Mouli sat silently for a while after Paritosh finished narrating Amrit’s story to her. Then she sighed and said, “Paritosh. You are good man. Amrit is lucky to have you in her life. Most people, who are suffering, are not so lucky.”
“I just did what I had to.”
Mouli then went on to ask the questions relevant to her research; about his experiences with the doctors and mental health facilities, about costs, about awareness amongst people around him, any differences in social treatment of the issue between small town where Amrit came from and metros like Mumbai. Paritosh patiently answered her questions and also suggested some of the issues she could dig deeper into during her research.
“Thank you, Paritosh. This has been very helpful,” Mouli said towards the end.
“Not a problem. You have taken up a noble cause. But Mrs. Banerjee…”
“Yes?”
“As I have already told you, most of my colleagues do not know anything about it, including, I think… ”
“Rupali?”
“Yes. I don’t mind if she knows, but it would be helpful if both of you are discreet about it.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Thanks.”
“Paritosh. Can I tell you something?”
“Yeah?”
“You have been very good to your wife. You have done your duty. Her well-being has been taken care of. You have the right to your happiness too. You can move on in your life. You should… You do know that you have good enough a reason for a divorce. I don’t mean to be insensitive, just practical.”
“I understand you, Mrs. Banerjee. Thanks for the concern, and the advice.”
—
“Rupali. Good that you came. I was about to call you. I was wondering if you would volunteer to mentor the students going for Youth Congress from our college,” Paritosh almost beamed on seeing Rupali.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Why not? You are very good speaker.”
“How do you know that?”
“You had won almost all the competitions as a student. At least the ones I remember being associated with.”
“You remember that?”
“I am in the History department. I have a fairly good memory.”
She gave an embarrassed smile, “Of course. I can do the mentoring, but only from next month.”
“Why?”
“Actually, that’s what I came here for. It’s Mom’s birthday on 31st of this month. It is the first one since I came back from the US. So, I’m planning a grand celebration for that. I need to take off from work for couple of days.”
“That’s not a problem. Just make sure you inform the students and make arrangements for the make-up classes.”
“Sure. I will do that. There was something else too.”
“Yes?”
“Mom has insisted that you must come to the party. She has reminded me like twenty times this morning. So, please make sure you are there at our house at 7.30 in the evening on 31st.”
“Me? What will I do there?”
“What does one do at a party? Eat, drink and enjoy.”
“Rupali. You must excuse me. I am swamped with work right now–”
“Mom is going to call you up. If you can convince her, you are excused!” Rupali smirked and left his office.
Paritosh sighed after she left. He had agreed to talk to Mouli when he met her at the mental health facility. But he really didn’t want to be an object of her pity. What was she up to now? Was she trying to be extra nice to him by drawing him in her social circle? She had also been quick to suggest how he should move in in life with another woman. Was she trying to…
Oh God! He was being too cynical. He was not a child that someone could make him do something against his wishes. And probably it was just a courtesy she was extending to him as her daughter’s boss. A party wouldn’t kill him. He would accept the invitation, he decided and then returned to his work.
—
“Hello Sir! Do you recognize me?” Paritosh was taken by surprise when a girl, about the same age as Rupali, approached him at Mouli’s birthday party.
“Umm… Yes… But…”
She laughed out loud, “Sorry to put you on the spot. My name is Sunidhi Mishra. I used to be in your class too.”
“You always used to sit next to Rupali, right?”
“Wow Rupali!” Sunidhi teased Rupali who had joined them by then, “I’m famous because of you.”
“Shut up,” Rupali looked flushed.
“That’s not the case,” Paritosh felt the need to do some damage control, “I don’t forget my students. But I do fail to put the right names on right faces soemtimes. You will have to cut me that much slack. I am growing old now.”
“Oh! Don’t worry,” Sunidhi was still her cheerful self, “I will cut you all the slack you want. But not because you are old. You don’t look old at all. It wasn’t without reason that you were the first crush of half the girls in our class.”
It was Paritosh’ turn to look flushed. He shifted uncomfortably. Sunidhi was too young and too bold for his comfort. “It is difficult to deal with students outside the class,” he managed to say with a nervous smile.
“Which means,” Rupali came to his rescue, “That you need to shut up Ms. Sunidhi Mishra. Have you had a drink too many?” She dragged her away from there. She looked back once and gave a nervous, apologetic smile to Paritosh. He nodded to tell her that all was well.
“Paritosh,” Mouli located him next, “Thank you so much for coming here.”
“Happy Birthday, Mrs. Banerjee. It’s a fabulous party,” he said handing over a gift to Mouli.
“My birth is to my parent’s credit and the party is to my daughter’s credit. I have got nothing to do with all this,” Mouli said and laughed at her own joke. Paritosh also chuckled.
“Come. I will introduce you to some other guests in the party. I don’t want you to be feeling left out.”
“Sure,” he said, but silently prayed that this wasn’t an excuse to introduce him to eligible women. He was thankful when she introduced him to several people, men, women and couples, without any particular bias towards single women.
Paritosh went to pick up another drink when Rupali met him again.
“I hope you are not getting bored, Sir.”
“Not at all. Mrs. Banerjee is a fine hostess.”
“Sorry about Sunidhi. She is a bit stressed out and too drunk. I just made her lie down in my room. She is already fast asleep.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yeah. She will be. Oh, there is Aditya. Hi Aditya,” she spotted someone and called out to him
“Hi Rupali. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Meet Dr. Paritosh Khanna. Our HOD.”
Paritosh and Aditya shook hands.
“Aditya is Sunidhi’s friend,” Rupali continued with the introductions, “He works with her in the marketing department.”
“Under her actually,” Aditya smiled, “I am a trainee. She is my mentor.”
“She is a mentor?” Paritosh looked amused.
“Don’t be fooled by how you saw her now, Sir. She is a real, tough business woman,” Rupali said.
“She indeed is,” Aditya corroborated, “But why is that hard to believe right now? Something wrong?”
“No. Sunidhi is just too drunk. She’s sleeping in my room.”
“She is unwell?”
“Don’t worry, Aditya. She will be fine once she wakes up.”
“I want to see her. Don’t worry, I won’t disturb her. If you don’t mind, where is your room?”
“Upstairs, second room to the right.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Paritosh looked on thoughtfully as Aditya left.
—
To be continued