She stood at the door, motionless. She wasn’t surprised that he was there in the practice room, and not in some other city. Holding a Tanpura. He started singing, and then stopped. He tried again and was unsuccessful. He grew frustrated and pushed the Tanpura away. He got up abruptly, but froze to his place on noticing her.

Her face was expressionless. So expressionless that it said volumes about how hurt and angry she was. She was breathing so hard that she had to bite her lips to keep her mouth closed. They stood staring at each other for several minutes. Then she broke the eye-contact and looked away. Keeping her gaze fixed on the ground, she started stepping back.

“Piyali!” he found his voice.

She didn’t heed him though and turned away to leave.

He gathered himself together and rushed after her. “Piyali. Please wait.”

She stopped for a moment, but started walking again.

Left with no option, he grabbed her hand to stop her from walking away. She pushed him away so ferociously that Mukundo barely avoided a fall. But he did brush against a bare pillar and got a scratch. It wasn’t too bad, but due to the suddenness, he let out a slight cry.

That little cry made her forget her anger temporarily. “Oh my God! What… What happened? Are you… hurt? Mukundo Babu…. I can hardly see anything here,” the corridor was not well-lit. She dragged him to the room and he followed quietly.

He stopped her when she bent down to check his injury. “Hurt me all you want, Piyali. But… you must not be hurt.”

“Yeah?” she grew angry again and was sarcastic, “And this is how you do not hurt me?”

“What happened… How do I… I cannot do the right thing by you. My wife… She is Pandit ji’s daughter.”

Piyali looked sideways to conceal her hurt. Of course, she didn’t measure up to the credentials of his wife. She was no Pandit ji’s daughter.

“He was my Guru. This marriage happened because he wanted it. Whatever happens, I won’t break it. It might be an irrational devotion, but…”

She looked back at him and smiled sadly. “And what did you think I will do? Was I going to blackmail you? Break your marriage? Make your life difficult?”

“Piyali!”

“Did it occur to you even once that I cannot hurt you? Ever? It wasn’t like I was going to get pregnant. And If I did, I would rather abort it than create trouble for you…”

“Don’t you dare!” he grabbed her arm so hard that she flinched in pain, “Don’t you dare talk about abortion if you are carrying our child.”

She fell speechless. He came to his senses and realized that he was hurting her. He let her go and let out a frustrated sigh.

“I have been an idiot all these days. But can’t you see, Piyali, how I feel? You are better off staying away from me.”

“No. I am not.”

“What do you want then? You want to become the mistress of another promiscuous artist?”

“Why are you talking like this, Mukundo Babu?” she was on the verge of crying.

“Go away from me. You are young. And I am not a good influence on you.”

She bit her lips, controlled her tears and said, “Yes. Your wish will be fulfilled. I am going away from you. That was the news I had for you on that fateful day.”

“What?” Mukundo had been pleading her for this, but when she said it herself, he panicked. “What do you mean? What news? Where are you going?” She wasn’t getting married, was she?

“I got a job. In Darjeeling. It’s a residential school. As soon as my final exams get over, I’d be going there. That is, in five weeks.”

“What job?”

“Teaching Mathematics. And possibly some responsibilities for running the hostels.”

He was at a loss for words.

“I’m going away, Mukundo Babu. You won’t be bothered by me. All I wanted was to spend some of this time with you. Singing, practicing, learning whatever I can in this limited time.”

“You can’t just go away. You can’t abandon music. You can find a job in Kolkata.”

“Nothing I had here paid well enough.”

“You… can’t… just… go away… like this…”

“You have put me through one week of hell to impress upon me that I should go away. And now you are saying this?”

“I’m selfish, am I not? When I had pushed you away, somewhere deep down, I knew I could have you back. I would have – sooner or later… But now… now that you are saying you are going away…”

“It is for everyone’s good, isn’t it?”

He sighed and changed the subject, “I haven’t been able to sing at all in last one week. Would you like to practice?”

She brought the Tanpura and asked him if he had set the alarm.

“Not needed. Nobody is coming yet.”

—

“Why haven’t your other students started coming?” she asked after a three-hour-long practice about a week later.

“I have only four more weeks with you, right?”

Piyali smiled sadly. “If it matters so much, why have you thrown away your mobile? How will I keep in touch with you?”

“Don’t. Don’t keep in touch with me.”

“That’s so unfair, Mukundo Babu.”

“May be when you come here. During holidays or…”

“If I settle down, Ma and Priyendra are going to shift there too. I won’t be coming here, Mukundo Babu,” her eyes grew moist.

“That’s even better,” he said and tore his eyes away from her. He couldn’t be this cruel to her, and to himself, if he looked into those eyes.

“I don’t want to break your marriage. And even more importantly, I don’t want to take a loving father away from a daughter. But we and all these other things in your life need not be incompatible. I might be going away. But I am not abandoning us. You just have to call me…”

“Forget about all this. Move on in your life. Just… don’t abandon music. Ever!”

“Let me know when you move on. I will also do so then.”

He chuckled sadly, “What do I move on to?”

“Same here.”

—

And there were times when he grew desperate and faltered on his resolution of sending her away.

“If it’s just the money that is taking you away… All you have to do is agree to perform.”

“I can’t, Mukundo Babu. If I could, I wouldn’t have suffered your anger earlier.”

“Fine. Don’t. How much are you earning there? What if I managed that much for you…”

“Mukundo Babu!”

“Money is something I can easily help you with.”

“I am not going to be your mistress.”

“Piyali!”

“You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Probably… you are right. Don’t listen to me. Don’t. Just… Do take care of yourself, Piyali.”

“I will. And you should too. Promise me.”

“Okay… I will,” his promise sounded much less certain than hers. And then he asked anxiously, “You won’t be pregnant, would you?”

“No.”

—

To be continued