Confusion is the time that the brain spends processing. It's a fog that would eventually clear, but in the meantime would blow the mind away, along with it the senses too!
Batuk was standing infront of his uncle, dumbfounded, his feet tapping in nervousness, and his hands tucked inside his pockets, unable to fathom what to do or say next.

The elders were talking, laughing, but not a single word felt familiar to him, it was as if their lips were moving, a constant beeping noise muting the rest of it.
"Where were you this morning, son? Calcutta?"
Abinash Lahiri was asking him, but he just saw his lips move, for his words weren't getting registered to his mind.

"Batuk... Say what he's asking!"
Trilochan's loud voice however was successful in shaking him out of his trance, as Batuk finally cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows at the man.

"What?" His lips just murmured.

Abinash Lahiri was smiling.
"I said, were you in Calcutta this morning? Because we too came from Calcutta, and..."

"Yes." Batuk responded abruptly, without letting the man complete, and Abinash Lahiri nodded his head in approval.

"Umm... Where again... Have you been to the north of..."

"Central Police station."
Batuk had interjected again, cutting the man's words with his monosyllabic responses.

"To meet Davidson?"
It was Trilochan's turn to ask questions, and Batuk nodded half-heartedly.

"So? Did you do what you had gone for?"
Trilochan asked again, and in response, Batuk nodded exactly like before.

"Davidson?" Lahiri had widened his eyes, and Trilochan chuckled in response.

"Yes, Davidson, that's officer Davidson, he is my eldest nephew's friend from England, and since his transfer Batuk has been helping him with a few enquires." Trilochan smiled at the man, as Abinash Lahiri widened his eyes futher in pride at the young man, gauging him, gawking at his suitability to become the perfect British friendly son-in-law he had been searching for.
However, what they all didn't notice was how Mahamaya's expression had changed during the exchange of this little conversation.

"Maha, would you like to speak to Daktar babu alone?"
Trilochan had gestured Abinash as the latter asked his daughter, proclaiming his open minded thoughts about progressive marriage culture.
He had very well remembered how Trilochan had frowned at his actual ideas about women and their opinions on choosing a husband during their last meeting, and on this one, Abinash Lahiri was determined to impress the old Zamindar at any cost.

"If you would permit."
The girl had gotten up from her seat, her head bowed down, and her hands fidgeting with her magenta silk saree, a little bright for the eyes.

Batuk gulped, and looked helplessly at Trilochan, as the old man nodded his head at him, as if in a command and Batuk looked away at once, his eyes somehow threatening to burst out into tears.

"Kaka... Can I talk to you please... Once."
Batuk had neared his uncle, leaving the girl stranded, and Trilochan frowned in displeasure at him.

"Go and show Mahamaya the house, the study... she is standing Batuk..." He rolled his eyes at his nephew.
"We can always talk later."
He tried to feign a smile, chuckling awkwardly, but Batuk cut him in the middle.

"No Kaka... Now... It's urgent."

Trilochan smiled uncontrollably at Abinash, a little edgy, and got up from his couch slowly, clutching on his stick, and Mahamaya lowered her face further, sitting down quietly beside her father.

"What's the matter with you Batuk? Why such indecency? Didn't I ask you already before inviting them?"
Trilochan had pulled his nephew away inside a room, as the duo engaged in a hushed discussion, one sided till then.

"Kaka... I... I know... But, I... I don't want to marry."

"Batuk!!" Trilochan let out a supressed scream, as with his left hand he pressed the left of his chest, breathing rapidly.
"You dare not insult me like this... You dare not!"

Batuk looked away and sighed.
"Kaka... What if there is someone else?"
His words were calm, a hush, and Trilochan narrowed his eyes at once.

"Is she a brahmin? Upper caste?"

"No."
Batuk murmured.

"From a respectable family?"

"No. An orphan."

"Educated?"

"A little."

"And have you known her for long?"
Trilochan had sank down on a cot laid nearby, and Batuk sat at his feet.

"I haven't. But it feels as if I've known her for a lifetime."

"Is she a fit for our family Batuk?"
Trilochan was rubbing the left of his chest, as his lips quivered out the questions, and swallowing hard, Batuk pressed his knees and looked up to meet his gaze.

"She would be Kaka... I love her... And, I've vowed to fill her life with colors."

Batuk's eyes were glossy, but his words formed creases on Trilochan's forehead.
"Is she a widow?"

"Yes."

"And children?"

"One."
Batuk murmured, and Trilochan let out a loud exhale, clutched his walking stick as he stood up at once, prepared to leave.

"Decided then Batuk Roy Chowdhury... You marry this girl, and it would be over my dead body..." He turned around to leave, leaving the boy alone on the floor.
"And, now... Go and behave with decency with the girl outside, lest you want your old uncle, who had never bowed down to anyone, to beg and be humiliated publicly."

Trilochan breathed the words in one go, as the tapping sound of the stick filled the corridor, slowly receding into the outer hallroom.

Batuk sat quiet for a moment, and then got up slowly, rubbing his eyes.
He'll have to find a solution, and for that he'd have to speak to the girl, the new girl, and he would have to ask her to reject him somehow.
Batuk ran out of the room at once.

"Go, Mahamaya... Go and see the house with him."
Trilochan was breathing rapidly, as he spoke the words as cordially as possible, trying desparately to suppress his agitation. The girl looked at her father, as she got up slowly and walked towards Batuk, who now was standing infront of the staircase, his hand held out at her.

"Shall we madam... This way."
He swallowed hard and tried to smile, as the girl smiled back, placing her palm on his extended hand.

"Call me Maha." She smiled.

*******

"Whose wedding Bhaggu? Who is getting married?"
Mira's voice was shaky, as Bhargavi gulped nervously and held both her hands in hers.

"What happened in the terrace Didi? Did choto Zamindar Babu hurt you in anyway?"
She asked, and Mira nodded her head vehemently to her sides.

"No, he didn't... He rather... " Mira couldn't complete, as fresh blotches of red tainted her already flushed cheeks once again.
"Leave it Bhaggu, tell me whose getting married?"

"Him." Bhargavi murmured, as her eyes teared up automatically, contemplating Mira's heartache.
She was young, but she wasn't young enough to not understand what it is to be in love, and gauging Mira and Batuk's behaviour in the past few days, if not sure, but she had definitely understood the brewing tension of romance between them, and in her young heart, unknowingly, she had made Batuk sit on the highest pedestal of a hero, and seated beside him was her dear Mira didi!

"Him who?" Mira's voice quivered, and Bhargavi threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tight.

"Choto Zamindar Babu... Please Didi... Ask him not to marry that woman, please... He'll listen if you tell him..."
Bhargavi rubbed her face on Mira's shoulder, her hands gripping her tight, and for a moment Mira sat still, like a lifeless status, before her hands moved up on the girls head, very tenderly.

"He'll eventually have to marry, will he not?" Mira's words were strained with tears, and Bhargavi pulled herself away and looked at her face.
And to her utter surprise, Mira didi wasn't crying!

"How long do you think he'd tend to strays like us? Widows and orphans!"
Mira a let out a sharp exhale, as she slowly cupped Bhargavi's face and smiled. But there wasn't a trace of happiness in that smile, only gloom and pain.

"Would you talk to him once."
Bhargavi murmured, and Mira nodded.

"I would, but there isn't anything to talk... If he's marrying someone else, then he should... And we both should be happy for him."

Jets of tears burst out from Bhargavi's eyes.
"How didi? How so easily? How can you let him go.... this name on your back... Don't you... don't you love him even a bit?"
Bhargavi had held Mira's shoulder, as the latter stood up slowly, as very gently she pulled up the loose end of her saree and tried to wipe out the strains of Abeer from her body.

"I'm a widow Bhaggu... An unfortunate, wretched widow, a bad omen... How could you even think that I'll ever have the audacity of feeling something as pure as love?" Mira muttered the words slowly, but with it came out tears, as the long forged dam in her heart finally opened up, dampening her cheeks in its shower.

"Dont cry Bhaggu... let's do something good... alright... I rather go get that small potter's wheel.... Do you want to learn how to make those ektaras?"

Mira tried to smile, as inside her heart she felt a huge tornado of devastation smashing everything into dust.
"Where is the wheel Bhaggu?"
Mira asked, and Bhargavi wiped her eyes and nodded.

"Study."

*********

Batuk hadn't felt like raising his eyes to take a look at the woman standing beside him, her hands brushing over the bookshelves, and the typewriter, and the telephone set kept on the table.

"Telephone!! I love telephones!!"
She had suddenly screamed out, in a strange childish sing-a-song tone, startling Batuk, throwing him off balance a bit.

"Umm... Good", was all he could conjure.

"My father, since he has returned, he doesn't let me go out, no telephones at home." She pouted at him like a little girl, and stuck her tongue out, and looking at her for the first time Batuk thought her to be a little elder to what his uncle had mentioned to him.

"Umm... Madam, I... I wanted to tell you that... "
Batuk had inhaled sharply, trying to form a prelude to his words, but before he could come to it, he saw Mahamaya jump up and sit on the table, grabbing the telephone, as very gently she placed it on her lap.

"Hey... What are you doing?"
Batuk quickened to hold the almost falling receiver from her lap.

"Tell me you'll buy me these telephones once we marry... Please..." Mahamaya had held his wrist firmly, startling him, as he cleared his throat and tried to free himself from her grip.
"And, I've told Baba... Before marriage you'll have to take me to Dhakeshwari Kalibari... That's the only condition I have for marriage."
She had pouted her lips further and was now swaying her legs in the air, making Batuk flinch his face in annoyance.

"Where?"
His lips formed the question instinctively.

"Dhakeshwari temple... In Dhaka... And I want to go before the first of next month... Please... Please Batakrishna Babu... Promise me that you'd take me..."
Mahamaya pressed her eyes shut, and her hands were joined together in a playful childish plea, and Batuk gulped at the sight and stepped a few feet back.

His eyes had narrowed automatically, it was the first time he looked at the girl's face.
Thin, but she looked strong... Fair, yet looked dark in his eyes soaked in Mira's angelic beauty. It was difficult to say if Mahamaya was beautiful, as her face had atleast a few layers of white power dabbed aimlessly, giving it an uneven texture, and her lips were painted in an awkward pink tint.
Batuk sighed and looked away.
But, even if she would have been the prettiest of them all, his eyes still couldn't have bore it's sight... For there was one for him, just one!

"Batakrishna Babu... Please... Dhakeshwari temple... Remember, don't forget, and here..." Mahamaya grinned noisily, taking out a small chit from inside her blouse, making Batuk look away instantly in distaste.
"This is for you... I... I want you to read...my heart... For you... And..."
Mahamaya stuck her tongue out and pressed her eyes again, as if blushing profusely, but her cheeks didn't reflect any of its hue.
"Read it... Please..."
She stretched her hands out at him, and it was then that her silk saree slipped... A split second, and Batuk's reflexes warned him about the imminent fall, her and the telephone set together.

"Arrey... "
With a abrupt jump, Batuk had clutched her by her arm, securing the telephone, as the woman fell on his shoulder dramatically, panting her heavy breaths in his ear.

"Please..." Batuk tried to speak, but before that, there was another voice at the door, a loud gasp to be precise.

"S...sorry..."

Mira was standing behind by the door, her face as pale as a sheet, shaking, and before he could speak any further, he saw her nodding her head vehemently to her sides, as if in some denial, as in the next moment she sprinted out of the door, as silently as she had appeared.

Batuk stood there rooted.

"Who is she?" Mahamaya asked in a sing-a-song tone, rolling her eyes, her gaze fixated at the door, and Batuk swallowed hard, the old feeling of being choked to death was overpowering his senses once again.

"Mira... " He had murmured unmindfuly, as quickly, very quickly he too followed her out of the room, leaving Mahamaya alone inside, and on his way out he threw the chit disdainfully by the door.

Mahamaya stood quietly for a few seconds, her eyes hadn't missed the light strains of yellow Abeer on Batuk's white shirt, and now she saw it's source on Mira's waist.
She looked up at the ceiling, letting out a soft sigh, as she slowly went out of the door and picked the chit up, placing it carefully back into her bodice. Next, discreetly, very discreetly, she dialled a particular number from the Roy Chowdhury's private unsupervised telephone line.

"Hello."
A voice responded within minutes, and Mahamaya hushed under her voice.

"I'm still stuck in Chakravyuh. Abhimanyu compromised. Time to device Jayadrath bodh!"

The telephone line was disconnected immediately, as the lady sank down into a chair, alone, her finger tips pressing her temple in a grave thoughtfulness .

"Batakrishna and Davidson... And then, Mira!" She murmured to herself.
"Oh Satya... This wasn't exactly what I was expecting!" She exhaled sharply.

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