Redemption and Scars (A tale of Anidita)

Chapter Five

His first step, Her passive behavior

"Where is Bondita and Batuk? It's way past their school time"- Anirudh's question is met with a frown from the rest of the family sitting in the living room. Seeing no one answering him, his irritation grew.

Here he was, thinking of spending special time with his Bondita and here, She were missing. He even came home early today from court. Getting bewildered looks from his associates as he leaves the court always late due to his workaholic nature.

Finally, Somnath answered him, "Dada, don't you remember, today Uday and even our Batuk has a hockey match and they are all staying back to watch their match".

Anirudh's hands clench at his sides and his veins at his forehead looks ready to burst, hearing the reason of her being late.

Somnath smirks at Anirudh. Finally, 'his dear dada' is tasting jealousy. He honestly finds it entertaining to watch him struggle with his feelings for his Boudi these days.

And poor Boudi, don't even realize his dada's struggles. She remains oblivious to Anirudh's various ways of trying to be close with her. Along with the other members of the family.

Everyone thinks of Anirudh as some monster, who don't even consider Bondita his wife. Only he knows what kind of looks he give her.

His gaze gets constantly stuck on her at the dining table. He brings trinkets for her almost every week. And Somnath even saw him writing poetry for her and reciting it for her in the darkness of his study. All the while, his Bondita Boudi was in her room revising.

He had checked himself.

Nowadays, he even matches his shirts with her sarees on special occasions. Which, no one seems to notice. What a lack of observation skill his family have! Somnath thought to himself.

It was quite embarrassing to see his Dada behaving in such a lovestruck manner. He thought to himself with a little smile on his face.

"Kaka, I am going to collect Bondita from school and take her somewhere. We'll come home late"- Anirudh doesn't wait for his reply and storms out of the Haveli.

Trilochon at Anirudh's hurricane exit,  screeched like the male banshee that he is.

"Gadha bagar billa, don't even wait for our permission. How will I do my veneration without my Bondita bahu? Who will listen to what I heard at the Panchayat now?"-Binoy and Somnath shakes their heads at his hysterics.

"Honestly, his da is the biggest obstacle in Anirudh's story. With his constant interfering in their every activity, maybe he was Anirudh's enemy or lost love in the previous birth"- Binoy thought exasperatedly.

Binoy smirked then, as Anirudh's car roared to life, it seems finally Anirudh's patience regarding Bondita's silence is broken.

He adjusted his chashma (glasses) and starts reading the newspaper again. He pays no more attention to them. As he is not so noisy like his Trilochon da.

Anirudh starts driving his car, all the while thinking about taking Bondita out to eat something delicious without the interference of their family.

In reality, he was thinking about how to make His Bondita forget about that boy feeding her "Their Roshogolla". And make her only remember him and his time with her.

Anirudh reached the school 10 minutes later. After parking his car, he noticed the school was almost empty and silent except for the loud sounds coming from the ground. And he instantly knew where his beloved wife was.

He reached the grounds and almost reached the peak of his jealousy, seeing his Bondita cheering Uday and Batuk as they were playing in the field.

Today, even Batuk was playing hockey as he was the reserved hockey player. Anirudh was happy for his brother but hated seeing Bondita cheering so loudly for them.