Mukundo sprang out of the sofa as he heard the news. Alka was in the kitchen making tea, while he was watching TV in her living room.

“Alka!”

“What happened?” she came out on hearing his panicked cry.

“There has been a landslide near Darjeeling.”

“Ohh!” she understood his alarm. Piyali had gone to Darjeeling on a college trip.

“I am leaving,” he announced.

“Where for?”

“Darjeeling.”

“What? Wait. Do we even know the details…”

But he did not wait and almost ran out of her apartment. She turned her attention towards the news report being telecasted. She called him after half an hour.

“They are repeatedly saying that there are no casualties, Mukundo. In a day or two, the road route will be reconnected and everyone will be back.”

“I can’t reach her on phone.”

“That is always the case when something like this happens. I am sure she is fine.”

“I will talk to you later. I have to catch a flight in an hour.”

“Flight? To?”

“Bagdogra.”

“From there you still have to take a road. And the road is blocked, Mukundo.”

“I can’t just sit here. Bye.”

—

Mukundo found a hotel as close to the blockage as possible and practically stayed parked exactly where the road was blocked. They didn’t let anyone pass through that day. They will still clearing and repairing the road. It was dangerous. Early next morning, pedestrians were allowed. The place was still too far from Darjeeling. So, it was useful only for those who stayed nearby and were stranded away from home. But Mukundo left his rented vehicle at the hotel and walked on with as much cash as he could carry. He hitchhiked, took lifts or paid for transportation by any means possible, without bothering about his security. On reaching Darjeeling, he headed straight to the hotel where he knew her group was staying.

“Mukundo Babu!” Piyali was surprised beyond imagination, “How did you reach here? And so soon?”

He surprised her even further, when instead of replying, he went ahead and hugged her. “Thank God, you are safe.”

“Yes. I am fine. Calm down,” she could feel how anxious he was. What else could inspire someone to reach there in such a short time and under such impossible circumstances?

“Your phone was unreachable.”

“Everybody’s is. Even hotel landline was not working. Else I would have informed you. I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Not your fault,” he was finally relaxing.

“How did you come? They said blockage was still there.”

“You will find out as we go back. We will leave immediately. I don’t want to risk staying for another landslide. Pack up. Meanwhile I will find a taxi that can take us till the blockage.”

—

They took a taxi till the blockage, crossed it on feet, picked up his rented vehicle from the hotel on the other side, drove to Bagdogra and took the first flight back to Kolkata. He toyed with the divorce papers again at the night.

Soon! He decided yet again.

—

“She worships you, Mukundo,” Alka told him.

“And I am not a God.”

“Right. But my guess is that if it came to that, you would protect her with your life.”

“That’s your reading of my impulsive nature. Yes – I am like that.”

“Mukundo. I am serious. It is not unthinkable, you know. You and her…”

“What the hell! Has Mahendra corrupted your mind or something? Yes – she worships me. She is so grateful to me that… that if I ask her to go back to the same hell where she came from, she would do even that. For my sake. But it doesn’t mean that she and I… Even if everything else can be kept aside, our age-gap is too big Alka. It doesn’t make sense. And the reason I had brought her here was so that she can have a dignified life. She should be able to make her own choices in life. That marriage was not her choice.”

“Do you know what she told the neighbor who questioned her about your relationship…”

“Why is anyone questioning her about our relationship? If anyone is, I’d take care of it.”

Alka sighed. He was in no mood to listen. “All right. Forget it. Why am I wasting the little time that we have. With these exams and all…” She tried to kiss him, but he stopped her.

“Not now, Alka. I am not in mood. I am going home.” He got up from the bed abruptly and left.

Alka was not surprised. The psychologist was not able to see for himself that he was in denial! He had been distant for a while now. And as someone who had grown to know him intimately, she knew the reason very well. That fool was in love with his wife, and not able to accept it. And with a wife, who would lay her life if he gave the least indication that that’s what he wanted! He didn’t realize how much of his time and life revolved around her and how much he talked about her. How obsessively he tried to know about her small, little needs and fulfill them! How were her studies going? Did she manage to buy all her books? Was her library subscription expiring? How would she go to college? Could Alka check with her if she needed to go shopping? He didn’t know what she liked to eat and she never told him anything. Did their TV subscription have all the channels she wanted to watch? Was she finally able to make friends in college? Was she making the right kind of friends? And now, was she being troubled by the neighbors?

For the last one, Alka would have some explanation to do before Piyali when she met her next.

—

“You have been having trouble with neighbors?” She was back from college, when he reached home. And he lost no time in questioning her.

“Trouble? What trouble?”

“Someone asked you something? About me, about us?”

Piyali was surprised; and felt betrayed. Why would Alka go and tell him about it? It was an unspoken understanding between them that they didn’t talk about Mukundo and whatever was discussed between them didn’t reach him.

She decided to tell him that. “That was a long time ago, Mukundo Babu. And nothing happened that you should be angry about. I didn’t say anything…”

“What did you say?”

She fell silent.

“I am asking you something. What did you say?” he was annoyed.

“Why are you being so insistent?” she asked gently, and somewhat nervously.

“Why? Because I have brought you here. Nobody has a right to question that. And if you are facing a problem, I should know. I expect you to tell me.”

“There is no problem, Mukundo Babu. It was a long time ago and I gave her a reply that silenced her forever.”

“What did you say?” he repeated his earlier question.

She gulped and averted her eyes. She spoke slowly, weighing each word, “I told her that you were like The One after whom you were named. Lord Krishna. He married sixteen thousand queens, to save them from society’s cruel insinuations. That didn’t make his character questionable. Rather it made him the God. Unless she thought she was great enough to question Lord Krishna’s character, she had no right of questioning yours.”

Mukundo stared at her in astonishment. Two conflicting feelings were clamoring for his acceptance. The first one didn’t like this entire “marrying women to save them from society” idea. It was so utterly regressive and it established women as someone who could not have an identity separate from men. He hoped that Piyali did not believe that. But the second feeling was that of… It took him a few moments to identify it. It was a feeling of pride. She had silenced the woman in the best possible way. A comeback that she would have had no answer to!

“I know you find the idea regressive,” Piyali started explaining after a pause, because she was worried about his reaction, “And I agree with you. It was just…”

“It was a witty answer,” he interrupted with a smile to assure her, “Well done!”

Piyali thought her heart would literally swell with pride. He appreciated her!

“And you are right. I find the idea too regressive. I acted on it amongst people who were regressive. But you shouldn’t try to live your life with those standards. I am no Lord Krishna and…”

“I know. You want me to become independent. I want so too. And I will do it.”

“Good!”

—

To be continued