“Can you get Bengali food in England, Joseph?” Shekhar asked.
“Suddenly he wants to know everything about the English!” Kajori got up to get the mango chutney from the pantry.
“What’re you doing, Shekhar?” Joseph tried to probe, but Kajori returned.
Shekhar licked the chutney off his fingers. “What’re you doing to me, Kajori?”
She stopped eating, looked up. Ramapada piled rasogolla on Joseph’s plate. “Try the payesh Joseph-babu …”
Shekhar savored his dessert. “In one year, I will learn to cook, dance, speak like Dr. Higgins …”
Joseph frowned. Shekhar played with his unsuspecting wife, who laughed like a child. Joseph tried to smile at her.
“What are English men like, Joseph?” Shekhar continued. “Will Kajori like them?”
“You have a dirty mind,” she scolded.
“No,” Shekhar said. “I think of this.”
“They will like her very much.” Joseph smiled at Kajori. “Especially dancing with her.”
Shekhar looked her in the eye. “Of course.”
She looked uncomfortably from one face to the other. Trying to change the subject, she asked, “Joseph, please stay a few more days.”
“I can’t. I just came to deliver the … um … surprise.”
“Why did you come, Joseph?” Kajori frowned.
“He came for the food,” said Shekhar, laughing.
“Joseph?”
“I just felt like coming, Kajori.” Joseph sighed. “I’ll miss you.”
A muggy silence hung over the room.
Joseph walked over to the door to the verandah. “It’s raining again ...”
THE END
Author Bio:
Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond, build $1 trillion in sustainable global GDP, and create 10 million jobs. She is a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur and strategy consultant who writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy, and is the author of the Entrepreneur Journeys book series and Vision India 2020. She has a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 2008 to 2010, Mitra was also a columnist for Forbes.
Kajori (Kolkata Memoirs) Page 3