The Honeymoon Voyage- A Mature Anidita Story

The beginning of a stirring romance!

The Majestic was one of the most luxurious passenger ships or ocean liners amongst the other smaller passenger ships that Aniruddh and Binoy usually took for "to and fro" voyages between India and England. Most of the journeys through the Indian Ocean were preferred to be scheduled around October and November to avoid rough seas and poor weather conditions due to the heavy monsoon season.

However, this time around, Aniruddh had made the reservations in an emergency as Bondita's Thaku maa had left him with no other choice but to leave her there in return for the Vedic treatment that she was to provide to Bondita to avoid the amputation of her leg.

His Bondita had incurred a dangerous injury at a khandar where Thaku maa had tricked her into going for the sake of some mythical shudhikaran- She wanted to purify Bondita off of her association with Aniruddh so that she could find a groom for her!

Aniruddh had of course stood against Thaku maa and tried his best to rescue Bondita, but when the doctor at Krishna Nagar told him that her leg was getting better because of Thaku maa's medicine, Aniruddh had given up his animosity against the old, sinister woman, and had begged her to continue with the treatment and to not let his Bondita's leg to be amputated.

But Thaku maa played a vile game, using Aniruddh's love and concern for Bondita against him.

She told him to leave Bondita forever if he wanted her to continue Bondita's treatment...otherwise, she wouldn't treat her at all!

The thought of a handicapped Bondita was crippling for Aniruddh. It broke his heart into millions of pieces, but he decided that he could not see Bondita losing her leg...and so, he decided to lose her instead!

Accepting Thaku maa's vicious condition, Aniruddh had a solid plan:

Drown himself in alcohol and give up on life!

But after getting miraculously saved by one such suicide attempt, he decided to leave the country for good if leaving the world was impossible!

And so, he made the reservations at the grand ocean liner that was taking mail, cargo, and several British officials and businessmen on an off-season voyage to London.

The Majestic was like its name: Majestic and Grand.

It had three types of accommodation cabins divided on the basis of the social and economic status of the passengers: The 1st Class was for British officials and elite people, while the 2nd Class was meant for ordinary, middle-class Indians.

The 3rd Class was meant for the working clergy belonging to the lower socio-economic strata.

Aniruddh was not class-conscious like the Britishers used to be. Besides, when he had made the reservation, he was traveling alone, and honestly, he was in such a pathetic state of mind at that time that it didn't even matter where he would be staying as long as he was on any vessel that could take him far away from India.

So, he had made a reservation in the 2nd Class on the ship.

However, the 2nd Class staterooms had single bunk beds attached to the walls, and each cabin had at least 6 bunkers. It meant that there was no privacy and it was supposed to be shared accommodation.

But now that Bondita was with him, he didn't find it right to have her travel in a way that may cause her discomfort. Also, knowing that her leg would need more care, he was not comfortable having her travel in any shared space with other people.

And deep down, the most important reason for him to decide that they would travel through 1st Class was that he wanted her to have a good time after such a tumultuous and horrifying period that she had to endure since the annulment of their marriage.

However, apart from all these sane and practical reasons, there was another very sentimental reason that Aniruddh's heart knew but he was reluctant to acknowledge.

The truth was, he just wanted to give a beautiful, luxurious give-away to his Bondita...It was her first international trip, and Aniruddh wanted it to be special and memorable for her...

However, the girl for whom he could literally do anything and everything was in pain because of all the running they had to do at the Calcutta railway station.

Trying to control his fury and anguish at her Thaku maa for subjecting her to so many problems, he looked at her pain-stricken face and his anger dissipated. It was replaced by worry and concern for her as he said,

"I am so sorry Bondita... Tumko itna bhagaaya miene..."

And then, cupping her face, he told her gently,

"Fiker na kero Bondita. Abhi hum room mien jayeinge tou mien tumhare zakham per dawai laga dun ga. Aur yahan ship per doctors bhi hote hain. Tou ager koi problem hua tou we can consult them too."

When she nodded in approval, he gently bent down and tucking one arm under her knees, he lifted her in his arms.