Barrister Babu— 21st Century Version (Chapter 11)

CHAPTER 11: DANCING UNDER THE RAIN

           April had come to an end, giving way to a much more sweltering and humid May. The weather had been boiling hot. Throughout the campus, students and teachers alike, would be having a hand fan with them all the time. Fans and ACs were being used exorbitantly.

           Although today, fate seemed to be in favour of the heat-tormented people. Because, today, the scorching hot loo, was replaced by a cool refreshing breeze. The sky was dim and dusky, instead of bright and sunny.

Anirudh stood near the window of his cabin, enjoying the feel of a blissfully cool and mild breeze hitting his face. He leaned his head against the window pane. His mind was brimming with thoughts.

Most prominently, the thought of his Sakhi. He had finally got some time to talk to her, but it seemed, she wasn’t free. Well, he wasn’t going to pressurise her to take out time, though. And he couldn’t deny the fact, that she was now an integral part of his life. How could someone he hadn’t even met, mean so much to him? He just knew that she was his solace.

Another pressing issue was, the academic performance of the majority of his students. He was befuddled by the fact, that most of his students were performing average and many of them, poorly.

Whenever he would ask a question in class, nine out of ten times, no one could answer them. He sighed. He was really doubting his teaching abilities now. Was he the cause that Batuk was not performing well in academics? How would Batuk be coping with his studies and assignments, now that he was not there? What was his Kaka doing? He wasn’t sulking in a corner, was he? He seemed to be fine, the last time he talked to him. How were Somnath and his Baba?

He looked outside. It looked like the day was in for a heavy downpour. It would be raining anytime now.

He smiled and looked at his book, lying on the desk. It was his favourite thing to do, whenever it rained. Sit near the window and enjoy one his favourite books.

He was about to close the window, when his eyes fell on something, or rather someone, standing on the campus field. He tried to look closely. And then he noticed who it was.

Anirudh mentally facepalmed. Exasperatedly, he looked at Bondita, who had now, spread her arms wide, looking up at the sky.

‘It will be raining any moment, now. Oh no! This silly girl is going to catch a cold, if she gets wet in the rain’, he thought and quickly grabbed an umbrella, from under his desk, and rushed towards the campus field.

————————

Closing her eyes, Bondita breathed in the sweet smell of the wet soil. It had started raining. The pitter patter of raindrops hitting against rooftops and treetops reached her ears. Though… why hadn’t the raindrops fell on her, yet?

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up.  She frowned. Was this an umbrella? Since when, did umbrellas start functioning automatically? Her eyes travelled down the handle of the umbrella, to see a hand holding it. Oh, so it was not an automatic umbrella! But then, who was holding it?

She looked to her side, to find Shikshak Babu standing there, holding the umbrella, gazing intently, at her.

She stared back at him in confusion.

“Shikshak Babu, what are you doing?”

“That should be MY question. What were YOU doing, here? Won’t you catch a cold if you stand in the rain?”, he asked her.

“But I love getting drenched in the rain! And I have never caught a cold!”, she retaliated.

Anirudh sighed in frustration. “Bondita, come inside the campus. This. Is. My. Order.”

“Okay! Here, let me hold the umbrella”, Bondita said, sighing dramatically.

As soon as the umbrella’s handle was accessible to her, she tightly held it, and looked at Anirudh, flashing him a wicked grin.

That single grin was enough to make Anirudh go wide-eyed. Her next statement, made him gasp out loud.

“I’m so sorry for this Shikshak Babu. But I promise, I will help you find your umbrella. Shotti!”.

And she freed the umbrella of her grip. The rest of the work was done by the gusty wind, which carried away the umbrella.

“B-Bondita! You- have you- are you out of your mind?!”, Anirudh sputtered incredulously.

Bondita completely ignored him, and happily danced and hopped in the rain. Anirudh just stared at her, disbelievingly.

But the happiness and bliss, visible on Bondita’s face, mixed with the rain, melted away his frustration. A wide, affectionate smile, broke out across his face.

Bondita’s innocent joy and sparkling enthusiasm was contagious. Soon, even Anirudh was twirling around, under the rain.

“Tell me, aren’t you having fun, Shikshak Babu? Tell me? You know what, getting drenched in the rain, especially the first rain in a year, is kind of a tradition for me. I follow this like a strict ritual! And who doesn’t enjoy getting drenched in the rain, tell me? You know what, getting drenched in the rain together, strengthens a bond. My Maa says so. Now, smile and enjoy!”, Bondita said, laughing merrily.

…

Rasmon ka mela yaha pe

Khel rahe hain saare,

Aaja shaamil ho isme zaraa

Thoda muskura re,

Mujhse yeh rishta jo,

Aa use sawaarein

Chal sayane se thoda nadan ban jaa tu,

Chhod basera yeh aasmaan tera

Rishta tera mera

Rishta tera mera…

…

          Stopping for a moment, both of them looked at each other and broke out into hysterical laughter. For those few moments, nothing else in the world existed, except each other, and the blissful rainfall.

After what seemed like an eternity to them, and in reality, fifteen minutes, Bondita gasped, “Oh God! I am used to getting drenched. But what about you? Oh no! YOU will catch a cold! You’re so careless, Shikshak Babu!”.

The moment she realised this and said this aloud, even Anirudh remembered, that Bondita could also have caught a cold. He mentally smacked himself for being so carried away.

As if on a cue, both held each other’s hand and rushed towards the exit gate area of the campus.

“We should have come inside earlier. It’s all because of you! Because of you, I got so carried away in the moment, and forgot that you could catch a cold!”, Anirudh admonished Bondita.

“Oh really?! But as you must be to see clearly, I am wearing a jacket. And also, I am younger than you. Hence, I have a higher immunity than you. On top of that, I am used to this. I always get drenched in the rain. But not you. So don’t YOU have higher chances of getting sick?”, Bondita argued.

This made Anirudh stutter. “Okay, fine. But now go and dry yourself”, he said.

“Yes. You too. And sir, can I tell you something?”, Bondita asked, looking down.

“Yes, please”

“Shikshak Babu, don’t you think it would be better if you worked on your lessons a bit? I mean, your teaching plans and all?”, she asked meekly.

His mouth dropped open. Now even his students had started suggesting him to improve his teaching skills.

“Please don’t get offended! I don’t mean to insult you, shotti! You really teach well, but I think you should improvise your teaching method”, Bondita said, her voice now almost a whisper. And after saying this, she bolted away.

“Hey! Stop! Bondita! I’m not offended. Listen!”, Anirudh yelled after her. But she had already disappeared. He groaned audibly.

———————

“What’s on your mind, David?”, Bondita asked her friend, as she, David and Mimi sat on the floor of the campus common room.

Mimi was waving a hand fan, which provided some amount of relief from the May heat.

“You know you can’t hide anything from us, don’t you?”, Bondita asked, jabbing her finger in his direction.

Mimi was closely watching him, as if trying to read his mind, which she often really did. He sighed, knowing that he couldn’t hide anything from these two.

“Actually, well, I- er, I mean, SHE talked to me, today!”, he whispered, smiling happily.

“She?! You mean Ash-…”

“Shhhh… Bondita! Don’t yell!”, David silenced her, before she could proceed.

“Oops, sorry, sorry! So, yes, you mean Ashalata?”, she whispered excitedly.

“Yes”

“So finally your crush noticed that you exist, and that you were looking at her?”, Mimi asked.

David blushed and gasped. “How do you know? Yes, well, she asked me if I needed something, because she caught me looking at her”.

“Was THAT your conversation with her? Her asking why you were looking at her?”, Bondita asked incredulously.

“Yes, no, err- I mean no. She also asked me how I was and my name”, he replied.

“Oh! So finally she knows your name, does she?”, Bondita asked, grinning.

“Yeah. My crush finally knows I exist”, David replied, smiling dreamily.

He looked at Bondita and Mimi, to find them grinning at him, trying hard to control their laughter. He just shook his head, and flashed them a goofy grin.

———————-

“Oh God! He’s hurt badly!”, Bondita exclaimed, as she, David and Mimi bandaged the wound of a stray dog, at the campus field.

“Someone must have hurt him intentionally”, Mimi commented darkly.

“Yes. Thank God you found him, Mimi!”, David said.

“By the way, we’ve been calling him, HIM since a long time. But why? How do we know his gender?”, Bondita wondered aloud.

“He’s male”, Mimi said, nodding her head in assurance. “I can identify”.

David and Bondita looked at each other, amazed by Mimi, yet again.

“He must be in so much pain”, Bondita stated pitifully. “Hey! Are you in pain? Does it hurt very much?”, she asked looking at the dog.

“Talking to an animal, Miss Das?”, said a snide voice from behind. All three of them looked back to find Debjit Dutta looking at them. To be specific, looking at Bondita.

After her first encounter with him, Bondita had come across him, a few more times. Every time, she came across him, it was like he made it a point to give her dirty looks.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What brings you here? To be precise, why are you here?”.

“Oh come on! People greet each other with a ‘Hello’ or a ‘Hi! Nice to meet you’. This is so ill-mannered of you to say that!”, he said dramatically.

“Yeah. But I don’t think meeting you is ‘nice’. So why should I say that? Bondita Das doesn’t lie, Mr. Debjit Dutta”, she replied, looking him in the eye.

He threw her a cold glare and calmly stated, “Debjit Ashish Dutta. And I hope you won’t forget that, the next time”.

And once again, without giving an explanation for his behaviour, he strode away.

“Why does he always emphasize on his middle name? It’s like he wants to give me a warning message”, Bondita said, to no one, in particular.

“Maybe that Ashish guy in his middle name is someone special”, David suggested.

“Yeah. Most certainly it’s his father, but who could be Ashish Dut-” Bondita broke off as she had an epiphany. Sudden realization hit her, and she remembered who Ashish Dutta was.

“Ashish Dutta is the man, who tried to touch me inappropriately in public! Debjit is his son! Yes! This explains a lot of things. Those dirty looks and those snide remarks”, Bondita stated.

Mimi and David just stared at her, flabbergasted.

Author’s Notes (A/N): Hello lovely readers!

So… Was the chapter good? 

How was the scene under the rain?

And now we know why Debjit Dutta stresses on his middle name!…

What do you think about David’s crush?😁

If there’s any part that you don’t understand, you can definitely ask me… I tend to write confusing things.

Love you loads 💙💛…