"So... Bondita gets to indulge in all those delectable sweets?"

"Yes."

"And Bondita gets to don new garments?"

"Yes."

"And she's the one partaking in the function while I'm left out?"

"Yes."

"And all this because she's superior to me?"

"Perhaps." Anirudh's dark, arched eyebrows lifted slightly as he responded to the final inquiry. Shifting his gaze from the typewriter and dispelling his tangled thoughts, he finally acknowledged his younger brother, who had stood by his work table for half an hour, a scowl on his face, absentmindedly rolling the glass paperweight on the mahogany table.

"So, Bondita is indeed better than me?" Anirudh heard Batuk let out a sharp, warm sigh, emphasizing the verb.

Anirudh attempted to conjure that charming smile on his preoccupied lips. "You are the best, Batuk," he reassured tenderly, "only if you believe you are."

Finally capturing his brother's attention, Batuk looked up with a brightened expression. "Is that so?" he asked cheerfully, and Anirudh nodded.

"If that's the case, then I believe I too should get to relish those sweets, wear new attire, and be a part of that feminine event, whatever it may be!" He folded his arms across his chest, asserting his thoughts.

Anirudh smiled and affectionately tousled his brother's unruly hair. "You said it yourself... It's a feminine function. Are you a girl, Batuk?"

Anirudh withdrew his hand from Batuk's head and placed it on the typewriter. "No, I'm not. But don't you always say girls and boys are equal? So why now? Why are they excluding me? And Bondita too!"

Anirudh smiled at the accusation. He had resumed his work, and without shifting his gaze, he casually inquired, "What did she say?"

"Said... Said I can't be here, because I'm not married."

"She did?" Anirudh responded innocently, although this inquiry reignited Batuk's enthusiasm to accuse his only partner in crime, who had seemingly abandoned him without notice.

"And she called me a monkey too!" He rolled his eyes and pouted his lips to emphasize the severity of his accusation.

Anirudh broke into laughter. "Well, you are a monkey, Batuk!" He pulled out a paper from the typewriter and glanced at it once. "And yes... Perhaps you aren't meant to be there, with them, in their function or ritual. Have you seen me attending it?"

Batuk pouted further and nodded in disagreement. "But you're married! It means you can attend if you want?" His eyes brightened suddenly.

"Perhaps. But I'm not interested." Anirudh stood up from the chair. "And I think you shouldn't be interested either."

Batuk didn't object further. Countering his brother was not his habit; it was Bondita's. Letting out a sharp, sad sigh, he left the study room disheartened.

Time rolled in anticipation, and the door finally creaked open, as peering out with one eye was Bondita, his best friend, his dear Boudidi, but with absolute annoyance on her face.

"I told you, you can't be here!" She retorted with a frown, as her elderly, grown-up female friends giggled from inside the closed room.

"But you said married people can."

"Are you married?" Bondita now opened the door a little wider and stood with her hands on her waist, a total authoritarian. Batuk heard loud bursts of laughter from inside the room, all those "boudis" from the village whom he despised.

"Tell me, Batakrishna, where is your wife?" Bondita closed the door on his face.

"Kaka... Kaka..." Batuk had now rushed into his uncle's bedroom, unsettling the man from his daily Pranayama.

"Uff... Early in the morning... What on earth?"

"What is Bondita doing where I'm not allowed?"

"Boudidimoni! Call her Boudidimoni," Trilochan rolled the crochet mat from the floor where he was seated.

"Whatever! But what is she doing?" Batuk asked restlessly.

"And she's performing Sabitri Brata."

"What's that?"

"Something that women do. Why do you need to know?"

Batuk looked at his uncle thoughtfully, and ignoring his question completely, he asked another. "So married people can be there?"

Trilochan nodded. "If they want to."

No more words were exchanged, and Batuk silently, thoughtfully left the room.

It was almost afternoon, the blazing sun glaring mercilessly upon the entire village, threatening people to stay indoors, except for Batuk. Sweaty, thirsty, and soiled, Batuk cradled a beautiful white cat forcefully in his arms and tiptoed inside the haveli, trying his best to avoid being seen.

"Meoww..." The cat meowed once, and Batuk instinctively placed his palm over its mouth.

"Shhh.... Don't... Kaka will wake up!" But the warning had little effect. He tiptoed along the staircase and reached the second floor, carefully avoiding the study where his elder brother might be.

"Choto Babu?" However, Koeli's sharp yell was enough to startle Batuk, making the feline leap out of his arms.

"Arey.... Bou... Uff..." Batuk also jumped after it, grabbing it by its tail and struggling against its sharp, ferocious canines.

"Choto babu... Oh my god... Maa Durga... What on earth!" Koeli too kept screaming in horror, her eyes widening.

"Why? I'm married now. Call her... Should she think she'd be the only one to have a husband!"

The cat was continuously struggling trying to free itself, but Batuk was insistent too. He had finally managed in placing it back in his arms, the grip a little tighter this time. The cat too screamed double. And to her utmost horror, Koeli saw a blotch of red Vermilion smeared on the cat's white unblemished head, right between it's ears.

Koeli was laughing now. "A husband indeed... It's a male cat, Choto Babu..." Her laughter knew no bounds, and so did Batuk's anger.

"So what? Those foolish women inside wouldn't know the difference!" He gritted his teeth in vexation, increasingly getting annoyed with the cat, which was now happily licking the gold button on the chest of his pink cotton kurta.

"Ohh... Boudidimoni... " Koeli let out a scream in amusement, but even before that, Batuk felt the presence of mocking eyes, among them was Bondita, glaring at him furiously.

"What?" Batuk yelled at her. "I'm married now, this is my wife!" He held the cat in front of her, and somehow the feline managed to slip out of his hands, fleeing out of the window for dear life. Batuk stared at his own hands in astonishment.

"Wife, eh? And his wife just ran away!"

A girl smirked, taunting, pulling her saree to cover her face, and the others joined in. To Batuk's surprise, Bondita didn't laugh. She stepped forward, grabbed his arm forcefully, and dragged him to his room. Batuk followed obediently, as somewhere in his innocent, foolish heart, he knew he had crossed some limits.

"What's wrong with you?" Bondita shook him by the shoulder.

"What's wrong with you? What's wrong with Dada? What's wrong with Kaka? Why are you always busy with them?"

"What do you mean?" Bondita rolled her eyes at him.

"Dada is always busy, Kaka never listens, and you, Bondita, you were supposed to be mine... My best friend... Kaka had said Maa has sent you to me in her place! Then why? Where are you keeping me away?" Batuk's voice escalated, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Batuk, they are my friends!" Bondita tried to calm him down, but it only seemed to fuel his frustration.

"I am your friend too! More than they could ever be!" Batuk was now sobbing, and Bondita felt a sudden pang of guilt.

"But I always play with you, Batuk!" She attempted to console him, but it seemed to exacerbate his emotions.

"You used to!" He exclaimed. "But now you have all those 'didis' there... And I don't like any of them... They all talk about adult things and engage in adult activities!"

"And who is doing adult things?"

Trilochan Roy Choudhary had heard the screams and likely, with Koeli's information, he now stood at the threshold of Batuk's room. Anirudh too stood behind him.

"No one. Just paan... Those girls... They eat paan with betel nuts after the puja," Bondita quickly interjected, nervously. Anirudh frowned at her reaction.

"You brought a cat home as your wife, Batuk?" Trilochan asked gravely, and Batuk fell silent.

"Will the cat be able to fulfill all the responsibilities of being a mistress in the Roy Choudhary house?" He asked again, and Batuk lowered his head in shame.

"Never... Never forget your position, Batakrishna Roy Choudhary. Never forget who you are and your family responsibilities." Trilochan paused. "If you want to get married, I'll search for a suitable bride starting tomorrow, but you'll have to prove yourself to be suitable to be a worthy husband too!"

"How?" Batuk murmured, and it was Anirudh's turn to speak.

"First, you need to learn how to take care of yourself, and then how to take care of the bride who will be with you. She'll be here only because of you, Batuk, and you should be capable enough to take on all her responsibilities."

"Like?" Batuk wiped his eyes and looked up.

"Like earning money to take care of her needs. Learn to cook to feed her, and take care of her if she falls sick."

"I'll be a doctor... Yes," Batuk blurted out amidst sobs.

"That's good, but for that, you'll have to study hard."

Batuk listened to his brother and looked up. To his utter surprise, both his brother and uncle were smiling tenderly at him, and somehow he knew the worst was over. Without wasting the opportunity, he quickly rushed towards Trilochan and hugged him tight, wrapping his arms around his waist, and Trilochan too hugged him back.

"So, I'll get married once I become a doctor," Batuk declared, and Anirudh ruffled his hair lovingly, making him regain his lost courage.

"But I have one problem, Kaka." He cleared his throat. "By the time I marry, Bondita will end up taking all the jewelry that we have. What would my wife wear?"

Anirudh laughed at his words, and so did Trilochan. But Bondita lowered her head and quietly walked out of the room.

"Don't worry, Batuk, your wife will have more than enough... We are Roy Choudharys... The Zamindars..."

The questions and answers continued, with Batuk clarifying his position to the two grown-ups and, in turn, receiving assurances from them. His child's heart was filled with all the attention he had been craving for. And it was then that Bondita slowly entered the room again.

"Batuk... Here..."

She held a small wooden box in her hand. To Trilochan's utter surprise, she opened it and pulled out one of the beautiful flat bangles that Anirudh's deceased mother used to wear.

"A pair of bangles... One for me and one for your wife. I'm keeping it safe here." She gestured towards her own wrist, showing the oversized gold ornament that adorned her wrist. "And this long bokul chain is for Som Dada's wife, whenever he marries." She closed the box carefully. "There are other pieces too, and I've carefully divided them for everyone. Don't worry."

Bondita was smiling, but both Anirudh and Trilochan had teary eyes. While Trilochan reminisced about old memories, Anirudh couldn't help but admire the maturity and compassion of this ten-year-old girl.

Batuk hadn't taken the bangle from her that evening, but before Bondita had gone to Dehradun, she had proactively insisted on him keeping it as a token of memory.

And with love and fondness, aspiring doctor Batakrishna Roy Choudhary had cherished that single piece of ornament fondly in his locker.

"My wife's... " He would sometimes admire its intricate design, and on other occasions, he would sniff it to force himself to remember a piece of his mother.

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

"Rai Sen." Raimoti stood up and bent down to touch his feet slowly.

"Sen?" Trilochan trembled.

"Yes, Kaka... Do you remember the doctor who treated me in Calcutta?" Anirudh interjected immediately. "Sarthaki Sen."

Trilochan nodded his head, but by then his eyes were fixated on a single pendant that hung from Raimoti's neck, a plain sapphire cast in white gold.

"You..." Trilochan murmured, "this..."

"This... This... is Sarthaki's wife!"
Bondita stammered.
"And she'll be staying with us for a few days."

A sharp, piercing silence enveloped the room for a few unbearable minutes; all eyes lowered, all hearts heavy, until finally, Trilochan raised his trembling hands and pointed at the pendant that adorned Raimoti's neck.

"Sa... Sapphire!" Trilochan stammered. "Where did you? Where..."

"That belonged to my mother-in-law. She was from a place where they mine these stones," Raimoti hushed her words as both Bondita and Anirudh looked at her with confused frowns.

"Which place?" Trilochan's voice trembled in anticipation. "Which?"

"Padar," Raimoti replied plainly. She had lived in Kashmir.

"Oh!" Trilochan breathed out and looked at Anirudh.

"What has Batuk done this time? I heard he brought a wife?" He sighed, and Anirudh placed his hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Let's talk about this tomorrow morning, Kaka..." He looked at the old man, and Trilochan too nodded in agreement. He neither possessed the energy nor the strength to confront his prodigal son at that moment.

"I hope it's at least a human this time?" He chuckled to himself, rekindling some lost memories in both Anirudh and Bondita's minds. And then slowly, he got up from the bed and started to walk out of the room, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. At the door, he turned around once to look at the woman standing in front.

"You know there is another sapphire mine here... Here in Bengal that very few know about!"

He gulped and then without waiting for any further exchange of conversation, he quickly dashed out of the door.

Raimoti understood the connotation of his words, but it wasn't the right time or set up to discuss it. With Satyakirth gone, and his child in her, it was time for her to fight the cruel battle of the world.

"Part of me refuses to believe that Satya is..." Bondita's voice was hoarse from all the crying. "I mean how could he..."

"Why? Isn't he a human?" Raimoti murmured. "I've seen the most human side of him, Bondita. He is just a vulnerable, soft-hearted person, with human longings and desires... As humane as it can get!"
Renewed tears were dripping down her eyes, and Bondita came closer to envelop her in the warm compassion of her arms.

Silence prevailed, until it didn't. A sharp sound of something breaking reverberated across the corridor, startling everyone inside, breaking them from the meditation of their sorrows.

The sound lingered followed by a scream, and within minutes, Bhargavi came running along the corridor towards them, crying, panting.

"What..."
Bondita couldn't complete her question as Bhargavi turned to Anirudh and joined her hands in a plea.

"Dadababu... Boumoni... Come... Come quickly... At once..."
She cried.

"Mira didi has hit Choto babu with a vase and... And he's bleeding from his head..."
She couldn't complete, as both Bondita and Anirudh rushed out of the room.

The door was wide open, and Bondita stumbled as something caught under her feet. She bent down to pick it up... A piece of her mother-in-law's gold bangle pair, the one that she had given to Batuk. And then she saw it, and she saw the scene in front. Beside the door was Batuk, clutching his head as a clear stream of thick scarlet blood seeped down his fingers, a large ceramic vase broken into a thousand pieces, a torn pink Benarasi saree, a few tattered flower garlands, all scattered on the floor, and in the furthest corner was a curled-up figure, in the dimly lit corner of the room, Mira, hurled up against the wall, shivering, draped loosely in her white saree, hair disheveled, like a lost soul, seemingly scared at this sudden incident.

"Mira... What did you..."
Bondita let out a suppressed scream and, along with her husband, she aided in picking Batuk up from the floor, carefully removing the small pieces of ceramic from his body.

As Bondita laid a glaring eye on Mira, Butuk caught her arm gently, gesturing her to stop.
"It's my fault, Boudidi... " Batuk tried to smile. "It has always been my fault. Don't blame my wife for this." He hushed, and a faint smile broke on his lips, letting a drop of pungent blood slip into his mouth.

"Kaal ratri... " Batuk was murmuring and Bondita looked at her husband with worrisome eyes.

"Koeli... Check if Dr. Majumder from Sadar Hospital has arrived yet," Anirudh called out loudly before helping his brother out of the room.
"I should send Nakul at once, shouldn't I?" He asked his wife nervously. "Dr Majumdar was right behind me in his car when I left the hospital... I should have... Uff... "
Anirudh had almost cradled his brother in his arms.

"Yes. Send Nakul. " Bondita replied, and her eyes drenched at the bloodied condition of her dear brother in law.
"You still married a cat, Batuk!" Bondita held his hand to support him against her husband, and Batuk chuckled in amusement amidst the pain.
"Old habits die hard, I guess... " He flinched in pain before losing consciousness in his brother's arms.