"Why this kolaveri kaolaveri di ........ ".Chaitra sat on the bench in
platform 6, pondering over the uncanny
similarities between her life and the lyrics of the song that was playing in the tea stall. She leaned
back on the bench and dozed into the memories of the 5 years that transcended
on their relationship. Nothing much changed after the accidental proposal. They
stayed afloat in a bubble of unsaid commitment, above and away from the
realms and complications of an actual relationship. The 27 candles on her b’day
cake seemed to be taunting at the uncertainty that prevailed in her life and it was then that she decided to
prick the bubble which she knew would land both of them on a bed of thorns.
Kavi smudged her face with the cream, posing to the camera with a victory
symbol. “Kavi where are we headed??”She asked
He stared at her for a second with a
taken back expression,”Chaitra I think this is not the right ……”
She stormed out of the room as their
friends saw with a baffled expression.
Unmindful of the onlookers gesticulating at her cream laden face she walked as fast as her legs could carry .
“Chaitra please don’t do this “Kavi
grabbed her from behind
“Ok so do we have a future or am I just
wasting my time”
“All right what do you want me to do
leave my long dreamt mission and join you to live a 9.am to 9pm MNC job or do you
expect me to ask you to leave yours and join me in an uncertain life where I don’t
even know whether I would get my salary or for that matter make it alive the
next day. Give me some more time till the tension in naxalbari settles down”.
“Kavi I want a normal life I appreciate
your revolutionary thoughts but I can’t drag this any further”
Chaitra moved to Santa clara in
pursuit of her onsite opportunity whereas Kavi went on to serve the conglomerate
which he started with a vision to generate employment in Mao and naxal stricken
areas Poverty cant be alleviated by keeping the govt at gun point or by
giving charity. Only a win win assuring business can that was his ideology.
He found willing venture capitalists who were ready to stake his social enterprise and a few student volunteers who were willing to survive
on porridge and sleep on a cemented floor with mosquitoes and other formidable
parasites biting them, because that was the life one could expect when on an exile
in a place like Naxalbari. The govt and naxalites were at loggerheads and they
both in unison were against Kavi. It
was the masses that supported him and the bullet that pierced his chest during a crossfire shot him to instant fame.
The people made him their local leader and fortified his residence.
Chaitra’s every alternative weekend
was spent in meeting one of the prospective grooms her parents would excitedly
introduce her to until one fine day when she received a call at 3.30am … from her
dad barking at the other side of the phone “Who the hell is this Kavikrut”.
She woke up with a start to the
glaring sound from the engine of Howrah express pulling into the platform. Her
heart started racing fast as she saw him getting down in the end. How much she loved the way
his hair fell on the forehead, the way he would innocently stroke it back, that mischievous smile that never left his lips not even when his body was pumping
out blood after taking the bullet. "How do you manage to look ugly even in
something as beautiful as an atpoure saree(bengali style sari) " he guffawed greeting her with a hand
shake. Those fiercely attractive eyes now were a tad wiser trying to conceal the
pain Naxalbari had inflicted, the pain inflicted by the struggle he had to go
through in convincing his own as well as chaitra’s parents single-handedly while
she was continents away during the drama unfold".
"And you by the way look
like an aghori sadhu straight from the burial grounds of Varanasi” she replied trying
to hide her tears with a teasing laughter.
"Leaving my enterprise in safe hands
here I am to start a so called “NORMAL” life with you so how are you going to
please your groom".
“Really haven’t I pleased you enough by accepting your
challenge to dress up in this Bengali sari".
“Coming to think of it neither of us
really proposed, so why don’t you, like a good girl get down on your knees and
propose to me”.
“What the … Me !!! here on the
platform??”
“Yes you talk of an egalitarian
society and when it comes to proposals why are men expected to do it all the
time”.
She smiled and got down on her knees
“Dear Mr. Mukherjee thank you for creating such high
octane drama in my life ,so now will you please stop giving mixed signals and
marry me "