there was a slight hint of a heart problem too. He was hospitalized for some days. For about two and a half months he did not get to see her. He would often ring her up and mention that he desperately wanted to see her. The girl too responded with similar ardour but there was no possibility. His family surrounded him all the time. ‘I have not seen you for two and a half months. Look at our fate! I have to go to Dubai on urgent work. Although the doctor had advised me a fortnight’s rest, I have no option. My wife and a doctor and would accompany me. There is a good offer; it may slip out of my hands if I do not go. One afternoon he reached her home. He paused for a while. ‘What is this nice aroma?’ The departure time for the flight was delayed by four hours. It was fated that he would miss the flight he was to catch from Mumbai for Dubai. Although it disappointed him, he felt happy too. At least he could spend the evening with her! After leaving his wife home he instructed the driver to drive fast. When he reached her gate he saw the car with the travel agency standing there. The entire garden looked desolate. Did she go anywhere? But there was a car parked outside. Perhaps she was sleeping. He entered through the door that was not bolted from inside. The moment he stepped into the room he almost turned into stone by what he saw. His eyes widened in disbelief and he stared blankly ahead. The girl was lying in another man’s arms. He was caressing her hair. They got up immediately seeing him. He could see that it was the driver of the ambassador car, who he had employed eight months back. ‘What is happening? Who is this man?’ he struggled with these words and was trembling all over. ‘What?’ he froze with the shock. They stood like that facing each other for quite sometime. ‘Leave this place immediately. Get lost I say… Else I kill you.’ The driver now released his hands from the grip of the woman and advanced towards the man menacingly. The end Once Upon a Night Paramita Satpathy One Lipi was beginning to stress. Her work was not finished yet. She never ever took as long as she was doing today. She normally wound up by half past eight in the night. The clock was showing nine today and she still had not finished her work. Maybe she should shut down the computer. She thought for a split second about completing the half-finished report the first thing next morning before picking up fresh assignments. But there was no knowing if the Managing Director won’t show up at nine and want to see the report. If the report was not ready by then, she will have to face hell in the morning. Lipi took a long breath. The computer was out of control today. It had got stuck twice already. She sat quietly for a while and looked around. Everyone was gone. She had clean forgotten that she was all by herself for the past half hour. It was kind of strange that no one bothered to tell her. She knew she won’t be able to work on any one else’s computer. She didn’t know the password. Lipi, for her part, always insisted on never leaving her work unfinished. Her professionalism had earned her a name among her peers. But what would she do now? She had let another fifteen minutes pass in the mean time. Well forget it; she would have to call it a day today, leaving her work half done. “Didi, won’t you go home today? It is very late in the night.” The old watchman came towards her, tapping the floor with his stick. “Yes, my work got over now and I am just leaving.” Lipi took another long breath. She was feeling very unfulfilled. She knew she won’t sleep so well tonight. She knew she would feel comforted only after completing her work next morning. Lipi came out after shutting down her computer absentmindedly and turned on the ignition on her scooty, her mind focused on her work. She felt a little frightened as she came out on to the road. The night had really advanced. It was close to ten. She had never in the past left office so late in the night. If at all she had been late on occasions, she had either been shown a favour by a colleague or had alternately asked a favour of a colleague. Today there just was no scope for any conversation with anybody. And look at these people? One of them could have asked at least! No, everyone was selfish. She was so absorbed in her work today that she didn’t remember anything else. Suddenly the beam from the head light of a car that was behind tore through her thoughts and fell on the patch of road before her. Lipi didn’t get overly worried. But the car seemed to be tailgating her rather perilously. It could be a Maruti car or a van. Wasn’t the fool of a driver able to see? Feeling a trifle irritated, Lipi edged towards the left of the road. Strange! The car too followed suit and came within a touching distance of her scooty. This driver was either drunk or didn’t know how to drive, Lipi thought. Lipi had no option but to step down from the tarred road onto the bare earth. She wanted to stop her scooty in order to give a mouthful to the driver. But she thought the better of it. The green Maruti car brushed past her scooty as it overtook her and stopped right in front of her. As Lipi came level, the black-tinted glasses of the two front windows were rolled down and voices and loud laughter were heard from the inside of the car. Lipi peered in that direction and could make out the vague shapes of three or four persons. “Stop her scooty and catch the slut. Drag her in.” Lipi panicked. She instantly knew that a couple of rogues were after her, finding her alone on an empty road. She further realized that the two doors of the car were about to be flung open. Within the blink of an eye Lipi started her scooty and, reversing direction, started to speed off on the half paved and half unpaved road. She knew that the Maruti too did the same in order to chase her. Lipi tried to drive her scooty at a blinding speed. If she would so much as stumble upon a small stone then her eventless life would come to an abrupt end then and there. But Lipi had no time to think even. She only looked ahead and accelerated. Her face felt hot and chill wind swept past her two ears. She was unable to see or make out the houses and buildings standing on either side of the road. There was no chance to look in any other direction. Her eyes were fixated on the limited area of the road lighted by the beam from the headlight of her scooty. The fact barely registered in her consciousness that the area that she was crossing at that point was Jayadev Vihar. The area that looked so resplendent in broad daylight with the wide road and the houses of various shapes and sizes lining the road on either side now seemed to sink deeper into the gloom as a frightened and mute witness to her adversity. She had no idea how far she had gone. She found herself on a relatively wider road, with the Maruti car, its headlights blazing, still shadowing her. Should she seek shelter in somebody’s house? The thought slowed her down a little and the car veered dangerously close to her. “Drag her in” – She heard a muffled cry and felt a pressure on her right shoulder. She increased the speed of her scooty with all her might. She could feel the load drop off her shoulder blade, but at that moment she experienced a severe pain in the front of her neck. The hand that shot out from the car had tried to drag Lipi by her odni and it pressed her neck hard in the process of getting detached from her. Just then Lipi reached a crossroads and, turning blindly to her left, drove very fast. The driver of the car who was now parallel to her had probably not reckoned with her sudden change of direction. The car turned around a little ahead and then followed Lipi. She had gained some distance in the mean time. She looked back and thought that the car was now about a hundred meters behind her. The lane she was now entering was narrow, but not nearly as narrow as to stop a Maruti car from passing through it if driven with some care. But Lipi felt the car slowing down. She looked to both sides. This was the time for decision. How long could this hide-and-seek go on in this blind alley? By postponing it she knew she was running the risk of a failed brake or of a skid on the road or of colliding against something. After all how far could she go like this? She had no idea where she had reached. How far was the main road? No knowing what mishap could lie in wait for her there. She could already feel her limbs starting to shake. She saw the Iron Gate in front of the solitary house. She opened the gate with her left hand without alighting from her scooty and went in. She got off the scooty quickly and ran towards the grill gate of the house. She knocked on the grill twice. Spotting the calling bell on the wall to her right she started pressing the button. She thought she saw the car come to a halt a little distance away and its doors open to let out the persons sitting inside. Now they will swoop down on her, she thought. She was so tired and was in such a panic that her finger remained pressed on the calling bell. The door to the house opened in the nick of time and someone came out. “Who is it? What do you need?” “Please let me in quickly. They are after me. Look, they are moving towards me. Let me in, please.” Lipi’s voice was on its edge and she was constantly looking back to see. The door opened wide and Lipi pushed past the man standing in front of her and got in. “Please shut the door fast and bolt it. They are chasing me and will be here in an instant.” Lipi was shaking like a leaf. The man at once shut the grill door and the wooden door inside at her request. “Now they will bang on the door. What will happen, what am I to do?” Lipi said this to herself. Her senses were fully alert to every word, every movement from without. She had no time to check the inside of the house or the man who opened the door to let her in. “They are still outside. I can hear them. Maybe they are laying an ambush for me. I left my scooty lying outside. They will make off with it for sure.” Lipi started speaking to herself once again. “The scooty is outside. Shall I bring it to the veranda inside?” The man asked. “No, please don’t open the door now. They will most certainly be around.” Lipi was frightened beyond her wits and her eyes and ears were trained on the outside, as before. “Please sit down for a while.” The man had brought Lipi a glass of water in the mean time. Lipi drank up the water in one breath like an automaton and broke into a cold sweat immediately after. “I’d like to make a phone call. Do you have a telephone?” Lipi now had the occasion to take a look at the man. “Sorry, I don’t have a telephone. I came to this place only a few fays ago. I have applied for a phone connection, but haven’t got one.” The man sounded sorry as he said this. Was the man speaking the truth? Lipi studied him closely. The man seemed to be in his mid or late thirties, was brown in complexion and was dressed in a white panjabi and trousers. Lipi looked this way and that. The house was smallish. Maybe it was a one-bedroom house. He seemed to be alone in the house. The roar of a Maruti car engine was heard from the outside at this point. The car started to move, cutting through the silence of the road and the surrounding air. When the sound receded, Lipi felt a little restless. “I should be going home now. I have my scooty.” Lipi stood up to go. “Don’t trouble yourself. Wait for another ten minutes. You need some rest.” Lipi sat down quietly again and surveyed the room from the corner of her eye. The man was also sitting quietly. The clock on the wall kept ticking and everything else seemed to have stood stock still. Lipi heaved a sigh. - Oh, how did indeed the day unfold? It was eleven in the night already. This meant that her ordeal of wandering in the streets and lanes had lasted only half an hour. Yet it didn’t feel like that at all. She felt as if she had carried this huge burden of time for hours on end. “Time to check out the scooty.” Lipi stood up from her seat. The man got up too and unbolted the door. He came out followed by Lipi. The man tried to unlock the grill door. ‘No, please, not yet.” Lipi almost screamed as she pounced upon the hand of the man fiddling with the lock. “They are still around, still waiting. They may take advantage of the open door to rush in.” Lipi was out of her breath as she said this, and, pointing her right index finger towards the massed darkness outside, stood there hypnotised. The man tried to peer into the darkness in an effort to fish something out. A car really was parked outside the gate, although it was not possible to make sure if it was the same green Maruti or not. Lipi walked back into the house followed by the man. “Please shut the door.” Lipi appealed to the man in an exhausted tone of voice. She seemed withered like a defeated sportsperson. Sitting herself down on a cane chair that was nearby, she held her head back and closed her eyes. Closing of eyes summoned before her mind’s eye a familiar scene of violence enacted in cinema. She was getting out through the open gate. The passengers of the green car were swooping down on her from somewhere in the dark. Lipi felt breathless. She sat up straight, her eyes wide open. “Would you like something to eat? You must be hungry.” The man asked Lipi. “No, I’m not hungry.” Lipi’s own voice sounded very faint to her ears. The man left the place. He brought from a nearby room or perhaps the kitchen a jar of biscuits, a bottle of water and a glass and kept them on the tea table. Lipi had no desire to glance at them. “Do you want me to go outside and make a phone call to your home? Give me your phone number.” The man offered to help. No need of that. I shall leave after a while.” Lipi knew that there was no one in her house except her mother. It was all the same to her whether she was notified or not. Mother would only worry a lot and send out a number of SOS phone calls in the middle of the night. Besides, Lipi didn’t want this man to go out, leaving her alone in the house. - But what if she and this man were to spend the entire night in a closed room? Lipi couldn’t think ahead. “I shall take you home on my motorbike if you want to go.” The man said after five minutes of silence. An obscene cry tore through the darkness and silence and dissolved along with its faint echo. Lipi felt a chill crawl up her spine. “They are still outside.” Lipi could manage to say only this in her traumatized state. It seemed to her as if some hairy beasts were lying in wait for her outside with daggers, claws and teeth. Does she then have to stay here all night? Lipi knew without even looking that the man’s eyes were surveying her. “Alright. Come then and take some rest.” Lipi didn’t try to look him in the eye. She was filled with vexation. How could the man expect her to rest under these circumstances? She could feel the eyes of the man glowing. Could she also be planning to take advantage of her helplessness? She badly wanted to rush out of the house and ride home on her trusty scooty. At the next moment she knew that it was beyond the bounds of possibility. They were still there, laying an ambush. “Get up, please come this way.” The man left his seat and came and stood near Lipi. Without facing him she remained adamantly seated, her eyes focused on the floor. “Come on, pull yourself together.” The man applied a gentle pressure on her left shoulder and made her stand up. Lipi felt sick. What an ill-mannered person? She could almost predict his next move. There was no way out for her anyway. She imagined with horror the other scenario: her mutilated and mauled body lying outside all through the night and pictures of it splashed across all newspapers in the morning and the huge crowd gathered in front of her house. She would either be dead or, what is worse, experience a kind of death every moment of her waking life. At least here the incident would remain confined to the four walls. The man led Lipi towards the bedroom, touching her shoulder lightly. “I don’t feel like sleeping.” Lipi insisted. She was wondering about the implication of this forcible removal to the bedroom. “Sit down here. Take a little rest.” The man was standing near her. Lipi too found herself seated on the bed. She thought she should scream. But who would listen? In Bhubaneswar, neighbours did not know each other, let alone come to each other’s help, even when they lived in houses that almost touched each other. She would only earn a bad name. That would be all. The man, for his part, might allege that Lipi had come to him willingly. Lipi sat with her head slightly bowed. She knew the man stood near her and looked at her unblinkingly as a predator amusedly watched over an easily available prey. The night had deepened. The man would probably start of by coaxing her and then by forcing himself on her. Lipi was psyching herself up for this. Her father had been hell bent on getting her and her brother married within six months. He had started entertaining proposals from several quarters for this purpose. Father had in fact gone to her brother three days ago. Lipi was working as a computer programmer in a private company. She had started to dream about her future husband and their life together. Now the dream was to be dashed to the ground. Till today she had kept herself immune from the touch of a male hand. Well preserved, she was a virgin in body and mind. She had never allowed herself to waver in the face of a mesmerizing glance. She had made up her mind about accepting the man, arranged by her parents, as her spouse. She had landed herself in quite a mess here. She would not be able to tell anyone. Nor would she be able to come to terms with herself if something happened tonight. The man was standing there like that. Lipi summoned up her courage to cast a fiery look at him this time. The civilized demeanour of the man was a mere veneer; rank bestiality lay concealed underneath that civilized mask. Was woman only an object of pleasure? Was it her fate to be a victim of circumstances and time? The man smiled delicately in return for Lipi’s angry look. “Make yourself comfortable in the bedroom. I shall stretch myself in the drawing room.” Leaving her seated like that, the man walked out of the room. He must be showing off. He also probably realised that the lone rider through the night was not lacking in guts. Or maybe he was waiting for the right moment. The night would deepen still more and slumber would seal the eyes of everyone. Keeping pace with this darkening gloom, Lipi’s nervousness would also increase. She cast furtive and cautious glances all around. If only she chanced upon a knife or a sharp-edged weapon, it would come in handy! She tried to study the man’s movements. He did not seem to be present in the drawing room. She could hear the water running from a tap. She walked with stealthy steps towards the door and parted the curtain. She could not find him. She slammed the bedroom door shut and bolted it from inside. Now she found herself alone inside a closed room. She heaved a sigh of relief. Thank God, she was saved from an imminent danger. There were only 3 to 4 hours of night left. She could sit through those. She felt deeply relieved. The sounds of passing vehicles woke Lipi up. The day had broken. Lipi woke up with a start. She had changed from a sitting to a supine position at some point during her vigil last night. Her eyes fell immediately on the closed door. The door remained bolted from the inside as before. She got up from bed and opened the door. The drawing room was all aglow from the incoming rays of the morning sun. The stranger was seated in a chair with a newspaper in his hands. He was at angle to her. He turned his face on hearing the sound of the door opening, and, keeping the newspaper on the tea table, stood up. “Hope you caught some sleep. I had my fears about you last night. I thought you needed a doctor. Lipi looked the man straight in the face before making any reply. How serene and radiant he looked! There was no other furniture in the room. So he must have gone to sleep, leaning against this cane chair. Lipi felt somewhat guilty. The man had probably finished his bath. Lipi felt embarrassed about appearing before him in an unwashed face. “I fell asleep.” Lipi spoke softly. On recalling that her odni had been snatched away by her pursuers last night she literally died of shame. “I have troubled you enough. Now I must leave.” Lipi said, making eye contact with the man. She had no words to express her sense of gratitude. The morning felt very warm and cozy. It was redolent of brightness, hope and comfort. What a stark contrast with the night that had just passed! “Please wash your face. I haven’t had my morning tea. I was waiting for you. You can leave as soon as you have had your tea.’ Lipi had no power in her to turn down the offer. She went to the bath room and washed her face. She saw two doors to the bath room, both of which were open. One door opened to the bedroom and another one to the veranda adjacent to the drawing room. So both these doors were open last night. And she thought she was perfectly safe by closing the bedroom door and bolting it from the inside. Lipi laughed to herself and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She entered the bedroom unflinchingly this time and surveyed the interior with admiring eyes. The décor was spotless, tasteful and understated. All this had escaped her notice last night. The stranger had an attractive build. He also looked younger in the morning light. Lipi was watching him out of the corner of her eye while sipping tea. “My name is Sambit Pattanaik. There is a name plate out in the front, but you may not have seen it at night.” Sambit also informed him that he worked as a Sales Representative of a Tea Company and had relocated to Bhubanewar only two months back. Lipi smiled delicately, lifted her admiring eyes off Sambit’s face to take in the other aspects of the room. How intimate did the cane chairs of this empty drawing room feel! They were the mute spectators of her disaster of last night and of her magical escape there from. There was a book-sized photo on the small table in the left hand corner of the room. It seemed to her as if Sambit was following her glance! “She’s my wife Priti and this is my five year-old daughter Nitu. I haven’t been able to bring them here from Kolkata. I shall go at the end of the month.” Lipi felt a little commotion inside her. It never crossed her mind that this man called Sambit could also be a married person. She had begun to develop a sense of belonging to this little house. Her eyes wandered in the direction of the photo again despite herself. It seemed to her as if Sambit’s radiant personality emerged with redoubled vigour from the picture while his wife’s appeared to dissolve. “I’m going.” Lipi stood up from her chair. She noticed the scooty that was carefully parked on the veranda. “I gave you a deal of trouble really. For my sake …” Lipi broke off. Her eyes filled up with tears and her voice was choked. “No, it’s nothing. Forget about last night. Such adversities do come in life at times. But do take care in future.” Sambit smiled gently. Two
Hearing the sound of the door bell at ten in the night Sambit opened the door and was surprised to see Lipi at the door. She was not the Lipi of that dreadful night. Had he not taken a good look at her in the morning after, he would not have been able to recognise her on this occasion. Lipi was dressed in a faint pink saree. There were sweat beads on her face and a red bindi adorned the space between her two eye brows. Her lips were a light pink and trembled a little. Her big eyes were smeared with kohl. She lifted her face to make eye contact with Sambit. “You? In this shape? At this time?” Sambit didn’t know what to ask. It challenged his powers of comprehension to think that the glamorous young woman of tonight was none other than the timid and frightened girl of that other night. “Yes, it’s me.” Lipi’s large kohl-smeared eyes were in soft focus. “I couldn’t forget … “ “I have come. Can I stay just for one night?” Lipi’s voice was about to trail off. It was as if the ground was beginning to shake beneath her feet. Her face was reddening and her whole body was atremble with emotion. The dazed eyes of Sambit softened. His eyes and face began to take on that charming and hypnotized look. He became wordless. He was only able to sniff through his eyes the unspoilt beauty of Lipi. “Only for one night? That’s all?” Sambit managed to speak after quite a while. Lipi lifted her downcast face and fixed her bedazzled look on Sambit’s face. Her face looked radiant from some cherished anticipation. A strand of curly hair played about on her face defying her command. “Come inside.” Spellbound, Sambit extended his trembling hand towards Lipi.
--------X------
|
|---|