Prakriti felt someone had pulled her ear in the middle of the road; she looked back to find her mother smiling;she had no idea what was going on and how come all of a sudden her mom came as she had expected her to be home where she was making her way to; she had to remove her ear-plug; Taylor Swift’s “ You Belong With Me “ was now audible to those around them; however, it was around 3pm and there were few people on the road; Prakriti’s mom gave her no time to answer to her questions; she simply grabbed her hand and said, “ come on… let’s go; there is none in the house”;
“ well… yeah…!! But where ??? “, Prakriti asked her mother in amazement;
“ to Gariahat…shopping…. Your aunts will be waiting ;so better hurry “;
“ ooh..ok..fine ;” replied the girl carelessly;
“ where do you remain these days Prakriti ?? “ asked her mom
Prakriti, still trying to get out of dreamland, exclaimed, “ eerr?? “
“ uufff!!!! You should better get that ear plug out of our ear sometimes; I have been calling you from back and you still could not notice that “
“mom… leave it anyway… “ ; Prakriti suppressed her agitation and soon put in her ear-phone again and this time she changed the tune to Swift’s , “ love story “ ; they walked passed the apartments and then came by the old temple; Prakriti looked in awe at the sacred place; it was a pretty old temple of Goddess Kali with a large thakur dalan n a beautiful ‘shiv tala ‘ surrounded by betel, banyan n jasmine trees; the ‘ Shiv tala’ was on the outskirts of the ‘ Kali Mandir’ ; it happened to be one of Prakriti’s favorite places where she would come often for solace; she loved to sit near the ebony Shiv linga and would stare at HIM, her eyes reflecting her pains, happiness, queries and complaints; nobody knew whether she got her replies; this time, her eyes were full of grievances for the pain that has been in her heart but her eyes also shone with respect ; but Prakriti’s mother was in a hurry ;so they had to pass by the place soon; the straight road through which they were making their way now got divided into different directions; they took the one which led straight to ‘ gariahat bazaar ‘ ; “ mom, where are we going actually?? “, Prakriti now spoke up ;
“Your aunts are meeting at Nabarupa Cosmetics Store :we need to buy cosmetics for your cousin and her would be bride-groom and also some things for namoshakari “ ; her mom explained in glee;
“oohh.. Nabarupa ?? !!”, Prakriti gave a deep sigh; her mom noticed and was surprised ;
“ what’s wrong with you?? You seem to be upset;you always loved to go to that store “
“yeah… I still do… “ , said Prakriti trying to hide her tears that had appeared in one corner of her eyes;
Prakriti’s mind was totally diverted now; she did not listen to her mom’s lecture and did not even care as her mom kept calling up her aunts as to when are they coming, verifying the list of bridal-tatyo and all that stuff; each and every step they took reminded Prakriti of her walk just two months before; she and Ananda had walked past the same road; she had taken him to the same Nabarupa stores but things were different then; situation was different; Prakriti was a literature student and it was through common friends that Ananda met her first in a social networking site; her batchmate and an engineer, Ananda was special in Prakriti’s life; she never knew it would happen; she had no clue since when she started trusting him, believing him and confide in him; was it Ananda’s spell…… or was it their depth of friendship…… or was it Prakriti’s mere innocence….. all these could not explain the reason; some things in the world happen without anyone’s notice; and may be that’s why they are special; Prakriti never knew what Ananda felt for her but her sleepless nights waiting for his call and sms, her constant gazing at his pictures, her smile that created scarlet hues on her cheeks whenever she was on phone with him was enough to tell her close friends Subhosree and Dibbo that she was in love…..!! yes…Prakriti was in love with Ananda…and may be she too had no idea of it; two months ago, it had been a lazy Saturday afternoon ; Tagore’s song , “ phul bole…dhonyo ami maatir pore ; jonmo niyechhi dhulite …doya kore dao bhulite “ ( " the flower says i am happy to be on earth...i have taken birth on this dust but please let me forget this") had created a calmness in Prakriti’s room when Ananda had called her up asking to meet within 10 mins; Prakriti was not among those type of girls who spend hours in front of the mirror; she somehow combed her hair to make her face sweet and presentable, grabbed a black T-shirt, and went out in sapphire jeans and black pump shoes; it was the happiest moment of her life…..smile adorned her face as she met him…..and that smile stayed with her as long as Ananda stayed with her; she had her world in front of her; it was through the same road they had walked, talking and laughing and sometimes Ananda caringly pushing her towards the footpath and grabbing her hand as the cars speeded by; it was a magical experience and so was the time; it was “ godhuli logno “ as the sun was setting with the evening approaching on the other side;the chaos of the cars, the birds flying back to their nests, the hustle and bustle of the road……all became inaudible to Prakriti’s ears as the only thing she could listen was to Ananda’s warm voice and the only thing she could do was to stare at him; he was really her DREAM PRINCE !! walking with her mother, Prakriti was lost in Ananda’s thoughts and she felt she was living up her enchanting moments once again; just then she felt a jerk on her shoulders and this time faced her mother’s angry face, “ just pull out those ear plugs right at this moment !! “ she said angrily ;
“mom, I am sorry !! “ , replied the girl timidly; noticing tears in her eyes, her mother left the topic and said , “ you ignored me this time too; I have telling you we have almost reached; now at least I expect you to pay due respect to your elders”;
“ oh..sure !! “; Prakriti was upset ; she never knew she would miss him so much; soon she met her aunts and went to Nabarupa Cosmetic stores;just two months ago, she had last come with Ananda to get a cosmetic she needed urgently; her eyes searched for him everywhere;Prakriti lost her common sense; she simply wished Ananda to be there….. “ why Annanda is not here ?? “ , she cried within herself ; “ it’s a nightmare; it has to be; Ananda should be here with me.. Prakriti… “; Prakriti’s heart beat fast; nobody noticed how the rose was dying reaching almost the stage of being withered away; but somewhere from inside Prakriti felt she had to be strong; she had duties to be fulfilled; and that she did helping the elders choosing cosmetics, suggesting stuff for her cousin’s wedding; love made Prakriti die from within; was it a death or birth she had no idea…. Whatever it was …it was for good; it was all that she knew; her chimerical eyes searched everywhere; everywhere for Ananda; those moments of being with him, when Ananda had guarded her brought smile and whenever she felt his absence, she cried; such was love…and she was happy to be in love; it doesn’t matter whether Ananda loved her; Prakriti loved someone and that mattered to her;it was the thing she cared for; the play of smile and tears was interrupted as her mother left the store; Prakriti followed her along with her aunts as they started talking with her; she just looked back at the store for once and hummed the tune of Tagore’s ……. “ ami jene shune bish korechhi paan…praanero asha chhere sopechhi praan…tobu o paarini dure jete morite ashi………." ( " i have drank the poison knowingly...i have given up my heart without any hope..still could not go away and come back to die " ).
