Siddharth rued his indecisive mind. Not that he never thought of having a house or at least an apartment for himself. He did, a number of times. Like many others, by the time he had turned twenty-five, he counted having a house, a car, a fat bank balance amongst his great achievements-to-be in life. But there was a problem. His grandpa had left this palatial house in the heart of Kolkata. In fact, his father spent his entire life in this same house! It was still in good condition and but for the paints peeling off at a few places, the house stood as rock solid as ever.
Siddharth was the only son of his parents. His father, Shishir was worried of his bachelor son as was Siddharth’s only sister, Mahua. Even at 34, when Siddharth showed no inclination or interest in getting married, his sister, along with her husband, ran an advertisement in the matrimonial columns of a local daily for a prospective bride. There were nearly a hundred and fifty letters in response.
So, during the winter break, when he came down to his ancestral home from his work place in the north Bengal city of Siliguri, his sister took him to the house of one of those applicants. Siddharth was as genuinely surprised as his sister was when the girl, after a round of golf, returned home. Kolkata, nay, India was definitely advancing, thought Siddharth. Gone were the days of inhibition and shyness in girls and the girls of the new generation were far more advanced, forward and modern indeed!
Whatever desire his sister had of asking the girl a few questions regarding her education and future plans, were all nipped in the bud as the girl herself, sitting on a chair facing Siddharth, started asking him rapid-fire questions in the presence of her parents and Mahua as well! She asked him about his education, whether he liked doing the kitchen work; his salary and whether he intended staying with his parents after marriage .
Long story short, Siddharth got rejected by the girl when he said that he couldn’t move to the new flat, to be gifted by the girl’s parents, leaving his aged parents behind!
The next candidate had three sisters. As the eldest, she studied in the renowned Alipur Multipurpose Girls’ School. Besides being a stunner, she was a good student throughout. The moment Siddharth picked up her photo, a broad smile spread across his face from ear to ear.
“This is it. She’s the girl of my dreams and let me get married to her without any further delay.”
“You’ve a point there, Bro. There’s a problem though. The girl is said to be too strikingly good-looking to be a good, homey wife.” His sister quipped.
So, Siddharth met Mahua at the insistence of his Sister-in-law.
“Sid, last time they couldn’t come as their train got stuck somewhere. Please, don’t refuse to accompany us to their Lake Gardens residence as they’re expecting us tonight.” She requested.
Siddharth finally couldn’t say “No” and met Rima there. It was love at first sight for him. Finally, when he was led to the other room by one of her relatives for a face-to-face talk with the bride-to-be, the first thing he remembered having uttered was :“ I’m quite stupid really. But I want us to be good friends.”
Rima did not say anything in reply but just kept smiling her mesmerizing smile. But marriages, births and deaths, are the three things that cannot be predicted beforehand. Siddharth got married against his sister's wish to the girl of his dreams!
Their marriage was a whirlwind affair. On the marriage night, there was a problem though. A man called to inform Siddharth’s people that he was Rima’s lover and that she was carrying his baby.
There was a furore as you might have guessed it all right. Anyway, Siddharth’s relatives decided not to inform him about the call. A couple of days after the marriage, the newly-weds left for his workplace in Siliguri.
On the way, Siddharth kept talking non-stop while his bride sat like a statue and kept quiet all through! He shared a story he had written called “The Slap”.
“And as he proposed to Rani, his sister-in-law, of his undying love, he found her eyes downcast, with the most painful look he'd seen on anyone. She shook herself free from his embrace and smacked him hard across the face …”
Roma started throwing up at some point. Siddharth became panicky. So far away from her parents, if she fell sick what would his in-laws think about him?
The Siliguri-bound bus finally reached its destination – Tenzin Norgay Bus Terminus, in the early hours of the morning. People were getting out and off, collecting their luggage. Siddharth kept looking at the extremely beautiful lady still sitting with her legs folded on her seat in front. She had doe-like eyes with a mass of curly hair falling down to her waist. But that’s not what attracted him. He had tried catching her attention earlier by grabbing a chunk of a corner of her head-rest. She didn’t flinch nor did she do so much as to turn her head in his direction. She kept looking out the window with a far-away look in her eyes.
The gentleman, her husband, who had called her earlier from outside, was a sturdy man. Completely bald but he walked with a straight back with his head held high as if he didn’t know anything about sinning.
Siddharth elbowed his wife sitting next to him and pointed to the lady with the lost look before remarking :
“Who knows our relationship some fifteen-twenty years down the line, will be something similar to theirs. I’ll still be walking with my head held high. You’ll be the one looking like her……”
The years fled by. Their first born was ushered into the world exactly one year after the marriage. Notwithstanding their differences and the ‘scenes’ between them, the couple, far away from home, clung to one another.
They had lived in rented houses all their married lives when Rima started talking about having a flat of their own.
“Rina’s growing up fast. The day isn’t far off when she gets married. Where’re they going to stay when she comes home with her husband? They may not like to squeeze in the staff quarters the way you do.”
She was right. The staff quarters that Siddharth was staying with her family, had one bedroom and the kitchen. The little space between the kitchen and the bedroom was used as a drawing room. They had a round table with three chairs around. There was no space for a fourth member of the family.
During the summer or winter break when they went down to Siddharth’s ancestral home, they started looking for a flat, not very expensive but one at a reasonable price. But housing was tight in Kolkata proper. Even in the nearby suburbs, a 2-BK flat cost not less than 20 to 25 lacs. So, for long they had to shelve the idea of buying a flat of their own.
It was during one such winter break, after a part of the bathroom collapsed and Rima had a miraculous escape that they started looking for a flat frantically. One night Rima showed him the pictures of a 2-BK flat in Dum Dum. The price was reasonable. Siddharth’s sister Mahua was also present when they were chatting excitedly about the flat. When she was shown the pictures, she prompted her brother to buy it.
“Only 18 lacs? That is damned cheap! I know the locality. It’s a hassle-free neighbourhood.” Then turning to him, she continued. “Go, get it, Sid. Such an offer may not materialize again.”
Rima called the advertiser next. A date was fixed. On the appointed day, they met the driver of the man in charge of the flat. He showed them around. The flat, on the ground floor, was badly in need of renovation but it had two bedrooms, one dining room, a kitchen and two toilets. The last item decided the issue for them for till then, all three of them, had been using the same toilet both in Siliguri and back in Kolkata!
They spent some half hour going from room to room before informing the driver that they liked it.
“How much did you say the price of this flat is?” Siddharth asked him while he was locking the flat after having switched off the meter box.
“Probably 22, but you can always talk to my master who’s been looking after the house since the last tenant left it. He’s a nice guy. I’m telling you this not because he is my master but he is understanding by nature. He might reduce the price a little….”
The same night Siddharth called the owner Sameer, who invited both Siddharth and Rima to his Jodhpur Park residence the next day.
Siddharth was blown away by Sameer’s apartment and his wife. Mrs. Sen was a kind host and treated them to some choicest sweets while they were talking about the flat at Dum Dum.
“You see, I worked as the Regional Manager of New Insurance. The flat actually belongs to a close friend who passed away a couple of years back. As both my friend's widow and only son left for Singapore later on, I’ve been looking after it since then….”
It took Siddharth a while to understand that the only daughter of Sameer Sen was actually married to the son of the deceased friend.
“ Look, Mr. Sen. We like the flat at Dum Dum but the price is way too beyond our reach. Even if it was for 20 lacs, we’d have given it a serious thought but as things stand, the flat is way too expensive for us.” Rima barged in in the meanwhile.
Mr. Sameer agreed with her and fixed the price at 20. He remarked that he was doing them the favour because of Rima. He also added that there were two more persons interested in the flat. One of them was even willing to pay more but he was going to sell it to them as he had taken a liking to them.
Siddharth and Rima spent some more time there before taking their leave. Their excitement knew no bounds that night on their way back home.
Subsequently, a date was fixed. Advanced money demanded and paid in cash. Mr. Sameer, true to his words, handed over the key to Siddharth. The next few months went off in a hectic rush of activities. The flat had to be renovated; concealed wiring had to be made in place of the old wiring system. Furniture had to be bought; the purohit (priest) needed to be consulted; a day for their entrance at the new flat had to be found; people needed to be informed and invited and so on and so forth.
On 22nd July in the year of 2025, Siddharth stepped into his flat with his family. The chanting of the mantras; the smoke emitting from the fire made of pieces of sandal wood and the incense provided a surreal kind of atmosphere to the flat.
By 12 in the afternoon, the handful of close relatives invited on the occasion, started trooping in. Siddharth was pleasantly surprised when a nephew who had distanced himself from Siddharth over the years, turned up along with his wife. Siddharth met her, a college Professor, for the first time in life.
Amidst all the fun and frolics, Mahua came out of the other room holding two huge paper boxes in her hands.
“Today is an auspicious day, you know,” she cried out standing near the dining table. “An auspicious day, firstly, because today happens to be the day of Sid’s grihapravesh ( house warming). So, we’ll cut a cake to that.
We’ll also cut a cake to celebrate the birthday of our Kaka, the only living brother of our late father….” She paused as people started clapping cheerfully.
“Pissimoni,” Rina who had been busy till then video-recording almost everything in their new flat, called out from behind the row of people gathered in the living room, “you forgot to tell them that Baba’s bought this flat as a gift to Ma on the occasion of the silver jubilee of their marriage….”
There was a loud cheer to that followed by another thunderous round of clapping and shouting.
There is a saying in Bengali which roughly translated into English, would be like :
All is well that ends well.
The lunch prepared by a well-known caterers was sumptuous. There were fried rice, tanduri kabab, chana batora, fish fries in addition to a few more items of fish. There was mutton kasha, sweets and ice cream.
Everyone enjoyed and relished the lunch. By late afternoon, people started leaving one by one. Siddharth noticed the purohit collecting the offerings strewn all over their bedroom. While he was putting the bottle of ghee (liquidified butter) into his bag, Siddharth thanked him for the successful completion of the occasion first.
He asked the purohit, a family friend, then,
“Tapan Babu, tell me how much I have to pay you.”
“You know, Siddharth Babu, I never ask for my payment. Just make sure that you pay me for the to-and-fro journey home in Midnapore. That's more than I can hope for.” He answered laughingly.
Siddharth forced three brand new five hundred notes into his hand. The man was delighted and couldn't thank him enough.
It was not till ten, after Rina had retired to her room, that Siddharth found himself standing next to Rima near the glass window. There was a silver moon in the sky atop the tall coconut tree in a nearby garden, casting a magical spell all over.
Siddharth pulled Rima in his arms. She looked as beautiful and charming as she had done on the night of their wedding.
The wavy hair cascading down to her shoulders; the jet black eyes that held him a prisoner every time he looked at them; the luscious lips that taught him the meaning of love and life at the same time – in simple words, Siddharth could never have enough of his beloved of over twenty years.
“So, Mrs. Banerjee, how do you like your new flat?” He asked her with a glint in his eyes.
Rima lifted her head from his chest before replying : “Siddharth, it's like a dream come true for me. Tonight, I feel like I’m the luckiest woman on God’s planet. Thank you, Dear, for this once-in-a-lifetime kind of gift to me.” She uttered with tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks.
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