Everyday is a new snapshot of time.
The bullock cart rolled smoothly along the red clay road, as the trees on either side glowed in unnamed shades of green, shimmering in the bright sunlight. Luv and Kush seemed happy to have each other back and as for the old man, he was probably the happiest! He chatted his heart out with Anirudh as the later sat behind, inside the hay shade. Bondita was half seated beside him, as her head rested on Anirudh's lap. He had wrapped his arms around her small frame tightly to cushion her from the occasional lurch and bump on the road.

"Barrister Babu... I can sit up you know!"
Bondita had quietly objected.

"No... Lay down."

Anirudh brushed her unkempt hair gently with his fingers as his hands shielded her face from the bright sunlight.

The afternoon sun had just started to slide down from overhead when Ghanashyam stopped the cart with a sharp tug.
"Huttt Hurrrrr....." His voice made the two bulls retreat their hooves.
He turned around to face Anirudh.

"Babu... Right there, that thatched hut is the post office." He pointed his fingers towards a particular direction as he got down from the driver's seat, tending to his dear animals.

"Bondita... We've arrived." Anirudh hushed gently as Bondita opened her eyes.

"I'm awake... "
Her glance followed the direction pointed out by Anirudh as she narrowed her eyes in apprehension.
"Barrister Babu... Do you think they'll have a telephone here?"

Anirudh too was thoughtful.
"Hm.. ideally all post office should have one. But I don't see any cables." He took a deep breath. "Let me go and check."

Bondita sat up as Anirudh hopped down from the cart.
"Sit here and I'll quickly go and check. Please don't get down." He instructed her.

Bondita narrowed her eyes again as she heard him speak.

"And why am I not allowed to get down?" Bondita hopped down from the cart instantly. Her knees wobbled as she felt the same nagging stretchy pain in her core. Her face flinched a little as she held Anirudh's hand firmly, before straightening her posture to stand upright.

"This is why?"
Anirudh exhaled sharply as he scooped Bondita up from the ground, placing her petite frame back inside the cart.
"Now, sit tight and I'll be back in a minute."

Bondita's eyes followed as he entered the modest mud building. She sighed deeply wondering her eyes on the surroundings.
It was a small market place... with a few vendors selling their wares here and there. There were people who walked passed the cart, few stood afar engrossed in their mundane banters. Bondita noticed a few women looking at her with eyes full of curiosity.

'Its probably because he lifted me up publicly!' Bondita thought as her face flushed at the visualisation of the idea.

Suddenly, a noisy conversation drew her attention. She moved to the rear end of the cart and darted her head out to fathom the source of the clamour.

A man in his late thirties was being humiliated by another one. The later looked a little affluent than the former. Bondita noticed that the man had held his folded hands up, begging and urging to the other man.
A small crowd had gathered around the scene, but no one said or did anything to thwart their dispute.

On the spur of the moment, Bondita widened her eyes in astonishment, as she saw the affluent one raised his hand high up in the air, about to be landed on the pleading man's face. But, out of nowhere his advances were met with hindrance. Anirudh had held his raised arm as the man glared at him with fiery eyes.

"How dare you...!" The man roared as Anirudh stood straight infront of him in his full length. His overpowering magnanimity served him as an added advantage.

He released the angry man's hand and spoke in a confident, authoritative tone.

"Whatever the issue be, you aren't supposed to hit a human being. Every problem has a rational solution."

His sharp words made the man roll his eyes as the pleading man started to shed tears of shame.

"And who the hell do you think you are?" The affluent man mocked Anirudh as a few men standing in the crowd aided him.

"It's not important who I am, what's important is to solve your differences like humans and not animals!"

The man looked sharply at Anirudh. There was no doubt of a prominent trace of elitism in his features, but he was wearing a plain cheap white dhoti and his bare body was covered with a off-white feminine shawl. He turned his face away from Anirudh as his lips curled up into a cruel mockery.

"Another beggar in the land of blinds!" He remarked as the men aiding him burst out into a sharp fit of laughter.
"Alright, so Mr. Nobody, this man standing here is a liar and a thief. He promised to give me a sum of eighty rupees on the pretext of my son marrying his ugly daughter. Now, the wedding is in two days and this nincompoop hasn't yet given me my money!"

Anirudh noticed the other man wiping his tears silently with a torn cloth that hung around his neck.
"Babu..." The man begged as his voice choked down into sobs. "My daughter is not ugly. I know I promised the dowry, but robbers broke into my hut last night and took everything we had arranged." He broke down into tears. "And now, if he doesn't come with the barat, then my daughter would be left with no way but to jump in the well."

"Liar that you are... Your pathetic daughter deserves to die!" The angry man roared as Anirudh raised his hand gesturing him to stop.

Although surprised, but there was something in Anirudh's behaviour that made people in the crowd awe him.

"How old is your daughter?" Anirudh asked the man politely placing a gentle pat on his shoulder to comfort him.

"My daughter is quite old Babu." The man answered him with a quivering voice. "She is Nine!"

His words had shook a cord inside Anirudh as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to content his agitation.

"Nine shouldn't be the age to get a girl married. You should be thinking about educating her first."

"Babu... It's with a lot of difficulty that I feed my family one meal a day... Education is a luxury for us, and that too for a girl child!"

The angry groom's father interjected into the conversation.
"Stop this nonsense. What about my money? I have already paid people to arrange this pathetic wedding. Now who will pay me back my thirty rupees that I have already spent?" He screamed at the man as his sharp gaze glared at Anirudh.

Anirudh was about to say something as he felt a pair of soft hands tugging at his arms. It was Bondita!
She held out his wallet to him as her eyes gestured him to do the needful.
Anirudh nodded his head to her as he pulled out three notes from the wallet and handed it over to the man.

"Here, for your loses... And now, you dare not raise your voice to this man." He said sharply.

"I won't... But I want to see who marries that ugly girl of his." He chuckled evilishly snatching the money from Anirudh.

"Babu... Babu... Please... Do something." The poor man fell on Anirudh's feet as he begged him for his daughter.
"If he doesn't come for my daughter, my daughter would have to die."

"No she won't."
A strong female voice replied him back as several pair of eyes fell on the exquisite beauty in a dull saree standing beside the handsome stranger.
"No nine year old needs to get married, they needs education." Bondita remarked.

She exchanged a glance with Anirudh as he quickly took out another fifty rupees from the wallet and handed it to the poor man.

"What's your daughter's name?" He asked politely.

"Bhaggu." The man paused. " My daughter's name is Bhargavi, Babu... A very pretty and intelligent girl she is!" The man replied fondly.

Anirudh handed him a small card with his name written on it.
"Take her to Dehradun. There is a big school for girls adjacent to the main town. Ask anyone and they would show you." He paused showing the card to him. "Show this card there, and they'll take your daughter in. And, don't worry about the money, I'll pay for her as long as she wants to study."

The man took the card from his hands and fell down on his feet at once as Anirudh bend down to lift him up.

"Who are you really?"
The groom's father asked as his eyes furrowed up in an awed suspicion.

Anirudh turned towards him, but before he could answer, another strong masculine voice roared from the crowd.

"He is Barrister Anirudh Roy Chowdhury, Zamindar of Tulsipur!"

Bondita's face curved a bright smile of happiness and relief as Anirudh stretched his eyes in the direction of the voice.

The crowd cleared up, bifurcating into two directions as a man in his fifties emerged in between. He was dressed in imported raw silk kurta and laced satin dhoti. He carried a walking stick with a gold handle attached to it's neck. His expression and demeanor reeked of money and power.

"Kaka?" Anirudh widened his eyes in surprise as his lips curved into a welcoming smile. "How on earth..."
He didn't complete his sentence as he saw his friend Superintendent Davidson behind him, standing with a broad smile on his face.

The crowd gaped with awe as Bondita walked towards Trilochan. She smiled brightly, bending down to touch his feet.
But, Trilochan didn't let her, instead he pulled her close to himself and patted her head lovingly. His eyes wailed up at the bright red vermillion adorning her head.

"Bahu... My bahu...!" He hugged her infront of the crowd, fuming a suppressed murmur around.

Davidson came forward as he shook hands with Anirudh.
"Finally... We found you!" He remarked. "Let's get into the jeep and I'll tell you what happened in Dehradun when you two were honeymooning." He winked his eyes at him as they walked past the gaped crowd.

Trilochan sat infront of the jeep as Davidson drove it. Anirudh and Bondita sat behind. Two constables followed their jeep in moped bikes.

"Don't sit up, lie down Bondita." Anirudh whispered as he tugged Bondita's arms, imploring her to lean her body against his.

Bondita rolled her eyes gesturing him at Trilochan kaka.
"Seriously? Stop... !" She hushed. "They are sitting infront."

Anirudh shrugged his shoulders.

"Kaka... Your bahu is not keeping well. She was barely able to stand. And, now I'm asking her to lay down on my lap but she is not listening!"
He blurted out the words as a mischievous grin played on his lips.
Bondita's face had flushed in crimson as Davidson burst out into a roar of laughter.

"Bahu... Lay down." Trilochan commanded lovingly. "And, isnt it obviously that my zamindarni bahu would fall sick in such an environment!"

Bondita glared at Anirudh as she slowly lowered her body, resting her head on his lap.

Anirudh jumped up and laughed silently as he felt a sharp pinch on his abdomen.

"And, this is what happens when a Roy Chowdhury roams around in jungles at night... Get well soon Bahu. We'll be leaving for home!" Trilochan murmured as his sharp narrowed eyes gazed on the retreating greenary.

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