Dhanyawaad ( An Anidita Story )

Ch.5 A Courageous Approach

*Next Morning*

*Devipur*

Every one in the house is looking for Bondita who is nowhere to be found.

"Hey Kaali maa, ye ladki fir kuch gandagola karegi. Kal vivah ke liye maan nahi rahi thi aur aaj ghar se gaayab hein.", her mami shouted.

Suddenly Bondita entered from the front door.

"Kaha gayi thi besharam. Tera vivah hone wala h aise bahar kon ghumta h."

"Vivah hone wala h to kya nahana chhod du mami. Nadi pe nahane gayi thi."

"Itni jaldi kaise uth gayi tu."

"Jaldi aankh khul gayi to jaldi chali gayi. Vaise bhi der se jaao to fir vo aadmi nahi aa jate.", Bondita said with a straight face. She knew that she could get caught so she carried a bundle of clean clothes with her to the jungle. After spending the whole night there she directly went to the river in the morning and took a bath.

"Thik h lekin ab vivah tak akele ghar se bahar mat jana. Ab shanti se andar chali jaa aur jyaada shor mat karna tumhare mama so rahe hein."

She went inside. Her mother, mami and Sampoorna didi left for the river to freshen up. She sat down for some time just closing her mind and concentrating but her mind was fixed on the letter. Had it reached her husband? How would he react to it? Will he agree to her conditions?

After what felt like an eternity, she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to divert her mind. She went to the corner of the room where a small statue of the goddess was kept on an elevated platform. Beside the statue, there were some books. She saw the book on top of the bundle - 'दुर्गा चालीसा'. She lit the diya in front of the deity and picked up the book and started reciting it in her mind. She was completely absorbed in her prayer and did not notice that her mother had come back.

*Sumati pov*

I came back from the river. I usually come back first since I have to bath in the isolated spot of the river. The married ladies sit and chit chat for a while while the young girls play in the water. But I am a widow. No one wants to talk to an outcast like me. I go home to my daughter. Even if the whole world is against me, my daughter, she will always be by my side.

But now I have forced her to leave me and get married. But if she doesn't get married then the society will treat her like an outcast too. I enter the room and what I see shocks me. Bondita was reading a book. The book that dada reads everyday. Durga chalisa. No girl from our family was educated or taught to read or write. It is a social taboo. If anyone finds out that Bondita can read, they will accuse her and ask her various question. Her marriage might also be cancelled.

*Third Person pov*

'Bodhi aur Sampoorna ghar aate hee honge.', Sumati thought and hurried towards Bondita. She tapped her shoulder so that there is no commotion otherwise her brother will wake up. She snatched the book from her hands, kept it down and dragged her outside. She sat her down and asked her, "Bondita tu pustak padh rahi thi? Beta, tujhe padhna likhna kaise ata h."

Now, Bondita was at a loss of words. She certainly cannot tell her how she knew to read and write. "Na-Nahi to ma, mujhe kaha padhna likhna aata h.", she said looking away.

"Bondita, jhooth mat bol. Apni maa se jhooth bolegi tu.", she looked at Bondita sternly.

Sumati was worried. Bondita was always rebellious. Although in the past 5 years, she never talked much and also became more mature, she still used to question all the orthodox rituals and ideologies of the society and now she knew how to read and write. What if she stays rebellious like this at her husband's house? He will throw her out and a discarded woman has no stand in the society. She will be sold for prostitution.