I almost forgot about this story though I had written the chapter a long time ago. Only 3 chapters left. Will upload really really soon this time.
The Ridiculed One
It was late at night. Though fatigue of the long flight journey swept over him, Pinakin could not close his eyes and let sleep took over him. Every time he tried to sleep old days flashed in front of his eyes. Thinking about how he became the ridiculed one because of her, made his breath heavy. He felt like the old days came back to make him re live it again. Even he knew somewhere in his sub conscious mind he wanted to cross his bygone days at least once. He was waiting for this day to arrive. Now when the day finally has arrived he felt like his inside is on fire and the smoke oozing out from it veiling his views of future. He felt himself getting crashed under the pressure of turbulent emotions. Closing his eyes vehemently he tried to decipher inner turmoil of his mind. A few moments of meditative silence and his eyes shot open again. It was not easy to tame the mayhem emotions were generating within his thought. No! His inner voice whispered him in his mind. I won't let my not forgotten past wash away my sanity, at least not tonight. Darkness engulfed him. Only sound that pierced through the darkness is sound of his sigh.
*****
August 2008. 5years ago from the current time.
It had been pouring nonstop since the morning. Thankfully the rain was not accompanied by strong gusts of wind. Though almost in every minute silver snake like lights were penetrating the chest of the sky. Unlike real snake the silver snake like lights were not hissing but it was roaring with valor like a Lion.
It had been only three days since Pinakin had joined The University of Hertfordshire as a guest lecturer before three days. He could only meet a handful of students as due to the cloudburst most of the students could not make to the college. The consequence was most of the places in the car parking area was unoccupied. Without much hardship he parked his black Toyota successfully. Before stepping out of car he had his umbrella open to prevent himself to get showered by rain, as his mobile chose to ring at the very moment. A thin confusion originated in him for a second but he handled everything together gracefully. Balancing the mobile between his ear and shoulder, holding umbrella in left hand he locked his car while talking to his mother in the phone.
'Mom sometimes you talk so much absurd things.' He replied at the phone. 'I am an adult. I have been an adult for last ten years. I know to stay healthy I have to eat vegetables more than junk foods.' Corner of his lips curved into a smile hearing the response of his mother. 'Don't worry for me. I will be fine. Take care.' Ending the phone call his eyes travelled to his wrist watch. He had class of under graduate sophomore from 10.30 AM. It was only 10 o' clock. He decided to walk towards the library. Book is the only thing which can wash away the boredom caused by unceasing monsoon.
The University of Hertfordshire is located at the beautiful city Hatfield. It is situated 20 miles from London. There is no surprise people find the outskirts of London more beautiful than the capital. Undeniably the heart of England has more glamorous and attractive appearance. But the green environment gave Hatfield a more soothing and calm beauty.
At the early hour of a rainy day the library was not crowded as he had guessed. Placing his umbrella in one of the wooden umbrella stands he entered the room of books. Exploring a few shelves he picked one or two books to read but was not able to find his desired book. As a result he landed on the decision to take help of the librarian.
'Excuse me.' His voice caused the librarian to avert her gaze from the newspaper she was reading with concentration and shift her attention on him.
' Yes?'
'Can you please help me to find "Selected poems by Rabindranath Tagore"'?
'Oh sure! Give me a few minutes.' She took a few moments typing and scrolling on the computer. 'I'm sorry but all the copies of the book are taken.' She said apologetically.
'It's okay. Thank you for your time.' He said halfheartedly.
'However you're the only one in the waiting list.' The librarian's voice rose again. 'If you provide me your contact number I can message you when I will have a copy back.' Penning down his mobile number he sat on a chair facing the entrance and opened one of the books he had selected. However he paid only half concentration in reading it. He saw students entering and exiting from library, two students earned tickets to get out of library as they were creating noise. He noticed a girl wearing vibrant red hooded rain coat entered. Seeing the red hooded rain coat he could not help to think about the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf used to give him hibbie jibbies in his childhood. It was subject of his curiosity how the old woman survived in the stomach of the wolf. He made his mother nearly drove her up the wall, asking the question again and again. His message tone jolted him out of reverie. It was message from the librarian. 'We have got the book you wanted. Please collect the book as soon as possible.' At the drop of a hat he found himself beside the librarian. She seemed to busy at talking to a girl disapprovingly. Only a part of their conversation made way to his ear.
'Please do not do this again.' Said the librarian.
'It won't happen again'. Mumbled the girl. The girl had heart shaped face, light brown eyes she was pretty but he did not waste another minute to look at the futures of the girl as he was too exited having the book. Last time he when he took a glance at her he saw her taking out the vibrant red raincoat from the coat rack.
***
Roop woke up early at the morning. She did not have a good sleep at all. She brushed her teeth and took a bath before going to Priyam's room. They had some light breakfast in her room. She tried to keep her mind idle and calm but to her utter dismay thoughts of Pinakin decided to poke her again and again. This was disgusting to think of him now. Not when she is on a vacation in a state adored by beauty of nature and history. What had happened to her attitude of life, 'forget the past and enjoy the present?' She felt like something is tickling in her stomach and she will throw out everything she had eaten since the day she was born.
'You're not eating anything.' Priyam's voice shot her back to materialistic world but she did not pay attention to her words.
'huh?'
'I said you're not eating anything.' Priyam said pointing at her food, which laid on the trey almost untouched. 'What happened to you? Are you feeling sick?'
Roop struggled to surrender to the temptation to say I'm suffering from 'Haunted Memories Disorder' (is it even a disease?). Instead her facial muscles pulled and straighten against each other as her lips curved into a smile and she said 'I'm filled by lively energy and excitement and this excitement killed my appetite for food.'
Roop half expected her lies will be naked but Priyam seemed to settle in with it.
'Events occurred at yesterday night made me lose my hunger.' She murmured. 'Who thought life will take this turn.'
Roop took a little time to establish in her mind, Priyam is talking about Ved not about her.'
'I did.' At the moment she realized what Priyam meant she gave a sharp instant reply. Priyam rolled her eyes disapprovingly nonetheless Roop went on about her thoughts on relationship of Ved and Priyam. 'You are in denial over you feeling for him. God was kind that the episode took place yesterday unless Ved would have never declared his heart to you.' She said over dramatically.
'Says the girl who decided to stay single because she has failed in every attempt of serious relationship since her 9th grade.' Priyam mocked.
'Uff! Not Now.' She said to herself as she prohibited her past to knock on her mind-door again. 'Dear past if you try to pick on my not so idle mind again I will break you into pieces.' Such a silly thing to say even to own reflection. After all past is not something solid that you can fracture it. They say 'Idle hands are devil's tool.' But the devil (in her case her bygone days) seemed to get bore with idle hands instead it chose her sane brain to eat. 'Okay! I will handle it maturely.' She kept saying it to herself like a mantra.
'Okay! I will handle it maturely." Roop came back to sense as well as get confused to hear Priyam mirrored her mind. Priyam heaved a sigh. 'I'll talk to Ved and handle this matter maturely.'
'That's great!' Roop said jovially.
'Wait! I will be ready in a minute.' Priyam opened the elegantly curved wooden cupboard, picking a dress she disappeared from her sight.
She took far more than a minute to get ready. Finally she came out in a cobalt colored, knee length dress, her hair tied into a fishtail braid. She had picked silver lily shaped earrings which brighten her eye color.
'Let's go. There is no point to keep daddy waiting when both of us are ready.' Priyam said throwing her sunglass, sun lotion and compact in her purse.
'He has called twice already. He's going crazy to see the Fort.' As Priyam made her way out of the room Roop followed hot on her heels.
They found Mr. Roy in the lobby. To add more tension in Roop's life he was talking to Pinakin. One thing both of the men have in common is their welcoming and friendly nature. Obviously they have engaged themselves into a conversation. Seeing them together Roop had initially thought against of the idea of going towards them. She rather wanted to wait till their talks get over. But Priyam did not take no for an answer and dragged her along to find out who the guy is. They crossed a few foot towards them they were able to hear their conversation clearly.
'You know Pinakin is a very much Hindu name. It is name of Lord Shiva.' Said Mr. Roy.
'I know it very well.' He said as a smile played on his lips. 'From my mother's side I'm a Bengali. And I am named after my grandfather, Professor Pinakin Bose.'
It can be concluded from his appearance he is not an outright European. Obviously he has got sharp features, skin tone and eye color like them but there is a softness on his face which the Europeans lack. Certainly it can be deduced the softness of his features is heritage from the Indian side.
'Professor Pinakin Bose, Professor of Mathematics of Kolkata Presidency College?' Mr.Roy enquired.
'Yes. How do you know?'
'He was my professor. I was a student in Presidency college.' Mr. Roy cleared his confusion. 'Last thing I came to know about him after he shifted to London; is he died due to a heart attack.'
'He was going through some critical condition. However I was in my 3rd grade when he died. I don't remember much about him.'
'It's nice to meet with to you.' Mr. Roy said with a genuine smile.
'Good Morning daddy.' Priyam announced their presence.
'Good Morning to you too.' Mr. Roy said, standing up and putting an arm around her shoulder. 'Pinkain, this is my younger one Priyamvada and this is my elder daughter Roopkatha.'
'Hello Priyamvada.'
'Hi. Please call me Priyam.' She corrected.
Now he turned at Roop's direction to face her. His eyes had a mixture of icy and fiery emotion. Her jaw tightened as he cast his eyes on her. It was too delicate change of gesture to notice for any other but Roop did observe. Tilting his head haughtily he said, 'Hello Roopkatha.'
Roop made all of the people address her by Roop not by her lengthy name Roopkatha. She persuaded him to call her Roop too. However he failed. She still remembers the day when he declared he would call him Roopkatha rather than Roop.
'Hello!' She replied back, her voice sounded strange to herself.
'Girls Pinakin is elder brother of Aaron.' Mr. Roy informed them. 'You met him yesterday.'
'We should go now. Else we will be late.' Roop said to divert the subject of the talk. The journey to the fort e was uneventful.
It was early in the morning so the fort museum was not crowded yet. As four of them entered they spot the shooting is going on. Aaron was behind the camera. His pointed features are looking even sharper in his working looks. He was shooting some orders to Ved and Ved was nodding in a positive way. Suddenly Ved's eyes fall on the four of the tourists. Intentionally he avoided to meet gaze of Priyam. Priyam was glad Ved is working as she was still rehearsing what to say to him in her mind. When they finished the tour of the castle the shooting was packed and moved to the next destination.
'The shooting has moved into a few miles away from here.' Pinakin filled in. 'Aaron texted they are shooting in a centuries of old temple. If we have left energy we can go there. He has sent the road direction.'
None seemed to object. Within a few minutes they found their Toyota driving towards the next destination. They had crossed distance of half an hour only when they seemed sight of inhabitance is thinning slowly. All she could see were empty fields around her. The view of the nature was rough yet magnificent. In her mind she remembered story of Hansel and Gretel where the sibling duo found a palace made of chocolates after wandering in the forest for a day. She glanced around to see Priyam who is sitting next to her is busy with her iphone. In the back seat Mr. Roy was sleeping. The Bengali crossword puzzle book was resting on his chest. On his parallel side Pinakin was lost in the breathtaking view of outside. The orange, yellow and many nameless color of Sun rays were playing on his face, it looked like a group of joyful children playing a childish game of catching each other. The sight of him distracted Roop, not for the first time. But this time she had a little bit more control over herself. She managed to look away not indulging herself in the view of his picture. After two hours of unbroken journey the car came to a halt in the periphery on the city.
'Here we are.' Mr. Roy uttered before noticing the book in missing from her sight.
'Girls did you take the crosswords puzzle book of mine?'
Before they could answer negatively they heard Pinakin. 'It was me. Sorry you were sleeping so I took the book.' He said handing it back to him.
'You can read Bengali?' Mr. Roy seemed astonished.
'Oh yes! I can read, write and speak in Bengali fluently.' Pinakin said proudly. 'Mom always wanted me to be in fluent in her mother tough. He taught me well.'
Roop was walking a few feet ahead of others. She noticed a board hanging from the gate of the temple. A few details were written on it. The temple was made in 8th century by a Maharana whose name has gobe into oblivion. God knows, how many Kings of this royal land were set into abyss oblivion, but their architecture still standing still. They witnessed them and now protecting the last evidence of existence of the forgotten kings. Though almost forgotten by the mortals who inhabit in the zone now.
The shooting had not packed up yet so the girls picked to venture the inside of the ancient architecture. The temple was not that big but it took more than imagined time to view it as they were stopping in every taken step to appreciate the sheer brilliance of the wall crafts. When they came out to the pavilion of the temple the shooting was over. A usual chaos and confusion were spread over everyone as all were barking instruction at each other. The situations cool down after a few minutes. Looking here and there they found Ved sitting on the stairs with tousled hair, dark circles under his eyes.
'Go talk to him.' Roop pushed Priyam a little bit to his direction. As he yawned his mouth sliced and formed a big hole.
'Close it else mosquitoes will make their way into it.' Priyam said popping down next to him. Ved glanced at her giving a small smile he looked away. Rather say his gaze shied away.
'You look tired.'
''cause Aaron made me work like a dumb ass.' He gave a to the point reply. Looking around he found Aaron standing not far behind. His inside burnt to ooze out some anger. As there were only a handful people will understand Bengali. Ved elected to talk in Bengali to vent out his anger. He fired series of complains before starting a marathon of slangs. A tap on his shoulder cut him short. It was Aaron.
'I need to say something important to you.' He told Ved in a grave tone.
'What is it?' Ved sounded sincere.
'The thing is if you are complaining to someone about me or giving me slangs I'll advice you to use any other language than Bengali.'
It can be assumed Ved did not fathom a word he was saying. He knotted his eyebrows on confusion. Before he could utter any word Aaron decided to be helpful and cleared the confusion.
'I'm very much familiar with Bengali. I can understand it' though his voice was grim but a playful smile was curving on his face.
His words hit Ved with a force of sea wave.
'You.. Bengali.. know.. Really.' Aaron said a few words tentatively; those words did not shape a sentence. After a few moments of stammering he said. 'Did you hear all of the things I said?' He felt a sudden sensation in stomach, as if someone is tickling his stomach with a feather.
'Hm. I heard almost everything including those jargons.'
Ved tried to say something. May be sorry may be I did not mean them. But he felt like his tongue got knotted. His vocal cord not succeeded to manufacture any kind of sound.
'How do you know it?' Ved produced a question after a long pause.
'Long story.' Aaron avoided the details. 'However I'm not fluent in it like Pinakin. Well I don't know French, Chinese, Hindi or Latin. You can try them. I am sure they have a good collection of slangs.' Giving a pat on his shoulder he was gone leaving Ved alone with Priyam.
'I've never been more embarrassed in my life.' A sigh broke out from Ved as he hid his face behind his hands.
'I guess you're still in your hangover state.' Priyam's eyes brightened up as a mischievous smile curved up in corner of her lip.
'and I'm sorry Priyam.'
'Sorry? Why you are apologizing?' Her fine eyebrows knotted in confusion.
'For yesterday night.' Ved gave a to the point answer. The air felt burdensome due to discomfort. Though she was practicing how to talk on this incident but deep down in her mind she intended to avoid it hoping Ved does not remember anything about it. She was caught off guard in the act of Ved bringing the subject to talk.
'You were drunk.' She said determinedly. 'Drunken people say a lot of things they don't mean.'
The Sun was preparing to sink in the west horizon as a gust of wind blow making their hair swirled and danced in mid air. Oblivious to it Ved cleared his throat. His heart was pounding alarmingly; her stomach was giving him an unfriendly sensation. His eyes were soft and warm like always, tilting his head a little to get a look of Priyam.
'I was drunk but my words were not fabrication.' His voice was barely a whisper, his expression somber but truthful.
Priyam flicked her fine mane, revealing her slender shoulder. Her dark eyes from beneath her thick eyelashes peered at him. Had it been any one else she would have cogitated he's just another admirer of her, knowing it very well she is the kind of girl who draws affection from opposite sex effortlessly. But this time she was stuck with someone whom she has known as the most genuine person.
'Ved..' she said in a hushed solemn attitude. 'You're my best friend, I never imagined in my life we will be thrown into this situation.
Suddenly he felt an urge to laugh out. He did not try to win over it.
'Why are you laughing?' Priyam sounded scornful.
'Thinking every lover had heard at least once in his life, his lady love has already friend zoned him.' He stopped barely for a second. 'Irony of fate.'
'Oh!' She could not manage to shape an answer, which will be witty enough. As she looked back at him and their eyes met she realized he looked a little bit different today. Not like his face has changed magically, yet he looked different.
They sat side by side, her resting her face on her palms, him looking at her lazily. Unknown birds fly over them, piercing the silence with their shriek voice.
'Priyam. Can you please give me a chance? Can you give us a try?' Ved sounded nervous. 'I promise if I fail you or upset you I will never annoy you with my silliness.'
'Okay!' Reluctantly she agreed. 'We do trial before we buy a dress, there is no reason to not have a trial relation.' She said playfully.
'A trial relation? Never heard something like that before. ' Ved rolled his eyes. 'But whatever is it I'm fine with it if you're comfortable.' He said, his eyes twinkled like a night star as a genuine smile spread over his face.
That was the last thing he said before the sun dived in the west horizon. In a near distance, someone had turned on a song. The rhythmic beats and sweet words of it welcomed them in sanctuary of mind.
'Take me
to your heart, take me to your soul
Give me your hand before I'm old'
***
Roop loves to capture photos. Photos are only way to keep memories alive. Bottom in her heart she believes she's skillful in photography however in reality she is just an amateur photographer with a professional camera. She was exploring outer part of the ancient architecture in solitary. That's when she saw him, standing tall a few feet away from her. A gentle gust of air blew by caressing her exposed skin, whispering a few episodes of her not so distant past. Her appearance was sober but the recollection of her former chapters raged a tempest of inner mayhem. Pushing away all of her jitters out of her mind, gathering as much gallantry as achievable she took a few steps towards him covering distances of the meters.
'I am sorry.' She said as he became aware of her presence.
'Did you break my car?' The question he threw was unexpected for Roop. Looking at him sheepishly she nodded her head negatively.
'Did you vandalize my private property?' He asked looking in her eyes.
'No.' The guilty feeling that was tickling inside her did made her look away.
'Then why are you saying sorry?' He replied with a smile. 'Hope you're having fun. Enjoy.' He left leaving her astonished.
Roop was aware of the fact Pinakin is very patient and calm. Nevertheless, the fact surprised her was his voice never crossed normal level of sound. Looking at the sun slowly disappearing at the west boundary of the earth she glanced back in her past.
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