Chapter 2: Recounting

Recap: Radhika was out for her jobplace with her colleague, Sakshi. Then, while receiving calls, she received one with the user's name, Murlidhar Sarkar. Whatever he shared made her breakdown in the toilet later.

The man, on his cycle, was traveling through the city of Ushering. He knew that too many people were already in the city on the day as Phoolera Duj was there. No proper timing was needed to fixed for a marriage to be held on Phoolera Duj. Since Ushering was always busy, the people of the city decided to get a huge number of marriages done on the single day. So, too many weddings were going to happen not only in Ushering but also all across the nation.

After crossing a traffic jam, he continued to attract people towards the Madhyam newspapers he was carrying. People, even in the age of online newspapers, preferred the printed ones more. After all, several online stuff might come but some things would remain prevalent offline.

His particular destination next was the office of Dwarka Associates. While going in to give the newspaper, the man saw six couples and their relatives waiting. Registry marriages are a priority first, here.

The head and co-founder of the law firm was a popular guy, named Murlidhar Sarkar. His office had several other lawyers, who dealt with different subjects. Murli himself was into the subject of income tax.

When the newspaper man managed to go through the crowd and in front of Murli's office room, he knocked and, upon getting a wave, entered.

Murli said, "Keep the newspaper on the table. The money has been sent online to your account. By the way, how many weddings are you invited at?"

"Four, sir."

"Wow, me, seven but will attend three."

"I guess you will manage the other four at the reception parties in the days ahead."

"Yup. Everyone is gonna do that compromise. But, well, it's great day after all."

"Yes, sir, it is. Well, I would take your leave."

"Sure, see you tomorrow."

After the newspaper man went out, Murli surfed through big files of papers. His brain, however, was somewhere else. He was thinking of his first love since morning. The constant thoughts of her wasn't partly hampering his concentration in the job. He had already wrapped up most works of his consumers much before the financial year was set to end on 31st March, 2048. Some work was still left.

When he just couldn't control his feelings, he remembered where to call. He dialed a four digit number on the phone and placed a call.

"Hello, Vishnupriya Banerjee from We Listening. How can I help you?"

"Hi, I am Murlidhar Sarkar. I am a lawyer. I don't really have someone to talk about the things I am thinking now. So, I thought to make a call."

"Yes, sir, you can definitely carry on."

"From the very morning, I am thinking of my first love. I won't take her name. It's just that I am thinking hell too much about her today. Whenever I think of her and the plans I had thought about 'us', I cry. And, yes, tears are coming."

Murli couldn't speak for few seconds.

The female voice from the other side said, "Sir, don't cry. It's alright. I understand that you don't have someone to share these thoughts. So, you called me and yes, I am here."

"I won't talk much. I never talk much. I just wanted to tell someone that, even though I have a lovely girlfriend now to marry soon, I still remember 'her'. I wanted to live a life with her but my circumstances prevented me. I had to leave her with tears."

"The circumstances were never under your control. They drove you. Maybe, you two weren't really meant for each other."

"You know, the worst part is that I couldn't even inform her that I am leaving her and the town."

"I hope she has healed from the wound. You should move on also. You have a bright future ahead."

"Yes, it seems bright."

"So, clean your face and get back to work now."

"Yes, definitely. Thank you for being there."

"It's my pleasure that I could help you out. By the way, do enjoy the day at any wedding ceremony today. I hope you have some invitations, considering it's Phoolera Duj today."

"Yes, yes. I am going to three ceremonies tonight."

"Wow, great."

"Yes. Well, I think I should take your leave. You know, duty calling!"

"Yes, sure. Thank you for calling We Listening. We look forward to serve you in the future too. Have a nice day, sir."

With a good heart, he said, "You too have a nice day, ma'am."

He kept down the phone. He removed his tears with his handkerchief. He drank few gulps of water and went to the other rooms to check the progress in the registrations. Everyone was so busy that telephone connections were switched off. No one could speak a single extra word. Some of them howled when the couples made silly mistakes in filing the forms.

Murli went out to get some fresh air. He took up his phone and called Arjun, the head of the company in which he was a legal advisor.

"Arjun, did you submit the application to the property office?"

"Yes, Murli. That job is done."

"Ok. By the way, are you coming tonight to attend Mr. Thadani's son's wedding?"

"Oh, no. We have to go out of Ushering. There's a more important family function."

"Oh, nice!"

"Are you going there?"

"Yup, at around 7."

"Oh, good. Well, then, bye, Murli."

After hanging the call, Murli called his girlfriend, Rukmini.

"Hello, Murli."

"Shopping done?"

"Yes, done. I bought a silver plate set for Thadani sir's son. Well, I want to buy a saree for Reshma. It's in the store on Radha Krishna Anchal. I don't want to go over there without you. Your choices are best."

"Ok, I will be back home by 4pm. We can go out after that."

"Ok, fine. Bye."

Murli liked her voice too much. He called her many-a-times only to hear her speak.

He went back inside his office room. He sat on a sofa, picked up the newspaper and read the headline- "Record number of weddings in India today!"

"Record number of weddings in India today!" Radhika took up the newspaper and started reading it. She just wanted to divert her mind whatever came in just few minutes ago. However, she felt the newspaper quite boring to be read. And, it was tiffin time.

Radhika and Sakshi met at the cafeteria. Sakshi, switching on her talkative mode, asked, "Did something happen?"

Radhika knew that Sakshi knew her quite well. The latter guessed something just from her face.

"No, nothing. Just some hunger, maybe."

Sakshi sensed something but decided not to speak. She instead ordered some food for both of them.

Sakshi noticed how Radhika was eating. She was clearly not in her form. She was deep into some thought.

After the bell rang, the two bid farewell and went to their respective divisions. Radhika sat down and kept staring at the list of callers, specifically on Murli's number. She thought, "It's him. It's surely him. I can't miss this chance. I can't."

She took out her mobile and saved Murli's number in it. She decided to call him later. She continued her job till 4pm and, as instructed, everyone went back home.

The final bell rang. The day at work was over for Sakshi and Radhika both. Sakshi called the previous taxi driver to come and pick the two up.

On the way back home, Radhika saw a flower shop and asked the taxi driver to stop there for few minutes. Sakshi was busy in her mobile so, she didn't go out.

Radhika entered the shop. It was beautifully decorated. The smell of the flowers was so refreshing. She also noticed that there was no one in the shop. Many flowers were already gone, considering the wedding season in the air. She was about to call but stopped upon hearing a young voice singing Jane Kya Tune Kahi. The Guru Dutt fan inside her woke up and her heart was like dancing to the tunes. It was being sung by a staff member. The guy came out of nowhere and asked, "Wedding ceremony? Bouquet? Gift?"

Radhika- "Oh, yes. Please."

The guy brought a fresh bouquet in few minutes. Radhika was amazed. She paid him. She asked, "Upto which time does your shop remain open?"

"Jab tak phool khilte rahenge, shop khulli rahegi." (Eng: Till the day the flowers blossom, the shop will remain open.)

"Wow, that was quite Bollywoodish. And, I know, it's from that old classy thriller Chup. Right?"

"Absolutely. I am glad people still remember that movie."

"True cinephiles will always remember it."

"I hope so!"

Radhika smiled and got up on the taxi. Sakshi started blabbering again about what Radhika was talking about with that florist. Radhika willingly ignored her.

After reaching home, she freshened up and sat on her bed. A tornado of overthinking happened to her. She was deep inside the fact that she heard his voice and talked to him. She, through his phone number code, knew that he was in Ushering. This made her more anxious to talk to him. She stared at her phone and felt a big urge to call him.

To divert her mind, she opened her phone and decided to watch a web series. She loved watching shows, especially those from India and Bangladesh. Being a Bengali, she didn't even need subtitles to understand Bangladeshi content. She loved how she could actually watch a "foreign" show in her mother tongue.

She found a Bangladeshi romantic film, Mayashalik, from surfing through a lot of recommendations. She knew it featured her favourite actress, Sadia Ayman, but she couldn't ever make time to watch it. She finally had time to do so and she began watching it. Before watching it, she downloaded it and then put her mobile on flight mode.

After two hours and few minutes, she got up. It was over. She was happy. She opened the Letterboxd app and reviewed the film in one line- "A heart-warming romantic tale, far better than other cheesy romantic stuff these days!"

It was about time. She had to get ready. She wore the blue saree she selected.

Sakshi's call arrived. "Are you ready? It's almost 7."

"Yeah, Sakshi, I am ready. Are you bringing a cab or something?"

"The protesters have temporarily resumed the taxi service but I am coming with the one we had this morning."

While in the taxi, Radhika kept staring outside. "What if he is also coming to the same place?" The cold breeze touched her face and made her smile, forgetting her huge luggage of overthinking.

The amazing romantic track Bibagi Phone by Anirban Bhattacharya was playing on a radio channel in the taxi. Radhika loved the ambience the song created.

"This radio channel always played soulful songs at this point of the day. All tiredness vanishes." Murli said this to Rukmini. He was driving the car and Rukmini was sitting beside him.

Rukmini- "So, between 6 and 8 in the evening, is this what keeps you busy?"

Murli- "Yeah, even getting some rest is important."

Rukmini smiled. She was wearing a black glittery saree. Murli was in a light blue shirt and black trousers.

Rukmini- "Are we going to Thadani sir's house first?"

Murli- "Yes, and from there, we would move to the hall."

Murli parked the car in the parking lot. The couple moved inside Thadani's 5 floor house.

Mr. Thadani was one of Murli's most trusted customers. They shared a bond of respect and friendship. When Thadani was in a big trouble regarding his properties with his other family members, it was Murli who saved him.

Thadani's son fell for a Bengali girl. So, as per the in-laws, he decided to arrange most things as per Bengali culture. Rukmini and Murli were also two of many Bengali people, living and working in Ushering.

Thadani's house boasted of guests and relatives of many kinds of languages and cultures. This was what happens when one worked with many customers in a city that welcomed "workers" from all of the country.

Rukmini got herself involved in the arrangements, out of excitement and also, love for the Thadani family. Murli went to a verandah.

Murli's heart was beating fast. He couldn't understand what he was tensed about or waiting for.

Suddenly, a call arrived in his phone, from an unknown number.

Murli received the call and, when he heard the "Hello" from the other side, his heart stopped for a second. He recognized the voice immediately.