Electrition Nandagopal was sitting on the high wall chewing the insulation of a wire unmindfuly, his stomach growling at the mouthwatering aroma of sandesh coming from the kitchen. Milkman Madan was infront of the kitchen, running to and fro with gallons of fresh milk, flashing his sparkling white teeth to an annoyed Manimala everytime. His younger brother Bhulu was seated at the open courtyard with a drawn face, arranging the fresh flowers to be made into garland chains, his heart longing to sneak out.
"Had it not been for that crackling new ten rupees note, I'd be long gone !" He had pouted his lips with a sigh, taming his heart to focus on the flowers.
Jagai was a simpleton, and on top of that his increasing forgetfulness had made it hard for him to get jobs these days.
"But Barrister Babu is always good to me", he would proudly say, "whenever I wipe the windshield of his car, he gives me five rupees, my entire week's income!" Needless to say, Jagai was appointed too, to do petty chores inside the household, and it was the fifth time since morning he had asked Bondita one question.

"Maa Thakurun, where should I keep these Rosogullas?"

"On my head!" Bondita had replied, a little irked this time, and poor Jagai was almost about to do the same, following his Bondita MaaThakurun's command, word by word.

"Arey arey... Jagai... Give it to me", Anirudh had held his hands at once.
"We don't want our guests to have baked Rosogullas, do we?" He smiled at the simpleton, taking the pot of Rosogulla from him with his right hand, as his left hand still lay bound with a sling around his neck.

Jagai had scratched his head at this subtle pun, confused, as Bondita turned her head to roll her eyes at him.
"Oh... You don't trust me?" Anirudh had widened his eyes at Bondita too, as he bent down a little to feather touch her head, withdrawing it instantly, his lips curled up in a pretentious pain.
"Damn... I just burnt my fingers!"

Bondita eyes had narrowed at him, as she picked up a handful of flowers from a basket nearby and threw it at her husband.
"Don't disturb Barrister Babu... I don't have time for this now."

Jagai was still standing infront, confused as ever at this sudden sight of his agitated MaaThakurun throwing flower at his Barrister Babu, but what he gaped at was his new found knowledge of how flowers when thrown in a certain way can cure burns!

Batakrishna and Satyakirth were given the charge of decorating the entire house with garlands of marigold. Large strings in yellow and orange hue lay in heaps on the open courtyard as both the men were seen making merry with each other
Batuk was standing on the cemented seat surrounding the Krishnachura tree, flexing his shoulder muscles in a show, while Satya had pulled up the sleeves of his new white silk kurta, winking playfully as he puffed up his biceps for him in return. Batuk's eyes had shown up at once with unblemished admiration.

"Here... You two... What's the point in petting those muscles if you won't even put them to use?" Bondita was standing behind them, her eyes narrowed, hands on her waist, and Batuk know exactly what's coming next.
"Useless... All useless... Everyone is just fooling around..." She turned around looking at two guards carrying a huge ladder inside.
"There... Arey who told you to take that inside? Keep it out... Out... At once."
She yelled at them as the two large bodybuilders almost ran out, vanishing from her sight at once.

"And you, muscle man, why are you smiling at me like that?" She widened her eyes at Satya as he picked up a basket of flowers and handed it over to Batuk.
"Guests would start pouring in anytime now... Fast fast... Make your hands move faster..." Her last words receded with her receding steps as they saw her almost run inside the house chasing a woman with a basket of fruits.

"What's with her today ?" Satya grinned at Batuk, helping him hang another garland string from the branches of the tree.

"She gets very edgy when she's worked up."

"Maa Chandi... In life!"

Batuk sighed.
"The only person who can calm her down is Dada, the Shiva himself!"

Satya smiled at the reference as suddenly the meaning of his name struck him.
"Anirudh!! Ofcourse..." He smiled.

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from mundane things because the true joy of life is made up of these obscure and seemingly mundane victories that gives us with our own small satisfactions.
Trilochan was happy, probably in the true sense of the emotion, as he witnessed the priceless consonance in his family.
Anirudh was healing, and Batuk had helped him sit on an armchair outside in the open verandah overlooking the decorated thakurghar.
And not only was he sitting, but also walking around slowly, overseeing the arrangements of the day.
A happy clamour filled the air around. Everyone was busy, running around with flower trays and cut fruits, gifts for the invitees... But the busiest was perhaps Bondita, the only woman in the entire household.

"The perfect Zamidarni!" Someone among the guests had remarked, puffing Trilochan's chest by atleast three inches!
He had spent his entire morning giving lectures on fertilizers and pesticides to the new boy, Girish, Batuk's friend, as the boy sat quietly throughout, with his head down, listening to the old man with wrapt attention.

"This is what the youth of today's generation lacks... Patience!" Trilochan had finally announced happily.
"You have that Girish... You'd go a long way."
Girish had'nt replied still, and instead he had simply bent down to touch his feet.

"Look... This is Shanskar! And look at the other boy, shy as hell... And whenever I see him around, he either hides or slithers like a snake... What am I? A monster?"

Girish had smiled again, stealing a glance at the 'shy' boy, who was now crawling around with a toddler.

A rare sight!

Girish sighed, as he picked up a plate of mashed Sandesh from around, yet to be molded and sneaked upstairs into the attic. Two other boys were already waiting for him.

"Satya had given green signal... It's tonight." He kept the plate on the floor, circling around it, before pulling out a small unlabelled bottle from his pocket.
"Neelmoni Mukherjee... You're gone tonight!" He smirked.

Rudhita was munching on petals of rose, picking them from the ground, the ones that her mother had tossed at her father a little while ago, as Satya picked her up in his lap with a broad grin.

"Come here little one, and open your mouth for me." He turned the baby to face him as he pushed his index finger inside her mouth, scooping out the reminisce of the magenta petals from her tongue.
Rudhi gagged and sneezed at the same time, before smiling back happily at him.
"Maaam... Maaam... Maaa...!"

Satya pinched her tiny nose lovingly.
"Nope, little one... Say... Kaaa... Kaaa...!"
He smiled

"Why not Mama?" Anirudh was standing behind him as the baby stretched her little arms and tried to jump onto her father's chest.

"Noo... Noo... Rudhita... Your Baba would need a little more time before he could play with you." He tried to place her down on the sprawling open porch as Anirudh smiled and extended his right arm at her.

"Her Baba's right arm is absolutely perfect... And he can never be too sick to play with his lovely baby."

Satya smiled and let Rudhi jump into her father's arms, carefully.

"Satya... Can we talk?"
Anirudh was patting his daughter gently, his voice had hushed down a little, as he gestured Satya to come inside the room.

Satya followed.

"I wanted to ask you about the man who had survived that night, after the attack." He paused, placing Rudhi tenderly on the bed.
"Is he alive?"

Satya was smiling.
"Alive... And ready to testify against Neelmoni Mukherjee."

Anirudh's eyes had widened at once, his face brightened with a hopeful smile.
"Excellent!... And now just Raimoti Mukherjee, and we should be sorted!"

Satya's smile was gone in a second.
"Raimoti Mukherjee? What about her?"
His sudden change of behaviour hadn't escaped Anirudh's eyes, as he intensified his gaze at the young Sacrosanct and sighed.

"I had sent her a request", he paused, "with evidences against her father, in hope that she would testify... But..."

"But, I haven't heard from her since..."

Satya had let out an exhale.
"Raimoti Mukherjee is sick. She has attempted suicide."

"What?"
Anirudh had almost jumped up from the bed, as the cast on his left leg gave away, contorting his face in a sharp pain.

"I had found her, by the river."

Anirudh eyes had widened at his words.
"And?"

"And nothing much... Except Neelmoni Mukherjee might have given me a complete pass inside his palace."
He shrugged as Anirudh couldn't help but pat his shoulder a bit.
"Bravo Satya... Bravo!"

Young Rudhi was watching the two men in their conversation with a serious expression on her face, as she too shouted out loud...
"Baa vuuu.... Baa... Vooosh!"

Anirudh had picked her up in his arms again, as Satya laughed out aloud.
A rare sight again!

................................................

What do you think is about to happen?
I tried a new writing style today... very subtle though... Just experimenting a bit... Let me know if you can point it.

PS: Updated:
To all those who tried to guess the new technique.
So, I've been reading a lot of Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay short stories (classics) these days. And he used this technique and I loved it and lapped it up.
It's like introducing random insignificant characters with their unique perspectives concentrating towards a convergence, adding humour in its way. Also, a great technique to show 'hustle bustle' or a busy ambience.
Hope you liked it.