A Bend in the River of Life

by Budh Aditya Roy

  Rana came to Darjeeling for four weeks, but a message came from Amit that Rajani was sick. She was diagnosed by the family doctor with diabetes and high blood pressure. At the age of seventy, Rajani’s sound health began showing signs of wear and tear under an extraordinarily strenuous life. Though the message added that there was no cause for concern, Rana decided to go back home a whole week earlier. Like so many times before, he was reminded once again and rightfully so that Rajani was the reason that he was still alive. Through good times and bad, through tragedy and turmoil, her protective wing prevented any harm caused to him. Perhaps without her he would have died in his childhood. He was now twenty and was able to fend for himself. Even then he did not know how he would cope up if Rajani were to pass away. The mere thought of Rajani’s passing rattled his mind. There was no better witness to Rana’s childhood trauma than Devika. Naturally, she did not want to stand in the way of his decision to curtail his own vacation for the sake of Rajani.

  Compared to a large metropolis, Darjeeling is rather a small town. People are friendly. They make a newcomer at home in no time. During his three weeks’ stay Rana came to be a big part of the neighborhood and the club. People in general felt sorry that he had to leave early. But they easily understood the reason behind it. The only individuals who could not be happier were the mother-daughter duo, Mita and Keka. Rana’s penetrative eyes could make out the reason. They were very possessive. In their minds, Rana already became their property. According to original plan, he was scheduled to return after a week of their departure. They wished Rana to travel back with them. Nonetheless, they were happy now that he would reach Calcutta a day earlier. Rana suspected that they were little apprehensive of Rana’s staying back another week, for they might have had a hunch that other interested eyes were also following him in that mountain resort. In any case, at his last meeting with them in Darjeeling, Keka gave him their address and telephone number in Calcutta and asked him to call her on a specific date and time.

  To synchronize with his flight from Siliguri airport at the foothills, Rana decided to leave Darjeeling by the airlines bus from their Darjeeling office in stead of the toy train. Devika and Siddharth came to bid him goodbye. Opportunity for that type of relaxed vacation was rare to come by. No one knew how long Siddharth would remain posted there. On his return to Calcutta Rana himself would embark upon the struggle of his life. As the bus was about to start, Devika wiped her tears. To her Rana was not just a nephew but more like a son. After all, in his childhood she helped shape his future. She was the one who planted dreams in his eyes. She was the one who used to sing those lullabies while putting him away to sleep. Devika kept on waving as long as the bus was visible on its serpentine trail to the foothills of the majestic Himalayas.

  Not long after that visit Siddharth was transferred out of Darjeeling. Rana began his career as a banker and kept moving from place to place at home and abroad. This is how the River of Life flows on, ever unpredictable, never stationary, for it has missions to accomplish on its timeless and ageless journey to its far away destiny, the ever esoteric Eternity.

  The River of Life is the river of opportunities. The Master Architect of the River of Life plants a seed of fantasy in the mind. The fantasy takes the shape of a dream. The dream is translated into plan. The plan finds life in action. The action transforms the plan into an array of opportunities. Conversion of the right opportunity at the right moment is achieving a goal. This transition from fantasy to the end result in the form of ripple of events is the flow of the River of Life.

  PRELUDE TO COURTSHIP

  The key to the continuity and vibrancy of the River of Life is the relationship. However, the unfolding of relationships is always shrouded in mystery. They seem to blossom out of nowhere and then follow a path most unpredictable. They grow like the eye pleasing ivy shrub, not willing to give a clue as to what way they would climb up and spread out on the surface they are clung to. No one on earth knows why Rana met Keka and not Rebecca. Or, why they had to meet in Darjeeling and not Calcutta where they actually belonged. Only the Architect of the River of Life has that answer. Only He appoints the players to play their roles in it and orchestrates the matching and unmatching of the relationships commensurate with His plan for the River of Life.

  At the agreed date and time Rana called the telephone number that Keka gave him prior to his departure from Darjeeling. Mita responded, “Rana, pleased to hear your voice again. How is your grandma?”

  Rana answered, “She has to be feeling better, now that she has seen the gem of her eyes.”

  Mita laughed and said, “Nice to hear that.” She continued, “I know Keka asked you to call her today. However, she had to go out with her grandfather and would be back in an hour. I will give her the message that you called.”

  With a little pause she said, “Rana, since you are on the line, let me take advantage of this. I trust, you will not mind.”

  Rana replied, “No, no, why should I?”

  Mita said, “Rana, while talking to my father-in-law on our return from Darjeeling, I mentioned your name to him. He took a keen interest in you. He asked me if I can invite you to our home for dinner. I said I certainly could. So I was planning to call you to set up a date for the dinner. I hope you have no problem with that.”

  Rana said, “None, whatsoever.”

  Mita asked, “May I ask if you would be available this Friday evening to meet with him and have dinner with us?” She continued, “As you know, he is an attorney and normally on Friday evenings he is relaxed and in great spirits.”

  Rana said, “It would be my honor and pleasure to meet with him. However, at what time he would expect me?”

  Mita said, “I think six in the evening would be an ideal time for him.”

  Rana said, “That would be fine with me.”

  Mita said, “In that case, I have a little idea. You know Keka is the only grandchild of my father-in-law. He always loves to give a little surprise to her. I am not going to tell Keka that you will be here on Friday. I will give her the message that you called and will call back on Friday evening. When you are here, I will take you straight to my father-in-law and then he will handle the matter with his granddaughter in his own way. Is that okay with you?”

  Rana said, “That is perfectly okay with me. I will sit back and enjoy the fun.”

  Accordingly, Rana presented himself at the mansion of Attorney Ramnath Basu with a bunch of yellow roses. He anticipated that since he would encounter Mita first he would have to give the roses to Mita, however embarrassing. Nonetheless, knowing her nature by then, he knew that Mita would certainly put the flowers in Keka’s room. The security man at the gate called a domestic help from inside. The domestic help came without delay and politely led him to the drawing room. In a few seconds, Mita came down to usher him to the family room on the second floor. Rana bit his lips out of shyness and handed over the bunch of roses to her.

  Looking at the roses appreciatively she said, “Nice choice.” She then lowered her voice and said, “Keka must be waiting for your telephone in her room. She does not know anything about this invitation.”

  Before entering the family room Mita kept the roses carefully on a decorative antique table by the wall close to the door.

  Sitting on his easy chair Attorney Ramnath was browsing through some court papers very attentively.

  Mita cleared her throat and said, “Here’s Rana.”

  Ramnath seemed not to hear. She raised her voice a little and repeated the words. The old man looked at Mita and then sized up Rana from head to toe before asking her, “Who did you say the young man was?”

  Mita answered, “He is Rana. I mentioned about him on our return from Darjeeling. He is the nephew of Rita’s neighbor Devika.”

  Ramnath almost sprang up from his seat and said, “Oh yes, yes. I am sorry; I got lost in my papers.” Then looking back at Rana he said, “No wonder, he has created such a stir! He is a smart and handsome young man.” He gestured
both to sit on the sofa opposite his easy chair and they obliged.

  Ramnath asked him, “Rana, may I know your full name please?”

  Rana responded politely, “My name is Ranadhir Roy.”

  Ramnath said, “I like that name. That suggests why everyone calls you Rana.”

  Rana said, “You are absolutely right.”

  Ramnath said, “I hear that you are going to be a graduate this year.”

  Rana said, “You are right about that, sir.”

  Ramnath asked, “What was your honors subject?”

  He answered, “Economics.”

  Ramnath said, “That’s very good.”

  He said, “Thank you.”

  Ramnath asked again, “I believe the results would be announced in about a week.”

  Rana said, “Yes, you are right, sir.”

  Ramnath said again, “I hope you are not feeling butterfly in your stomach.”

  He said, “Sometimes I do; not always.” Everyone laughed at that.

  Ramnath asked, “Mita told me that your grandma was not well; how she is now?”

  Rana answered, “She is feeling much better now.”

  Ramnath said, “I am glad to hear that.”

  Ramnath’s attention then shifted to his granddaughter, Keka. He asked Mita, “Does the gem of my eyes know that Rana is here?”

  Mita smiled and answered, “No, she does not know anything about it. I just told her that Rana would call her back this evening. She must be waiting for his telephone call.”

  Ramnath said, “Then call her and say that grandpa is looking for her urgently.”

  Instead of calling her loudly Mita preferred to walk up and give her the message. As expected, Keka was waiting for Rana’s telephone. Having missed his phone the other day, she was reluctant to miss it again. So she walked down half the stairs and shouted at the top of her voice, “Grandpa, what happened? Why are you looking for me?”

  Ramnath also shouted back, “Come here Sweetie, I have an important message for you.”

  Keka calculated that she would finish off with her grandpa quickly and hurry back to receive the call. So she came down running, but while entering the room she got the shock of her life. Totally taken aback to see Rana talking to her grandpa, she stopped at the doorstep nervously and asked, “What do you want to say, grandpa?”

  Ramnath answered, “Here’s Ranadhir, commonly known as Rana. He is the only son of my best client. He will be graduating with Honors this year. As you can see, I am very fond of him and just thought of introducing him to you while he is here.”

  Keka was at a loss as to what to do. She stole another look at Rana and looked back at her grandpa. She was beaming, but did not say anything. She was in a quandary as to what to make out of her grandpa’s assertion about Rana.

  Seeing her speechless, Ramnath knew she was totally surprised. He said to her, “It seems you are not interested in Rana at all. Rather you are in a hurry to go back to your room. Is anyone waiting for you there?”

  Keka answered, “No, I was waiting for a telephone call from a friend of mine.”

  Ramnath quipped, “Is that friend more interesting than Rana?”

  Keka kept smiling but did not say anything. Ramnath then said, “From your silence I take it that your friend’s call is more important to you. Then I will not stop you Sweetie, you may go back and answer the call.”

  By then Keka must have been dying to stay back. What a quandary! Finally, she said, “No, that’s all right. I am not in a hurry to go back.”

  Ramnath quipped, “Well Sweetie, if you miss the call don’t blame your old grandpa or Rana. He just happened to be here to pick up some court papers from me. He is unaware of anything in this household.” Still smiling, Keka gave another furtive glance at Rana and looked back to Ramnath. He continued, “Sweetie, since you do not want to go back and are stealing frequent looks at Rana, I am just guessing that you might have seen him before. Is it fair to say?”

  Keka became further uneasy on being caught red-handed, but kept smiling and nibbling at her nails.

  Then like a seasoned lawyer Ramnath zeroed in on her, saying, “Looks like, Sweetie, you already know Ranadhir. Am I sufficiently right?”

  Keka nervously said, “We met in Darjeeling.”

  Ramnath exploded in laughter and said, “You only met him? The grapevine has it that people were mesmerized seeing two of you on horseback all over Darjeeling. Is there any grain of truth in that report?”

  Keka again nervously said, “That is partly true.”

  Ramnath said, “Then tell your grandpa the whole truth that you were waiting for Rana’s telephone. Is that right?”

  Keka thought there was no way she could escape the truth. So she nodded bashfully. Observing the embarrassed look of his granddaughter, Ramnath exploded in laughter. He then said, “You now sit next to him. Let me see why Rita, Mita and Devika were so captivated simply by seeing the two.”

  Mita was savoring her dream being fulfilled through her daughter. She never had the opportunity to have her beau introduced to her grandparent with fun and frolic before her wedding. In her own case, her husband was simply planted on her. She had no choice. No one even asked her if she liked her husband. It was just a chance that everything worked out well. That was because her parents-in-law, i.e Ramnath and his deceased wife treated her like their own daughter. Her happiness showed up in her glittering eyes.

  Keka sat on the sofa next to Rana, invoking unfathomable joy in her grandpa. Ramnath exclaimed, “A perfect match! A match made in heaven!” He kept looking at them and laughing in joy. Then in order to tease his only grand child he said, “No wonder why my sweetie looked so romantic on returning from Darjeeling! I don’t blame her for that.”

  Keka blushed and said, “Grandpa, you are now making up things.”

  Rana was enjoying the interplay between a happy grandparent and his loving granddaughter.

  Ramnath’s interest then shifted to Rana. Looking at him he said, “Rana, we are all happy to have you with us. My son Sudhir is not here today. He has gone to our ancestral estate at Burdwan to take care of some property related problems. But knowing him well I can emphatically say that had he been here today, he would be happy too.” With a little pause he asked him, “Rana, how about your family? Do they know my sweetie too?”

  He answered, “As you know, my aunt in Darjeeling knows her very well. My grandma and my parents do not know her yet. I am sure Aunt Devika will let them know when the time is ripe.”

  Ramnath said, “Great. However, I have a friendly suggestion. Please don’t take it as an offense. You two are very young. Gone are the days of my generation. I was simply asked to step into marriage vow by my father. I was only sixteen and my bride, twelve. No one even asked my opinion about her, as if I did not have a mind. What I am suggesting is that you two continue with your romance for five years. My request to Rana is, settle down in whatever career you choose. Let my Sweetie be also a college graduate. Then only marriage will be joyous and meaningful. How does that sound?”

  Rana said shyly, “Actually, the occasion to discuss about marriage did not come up as yet. But that is exactly what is in my mind.”

  Ramnath then raised a natural follow up subject, saying, “Talking about your career, I did not ask what career you want to pursue. However, if you decide to come to legal profession, never hesitate to let me know. I will be most pleased to guide you into my profession.”

  Rana said, “It was so nice of you to say that to me. However, I took Economics as my Honors subject primarily to complete Business Management course and pursue my career as a Business Executive.”

  Ramnath said, “There is nothing wrong with that. Do whatever you are comfortable with.” As Rana’s eyes veered to the clock not for any particular reason, Ramnath asked, “Rana, why don’t you have dinner with us?”

  Rana quietly looked at Mita and she said, “I invited him already and he accepted the invitation.”

  Looking at Ran
a, Ramnath said about Mita, “She is my mother. She automatically takes care of the steps that I miss.” Then looking at Mita he said, “We have about an hour to go for dinner. I suggest let my sweetie take Rana upstairs to show him her world. She must be dying to talk to him. Let me work on a brief that I have accepted today. Then we will all assemble at the dinner table at eight. What do you think?”

  Mita said, “That will be perfect for me.”

  When Ramnath walked out of the room, Mita looked up at the ceiling and with the intention to tease her daughter, exclaimed, “Oh God, what a surprise?”

  Keka understood that those words were directed toward her. So she said, “Okay ma, I will also give you the surprise of all surprises.”

  Mita gave a riposte, “My daughter, you will never be able to give me any surprises.”

  As Keka and Rana were walking up the stairs to the third floor, Mita told Keka, “If I finish early, I’ll come up and join you. If you need me for anything, I will be at the kitchen.”

  Keka said, “Okay ma, if we don’t see you by eight, we will come down to the dining room.”