Love Aaj Kaal - a short story

“Ki holo? Tomake je kaaj-ta korte bolechilam, sheta hoyeche?” (What happened? Did you complete the task that I had asked you to do?).

Subroto, a member of the indomitable Bengali male species, married to Chandrani, a member of the dominating Bengali female species, just two springs back, stood speechless at the doorway of his south Kolkata flat. Of the 52 different muscles that lined his face, Subroto could not dare to flex a single one of them and resorted to turn statue instead. Two years into his marriage, he has gained a significant insight that no excuse would pacify his marital mate more than seeing him stand there speechless in a pose to suggest, ‘Yes, my lady, I agree that I have failed to complete your assigned task and I am ready to be punished the way you desire the most!’ The anger subsides, eventually.

Standing stone cold, Subroto recalled his first interaction with Chandrani. It was during his third year at college, some 5 years back. He was studying to complete his honors in Physics from a college in South Kolkata. Subroto Bagchi had been quite studious all through his school and college days, but he lacked the basic skills of interaction – a hallmark of youth-hood - that most of his friends possessed in wooing the Bipashas-Sumitas-Rupalis at the college canteen. Subroto was an introvert – a non-believer and a non-practitioner of free mixing and to many, a loser! But quite recently, to challenge his social handicap in the real world, he has dived into the virtual world of Facebook and online friendship. Within a month, quite secretively, he managed to build an envious friend list of 4 girls and 2 boys (that included 4 cousins and a distant kaku)! The only odd person in this list was an unexpected acceptance of ‘friend request’ by a college student from Siliguri in North Bengal, from among hundred odd friend requests sent to girls across the age group of 18 to 25 years. This was Chandrani Mukherjee, a first year humanities student, with a dimpled smile, who liked Shahrukh Khan’s DDLJ, loved music and enjoyed ‘eating luchi and aloo dum’.

There was no looking back for Subroto, as he started spending over 5 hours a day, following and liking every activity of Chandrani and commenting to everything that she had to say. There used to be days, when to a one liner comment of Chandrani – Wow! What a day today! – Subroto used to write upto 15 comments describing the day, the weather, sharing the news headlines and even explaining his physics practicals – to the bewilderment of Chandrani and her friends, reading the posts. Subroto never realized when cupid struck him and so didn’t Chandrani, who though a bit irritated at the beginning at her new friend’s head-over-heels comments, soon took a fascination for his childish innocence and started liking all his multiple comments to her one-liners. Very soon they started sharing personalized messages and one day, Chandrani, took the initiative to express her feelings for Subroto, online.

“Arre, ki holo? Kathar jabab na diye, ha kore dariye acho keno?” (What the heck? Why are you standing there without responding to my query?). Subroto looked dazed as he tried to push away the images from his past, like the flick of a finger used to shift images on the new Samsung Note that he has recently purchased on his birthday. His conscious mind gave him no instructions to react to this question either and he continued to stand motionless and speechless. His subconscious mind nudged him once again and took him back to his first meeting with Chandrani.

It was perhaps the happiest day in Subroto’s life, till then. Some 2 weeks have passed after his University exams, which he somehow managed to complete in an unusually intoxicated-by-love, state of mind. He knew he could have faired better, had he concentrated more, but he was struck badly by cupid’s arrow and the wound was fresh! After exams, he persuaded his parents to send him to Malda to spend a week with his cousins. His parents promptly agreed and he was soon on his way to Malda, which was just four and a half hours away from Siliguri, further North and his desired destination over the past 6 months! Thanks to Facebook, Subroto had planned in advance a day-long excursion to Siliguri with his cousin Jayanta, who was a year older to him and the only one aware of his online romance. Someone else also knew about the plan and was waiting impatiently for 21^st June and that was Chandrani.

As planned, Subroto and Jayanta reached Siliguri bus terminus around 10 in the morning and headed straight for Ghoshpara, a southern suburb, known for its Kalibari. As the rickshaw that they were traveling in, turned the corner towards the Kalibari, Subroto’s throat dried, knowing not what to say when he would meet Chandrani. Commenting on Facebook posts and messaging “I love you my sweet pie” were very different from expressing the same face-to-face. Subroto gulped anxiously, as the rickshaw came to a sudden halt at the Kalibari gate.

“Babu, eshe geche!” (Sir, we have reached!)

“Haan, kato holo?” (Yes, how much?) Jayanta got off to settle the fare. Subroto was stuck to his seat, still thinking what he should say. “Ai, ki holo? Niche naab-na?” (What happened? Get off.) Subroto alighted obediently.

After seeing the rickshaw away, Jayanta excused himself from the scene, before promising to be back by 1 pm, leaving his cousin over two and a half hour of privacy to meet his lady love, Chandrani.

Some 15 minutes must have passed; Subroto by now has memorised a short extempore on love and togetherness, when he heard her voice for the first time. It was musical, to say the least, it was mystical, “Sorry, ektu deri hoye gelo.” (Sorry, I am a little late). Subroto raised his eyes to see the most beautiful face on the earth, staring at him through the kohl-lined eyes and with a dimpled smile. It was Chandrani, no doubt, but wasn’t she too beautiful to be an earthling – thought Subroto, still speechless. A light pink chikan salwar-suit clung onto her body, the dupatta swaying merrily in the breeze like Kajol’s when she ran towards Shahrukh in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, reminisced Subroto.

“Ish, tumi toh akdom gham-e bhije gecho! Esho chayay esho.” (Uh! You are completely drenched in sweat. Come into the shade.) Subroto could not speak, but just followed her into the shade, under the old peepul tree, next to the marble platform with a tulsi plant, in front of the garva-griha of the temple. “Ki holo? Tumi toh lajjabati lata hoye gele? Kichu bolo? Naki tumi rag korecho?” (What happened? Are you feeling shy? Say something. Or, are you angry?) Subroto had forgotten the lines that he had memorized so painstakingly. He was trying to absorb every passing second of their togetherness. He managed a dry smile on his face, knowing very well he was looking like a dumb scarecrow with a clay pot as its head and an uneven curve for a smile.

“Jano, aajker ai meeting-er katha ami amar maa-ke bolechi. Maa shune ektu regey gechilo, kintu permission diye dilo. Amar dujon bandhu-o janey. Tara toh ashar jonno moriya, kintu ami bolini kothay tomar shathey meet korchi. Bapi ektu ragi, noyto tomay bari-te daktam. Maa tomar chobi dekheche facebook-e.” (I have shared with my mother about today’s meeting. Although a little annoyed, but she eventually permitted me. Two of my friends also know about this and they were too keen to come, but I did not share with them where am I meeting you. Dad is an angry man, or else I would have invited you home. My mom has seen your picture on Facebook). After a pause, she continued, “Na na, bhebo na jeno ami maa-ke tomar comments gulo poriechi!! Tobey haan, amar bondhura poreche. Tadero tomake khub pachando hoyeche, karon, tomar friend list shotti irshoniyo.” (Don’t think I have made my mom read your Facebook comments, but my friends have read your comments and they all have liked you very much, as you have an envious friend list). She chuckled innocently. Subroto kept on staring at her face, studying closely her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, without knowing not what to say to her. Suddenly, Chandrani held his right hand in hers and pressing it tightly said, “Tumi ki go, atokhon dhorey ami katha bole jachi aar tumi kichu bolcho na! Ki holo?” (I have been speaking all through and you have not spoken anything. What happened?) Subroto smiled and said, “Kichu na, amar tomar katha shunte bhalo lagche. Tumi bolo.” (Nothing. You continue. I like the way you speak).

“Ki bol-le, amar katha bhalo lagche? Haan tai toh lagbe. Ami pagol-er moton chechiye chechiye morbo aar uni bolben amar katha bhalo lagche. Maa-go, ami aar parchi na.” (What did you say, you are liking what I spoke? Well, here I have been shouting mad and he has been enjoying it all. I just can’t stand this anymore).

Subroto got back to his self and realized that it was no flashback. He was standing right there infront of Chandrani at the doorway of his Kolkata flat, trying to play statue – the only trick he knew very well, to cool down an angry wife. Seeing that the situation was getting out of control and that too because of his own foolishness, he took a step closer to Chandrani and remarked, “Tumi dekho, kalke ami taratari bari eshe, plumber ke diye kaaj ta koriye debo. Please regey jeyo na shona.” (Tomorrow I will get home from office early and get the plumber to do the task. Don’t get angry sweet heart).

“Haan haan, ami toh emni emni rege jai, sharadin amar moton ghar bari shamliey dekhte. Akhon jao, aar pirit koro na!” (Yes, I get angry just like that. Try taking care of the household like me. Now go away). Subroto came closer to Chandrani and softly took her right hand in his own, and fell on his left knee in front of her, pulling her hand closer. Swiftly he pulled out a ring from his breast-pocket and slid it right through Chandrani’s ring finger, saying, “Happy Anniversary. It was 5 years back that you had expressed your love for me online and today I do the same, offline.” Chandrani was too bemused to say anything. She stared at the 2 carat diamond solitaire sparkling on the ring, and was speechless for almost a minute while involuntary drops of tear flowed down her cheeks.

“Tumi mone rekhecho? Subroto…”

“Na. Please aar kichu bolo na. What matters most to me is that you are mine and I love you.”

Chandrani got down next to Subroto and putting her hands around Subroto’s neck, embraced him passionately. “I love you for just being my very own Subroto. Thank you.”

(This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any character, place or event
is purely coincidental)

Shocking, it may sound, but every MAN is a potential RAPIST!!

(Readers may find parts of my article objectionable or disturbing because of certain descriptions and adjectives used in the content. I apologise for the same in advance and deeply regret, in case knowingly or unknowingly I have hurt the sentiment of any of my readers!)

Today, a month would have passed ever since the gruesome gang-rape incident in Delhi, that shook up the sensibilities of young and old, male and female, across the entire length and breadth of the country. Young protesters took to the streets in unison in almost every other metropolitan seething with rage against the administration’s inactions while demanding fast track justice to similar such cases kept pending for a long time now. News editors went berserk filing media reports and working on the copies condemning the incident or taking a stand against the government and the administration or creating newer angles with statistical reportage. Our politicians, unfortunately, had to work overtime, thinking of innovative means of being a part of the media glare – even it had to be through negative publicity (and some dubious loose talks). The accused have all been taken into police custody with a lot of promptness and urgency like never before (thankfully, no political connection could be established with the rapists till now, thereby speeding up the process!). The charge sheets have been filed and the hearing has also been initiated. In the meantime, the victim has succumbed to her injuries leaving behind distraught and agonized parents, friends and relatives who have lost a brave, young woman, all of 23 years, training to become a paramedic.

What next?  Have all the protests, the media stories and the incident as a whole, created enough moral values in men to condemn their own act and come out of their feudal and patriarchal mindsets? Can some heated debates on television news channels prompt potential rapists to voluntarily control their libidinous urge to satisfy their carnal, animalistic instincts of using a female body, as if considered quite low down in the food chain with men sitting right on top, for satiating pleasures driven by high testosterone gushes? The answers to all these queries, as you and me and all of us know quite obviously, are NO!

So, the next question that may arise in our minds is – who are these rapists and how do they become one? Ha! If only we would have known who these rapists were, then I am sure all of them would have been bundled out in the Indian prisons by now, waiting to get themselves chemically castrated, without me posing to be the me-know-all intellectual! Shocking, it may sound, but every man is a potential rapist! For the sake of clarity on what I said, I repeat, every man, even me included, is a potential rapist. Why I say this is because, a rapist cannot be identified by the dress he wears, the language he speaks, the education he had or even the company he keeps. Rape is a result of an uncontrolled sexual urge, an animalistic instinct, which is enacted under the influence of certain stimulations – in the form of mental processes, external substances, suppressed emotions – on a woman, considered inferior, weak or submissive, by the oppressor at the time of the act. Psychologists have concluded that the sexual drive is so intense that it overpowers every other cognitive or mental operations, releasing a lot of suppressed emotions, bringing about a change in behavioral pattern of an individual, even changing the way the brain reacts (through advanced brain mapping technology) to such situations by making the accused self-justify that there is no wrong in his act. So, if a sexual drive can actually bring about a complete lockdown to other physical and mental operations of the mind and the body, then how can one prevent someone from engaging into such acts? It’s simply impossible. And hence it becomes so unpredictable. But there is a different side to this story. When you have sex with your partner – your wife, fiancé, etc – you satiate the sexual needs of your mind and body. Rapists, on the contrary, be it a father, an uncle, a cousin, or any unknown person, would indulge in a sexual act not just to satiate the sexual need of the body, but to meet some more additional demands, as given below:

a) To give vent to a suppressed emotion – anger, envy, pride, feeling of neglect or any similar feeling related or unrelated to the victim

b) To prove one’s masculinity (by taking advantage of male domination in the society we live in) or to get acceptance or inclusion in the group one wishes to be a part of (under extreme peer pressure, where justification of every act, howsoever wrong it is, is always right)

c) To seek unconditional sexual pleasure from just another woman – which would not be fulfilled at home or at the brothel.

The act of rape or forceful (and unwarranted) violation of a woman’s privacy through any means causing adverse physical and/or mental agony to the victim can therefore be caused by any man, as per the aforementioned points. What needs to be understood here is that, a sexually obsessed person committing the crime, is not in a mental state of criticizing his own act at the time of the said act. He may however return to a state wherein he may feel that whatever he did was questionable and a criminal offence. Such behaviour is intensified further if the offender is under the influence of any substance abuse – drug or alcohol. It can therefore be concluded that a potentiality to rape a woman exists in every man in the society, although what separates a rapist from a person with clean conscience, is the extent to which the latter can suppress such negative drives by engaging themselves in other forms of mental or physical activities.

Personally, I feel that apart from drugs or alcohol, which intensifies the sexual drive of individuals (as mentioned above), there are some more factors, which have steadily contributed to the rise of sexual offences in the recent times:

a)    Irresponsible Media (both news and entertainment) – it is an established fact that media plays a pivotal role in shaping the social fabric as it has the advantage of reaching out to maximum number of people across gender, age and social groups, with messages, information and content that can influence its target group. The very same media, when it becomes a source of cheap entertainment through graphic and pictorial presentations which may be categorized as pornographic, it does create a lot of negative impact in the mind of the audience consuming the same content. (Two of the leading English mainline newspapers of India publish a daily entertainment supplement which can be easily categorized as pornographic not because of the news or headlines which may be disturbing but the pictorial representation of female celebrities from India and abroad in the most uncompromising poses and attire befitting of a Playboy or Cosmopolitan). One should not forget that most of the consumers of such media content are teenagers, college students and young adults who lack the maturity to gauge the appropriateness or impact of such toxic content.

b)   Rapid urbanization, Lifestyle and Work-life-balance – Over the past decade or so, India’s rapid economic growth has been contributed majorly by a robust service sector, which has helped India earn the epitaph of the “Outsourcing & Service capital of the world.” This has in turn opened up multiple opportunities for the Indian youth across urban and rural belts (as an additional reference, I want to point out the fact that apart from IT service, other service functions require less technical skills, training of which can be delivered through short to long term courses through regular and distance mode; this has made different job opportunities in service sectors more appealing to the youth brigade, bringing both the rural and urban youths to the same platform). Higher opportunities in service industry, which have flourished across the metropolitans have drawn in a lot of youngsters from district and sub-divisional regions as well, creating a higher population influx (politicians would love to term it as migrant population) in the cities. Add to this the incentive driven pay packages, leaving a lot of disposable income to these young men and women in service. Financial independence of these youngsters has given them an opportunity to channelize their disposable income to buy fashion and lifestyle products, leading to a growth in consumerism which ultimately also accounts for socio-economic divide (which has been widening recently). Other factors like stretched work hours, unsteady relationships, bad eating habits, poor work-life-balance, etc have also lead to depressive conditions in these youngsters, which remain suppressed in the subconscious, only giving vent in different self destructive forms (substance abuse, sex drives, etc being some outcomes of these depressive states).

c)    Fragmented family life and disturbed childhood – Social structures in both urban and rural India have undergone a gradual change over the past 2-3 decades, peaking after the opening of the Indian economy in the early 90s. Ever since then, there has been a rise in the number of divorce, female feticide and social abuses affecting women in general and the children in particular. This has lead to a disturbed childhood for many kids. Although many of these kids have grown up to get well established in life, but a snapshot of their past is still stored in their subconscious. These suppressed emotions in such individuals may trigger certain unaccountable actions leading to sexual or physical abuse of people deemed weaker physically and socially.

A rapist in the city or in the village, in India or abroad, in a developing country or a developed world, would always stay a rapist in the eyes of the law. And all accused, as I have already mentioned, irrespective of their education, their profession, their color or creed, indulge in anything as heinous as rape, to give vent to some of their suppressed emotions, which would not be visible in our normal routine life. Guess it, your most cooperative colleague, a young and dynamic man of 26 can be a cause of threat for you, the same way your next door uncle-ji of 45 years! Don’t take me wrong, but rape as a crime against woman is equally terrorizing as a brain-dead individual carrying an AK-47 across his shoulder, pumping in rounds after rounds of bullets on to common people. Even in an advanced society like Europe and USA, with the availability of professional help in the form of counselors and psychiatrists, rape could not be completely abolished.

Many have even suggested making law enforcement more stringent and fast-tracked, but even with a stringent system in place, has this act been completely abolished out from the developed world? No it hasn’t been. Fast tracking of cases against rape-accused, making the law enforcers more accountable for any lapse in security cover on men, women and children alike (not just to secure the women from rapists, but ensuring the safety of the general populace), creating a fear of the strictest of punishment as a means to reduce such acts, etc are all fine, but rape cannot be completely abolished from the society. It was there 500 years back, even quite openly mentioned in different religious mythologies and it will stay for the rest of our lifetime. These closing statements of mine may make my readers feel shocked about the extent of pessimism I bear regarding this issue, but as a person with scientific bent of mind, I cannot paint a rosier picture of a society free of such immoral acts in future, simply because the science of the mind, would keep it going, even against the wish of the gods!! As parents and responsible citizens, we should try to create a better tomorrow for our kids, by inculcating gender sensitization programmes more transparently at home and at school, pressure our governments in enforcing equally stringent laws against people found using women-centric expletives in public, engage our kids in practicing meditation as a daily routine and finally stop all forms of discrimination against women in every walks of life.

Even if all men are potential rapists, it is they, who can bring about a change, not the women. So just don’t expect any change, be the change!

Why WRITE, when people DON'T read?

"I Hate Books" - A children's
fiction by Kate Walker

I came across this interesting blog-post (also published on ToI edit page today, 30.11.12) by one of my favourite author-cum-journalists, Jug Suraiya. The blog post, titled, "What's for launch?" (Read the blog here) is an open and frank take on the razzmatazz that goes on in launching books round the year (as per the author, it's almost half a dozen in every other big city around the world every day). The launch party almost certainly has a chief guest, who may or maynot have anything to do with literature or writing in any way, but is only there to add the glamour quotient! The unfortunate reality, which is of a bigger concern today (and that is what I want to stress on in my post here), is the fact that people have almost stopped reading - books, blogs, newspapers, etc. And what the author cites, "... it is generally accepted that books are injurious to mental health in that they distract from watching Bigg Boss, doing Sudoku puzzles, and catching up on the latest tweet that's doing rounds on Twitter. Books, shooks. Who's got time for them?" intensifies the concern further.

I have worked with students closely. Most of them (nearly 100%) are within the age group of 17-22 years. By the time they joined our (IIPM's) management programme, they have almost lost the tendency to read. By reading, here I do not mean mere text books, which of course are the only source of getting pass marks (an unfortunate truth of our education system), but fictions, newspapers, magazines, anything that would give these wise souls some more wisdom in life. At our institute, we even went to the extent of creating special incentives for students to read more often by sharing a list of some of the best management titles, works of fictions, notable websites, etc through an initiative called Read to Lead! As expected, there were not many takers. We even had 'negative consequences' linked with this initiative of ours, trying to put to task these kids who otherwise would not fall for the more positive strokes, by engaging our communication faculty members to monitor their progresses. This also had least reaction. So where did we all go wrong?

Pic courtesy:
http://hashba.blogspot.com

Analysing back every aspect of these students, their areas of interest, their schooling, their social environment, we did reach a conclusion: these students hardly had any orientation towards reading. It was not only the school system (which we always tend to find the lone scapegoat), but also the parents and the family environment, that had to be blamed. There have been no extensive thrust put on by the parents to 'educate' their offsprings in the real context of education, beyond those text books (to be read as 'test' books). Schools have also failed to cultivate the interest of reading in their students by not attaching sizeable incentives to this exercise. Every school, from the primary to the high school level, has a dedicated 'Library' period attached to their curriculum, once a week. Why have they not given some weightage to these library periods in ensuring students imbibe the practice of reading, lifelong? 

So, when we looked back at these 17-22 year olds, we somehow realized that it must be too late now to make them pick up an interest in reading. The interest in reading should be nurtured from the early days, even before the kids start reading all by themselves. There has to be a culture in the family for the father or the mother to spend some time with the kid reading out stories from a book. Here, I would emphasise on the word book more as it becomes a visually accepted tool for the kid to lay its hands on, by the time it grows up and starts reading all by itself. Atleast once a week, even when the kid is going to the primary sections at school (that is upto class 5), parents should spend a few hours together with the kid in discussing books, interesting articles in the newspapers, joint reading of some science fiction or even reading out a story on Akbar and Birbal or Panchatantra together. Development Psychologists believe that most of the development in our interest areas happen within the age group of 6-12 and that is the time wherein more focus should be given in reading - not for the kid to grow up to become an anchor or newsreader, but to carry on the legacy of read to lead in every important milestones of its life.

Reading is so boring!!Pic courtesy: entertainment.time.com

Thanks to technology, books and articles are easy to access these days. One need not go to a bookshop anymore to locate a title and pick it up. You may order a book online or flip through the pages of an e-book as per your convenience. But what is the use of all these technology, when it fails to excite the human brain to READ? I may have an access to e-book through kindle or other e-book readers, I may also have an option of placing an order through the likes of Flipkart, but why should I? I don't enjoy reading. Period. The future looks really scary with our new breed of youngsters who have lost the enthusiasm or excitement of reading. Jug Suriya rightly points out, "As it is highly unlikely that anyone - least of all those present at the launch - will actually ever read the book being launched, wouldn't it save the writers a lot of time and effort not to write all those different books - all those novels, and memoirs, and factual fictions, and fictional facts...?" The question is quite loud and clear, while the answer is still pretty blur, blurred by the haze of consumer-centric-obtrusive dissipation on unworthy lifestyle. So, the choice is in our hands - should we read to lead (more effectively throughout our life) or we decide to destroy this practice for our progeny, once and for all!