One morning, as usual, he was on his way to the bus stand. He saw a lot of colourful hustle bustle around in the streets – most of the crowd walking toward the bazaar. He followed the crowd. The bazaar lane seemed extremely busy and lively. He entered the same tea stall he had during his earlier visit and ordered for a cup of tea. The happy owner served him tea. He looked around and found many women and girls. They were out on streets, happily roaming around and buying whatever they fancied.
“Oh!” he realized and not realizing that he said it a bit aloud, “The goons must have left the town.”
“Yes” said the happy owner, “Now it’s safe for women to roam around till they return in about 3-4 months. I hope they never do.”
Sajjan realized that Leela was still holed up in the outhouse. He decided to postpone his work for later and show her around the town. He rushed back to Amar’s house.
Leela was delighted to see him return within such a short time.
“How come you are back so early – missing your wife?” she laughed playfully.
“Get ready, we got to go.” he said in a hurried voice and then looked at her scared and confused expression, “I mean to say we both are going out of this outhouse to visit the bazaar. It’s safe to go out now.” he added with a smile.
“Really?” she asked in astonishment and happiness blended together. He thought she was happy to know that she could go out freely now, but her expressions were a bit fixed, steady, sometimes cold and fixed with a kind of determination. He felt as if she was in a bit of relief that she could now achieve what she wanted – something different – something sinister. He brushed away these thoughts looking at her young age. He knew people of her age normally gave weird expressions that were contradictory to the emotions they felt. Especially, when they were happy or anticipated a change from their normal routine.
She was ready almost immediately. He realized that adivasi girls do not waste time in their make up or deciding what to wear. They simply don’t care about these little things…
They walked their way to the bazaar and she happily walked by his side, looking around with curious interest. She, of sudden, caught his arm and stopped. He looked at her. She was looking at the far end of the bazaar street. Then she looked at the women’s store realizing he was looking at her. “You had promised to buy me few more dresses” she said in a reminding tone and then smiled in a pleading smile, “Would you allow me to buy a couple of them today?”
‘Women,’ he thought, ‘they never seem to have enough of anything they have.’ He smiled at her with consent and nodded his approval.
She gave him a quick hug in her happiness and pulled him toward the store across the pathway they stood.
“There are too many ladies out here for my comfort” he said, “You go and buy whatever you want. I’ll go around the lane to check some stuff I need. Once you’re done, stand here at the corner of this shop and wait for my return. I’ll return and pay for your purchases.”
She nodded excitedly and vanished into the shop. He walked toward the end of the bazaar street. Her initial expression when she had caught his arm was that of extreme fear. The pressure of her sudden grip had confirmed that. He walked around casually scanning every person he saw for any signs. Soon he realized this was futile. He didn’t know who or what had scared Leela. He decided to sit in the tea stall he visited in the morning. It was diagonally opposite to the shop Leela had entered. It was a good place to keep a watch on the entrance of that shop. He started sipping on his tea when a group of youths aged around 25 years entered and settled down.
“Hey! Where’s Birju?” one of them asked.
“He said that he thought, he had seen a special bird in the bazaar. She’s disappeared in some shop. He must have gone looking for her.” someone explained.
“I never knew he fell for birds.”
“Oh! I think he does – if not – she must be someone special.” they laughed.
“I heard, he recently married an adivasi girl about a month ago. How come he is chasing another girl – that too – within such a short time?”
“I don’t know why he married her. He doesn’t talk about her. All I know – his wife has a younger sister and all the guys in all the tribes find her too attractive and too hot to resist. Looks like, he married the wrong sister in haste.” they all laughed jesting about their friend. “I know that even Rana desperately fell for her. He attended his wedding. That’s when he saw his wife’s younger sister. If Rana can desperately fall for some girl – she really must be hot and special.”
“Really? An adivasi girl? Hot??”
“You do know that Birju has been sponsored by Rana for his schooling and his college. He has spent most of his time here at Dheemapur. Don’t understand why he would marry an adivasi girl.”
“You have a point.” others agreed, “Here he comes.” they said and started teasing him once he settled down.
Sajjan, though his eyes were scanning the street, his ears were all to the group who had entered. A faint smile appeared on him as he remembered his college days with his friends. The group was still poking at this guy called Birju.
“I think I’m seeing things.” he said sheepishly to his group, “I thought I saw someone I knew. I think it was just an imagination of her. “C’mon let’s go. Rana must be waiting for us.” they all walked out while this guy Birju paid for the bill and followed them out.
‘What’s taking her so long?’ Sajjan wondered. He scanned the street and then the entrance of the shop, Leela had entered to shop. He couldn’t see her there. He glanced again at the street. He saw her at the entrance of another shop a few feet ahead. She was peeping out from behind the mannequin, her eyes searching, a bit scared and lost. He paid his bill and walked toward the store where Leela was standing. He couldn’t stop stealthily stepping behind her and gently tapping her shoulder. She almost jumped and turned around, her eyes full of fear. When she realized it was Sajjan, she blushed with embarrassment.
“I thought you wouldn’t return” she said in a relieved voice and smiled at him, “but I know, you are a good man. You won’t ditch me like that.”
“How can you be so sure about it?” he asked and continued “My mission is most important to me and I can definitely ditch you if you become an obstacle – for that matter I can ditch anyone for the mission.” he said absent minded and then started laughing at her confused expression and loss of words. “Don’t worry. When we do have to part our ways, I will see to it that you are in safe hands and with a good family.”
She hugged him in her happiness and then pulled him into the store. She had selected about a dozen dresses in various colour combinations and a few accessories. He paid for those and they walked out of the shop. She bound a scarf around her face covering her entire face leaving a gap enough for her eyes to see what lay ahead. “Don’t look at me that way.” she said, “We live in the jungle with shade all around us. The air there is fresh and here it’s polluted. There aren’t so many trees around in this town. I don’t want any sunburn on my face. I have to look like your beautiful wife, right?”
“Do you want to buy anything else?”
“No. I’ve all I want now.”
“Would you be able to find your way back to Amar’s outhouse? I need to carry on with my work.”
She caught his hand, a bit scared. “I’ll be able to find my way back. It’s almost noon now. I don’t like when you have to eat your meal outside. Especially – when you have a wife who is ready to cook every meal for you. Come with me. Have your lunch and then go back to your work.”
He thought this was a good option. The taste of the food she cooked was getting better as the days passed.
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- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/