‘Can you tell me what happened?’

Maruf then turned towards Tahirul, placed his hand on his shoulder and said, ‘I want to hear something from you. Although I have heard about it from others. But I want to hear from you. That’s why we came here. Will you tell us?’

‘Tell me what you want to know.’

‘What exactly happened that night? Had you called Riziya to your room?’

‘Tauba, tauba! What are you saying, Maruf Bhai?’

‘So tell me honestly what happened.’

Tahirul sat down. Maruf and Farid sat down beside him eagerly. Tahirul said, ‘You know, Riziya loved me very much. She loved me deeply. To tell you the truth, I had never imagined that anyone could love me so much. I too developed a weakness for her. I had decided that I would marry Riziya. But I thought it was not appropriate on the part of an imam to suddenly make such a proposal in his locality. That night, I was woken up by the sound of knocking on my door. When I opened the door, I saw Riziya standing there. I was stunned. She pleaded with me to marry her and to run away with her. Was that possible? I courteously asked her to return home. Keeping my conscience, my honour, and ethics in mind, I assured her that I would marry her, but she needed to give me time. Later I thought to myself that, if a man, who was the imam of the mosque in Sadnahati, himself proposed to a girl who was a student, it might give the place a bad name. That’s why I wanted to wait until you returned from your chilla. We had spoken about this too one day. But rumours began to spread from the very next day. Offensive comments from various people. I didn’t take long to decide. I would have to give up the position of Imam. Believe me, Maruf Bhai, I did not want the imam to be subject to disgrace. I fell terribly in my own eyes. I still want Riziya. I want to marry her and raise a family. But you can see my situation. This is my house! Riziya will die if she comes here! That’s why I needed your advice. I would perhaps have come to meet you very soon. I didn’t like being all alone at home. I’ve been wanting to tell you ever since you arrived yesterday.’

Both Maruf and Farid sat in stunned silence as they heard Tahirul. They could tell him the final truth. But there was something Maruf failed to understand. Why did Riziya run away with Suman? When there was no lack of love between Tahirul and her, why did she offer herself to a non-Muslim man? Maruf said gravely, ‘But Riziya is no longer there.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Riziya wrote nasty things against Muslims on the wall of the mosque and ran away.’

‘What do you mean “ran away”! Ran away where? When? Why?’

Maruf was silent. Farid replied in his stead, ‘With Suman Master.’

‘That’s impossible! I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that, Maruf Bhai…’ Tahirul kept muttering the sentence, expressing his disbelief. But Maruf was not one to lie, and Tahirul too knew that. Tahirul felt giddy. When he had said, with no sense of shame, that Riziya loved him, he had felt a surge of pride. But now he felt as if someone had struck that pride a nasty blow and shattered it to smithereens. He couldn’t sit in front of Maruf and Farid for another moment. All of a sudden, to the surprise of the two men, Tahirul made to exit the room and ran out of the house. As he sought to run across the slippery, moss-covered courtyard, he stumbled and fell. His white panjabi was covered in muddy slime. His cap fell off and lay on the ground. Tahirul’s Ma screamed out from the kitchen, ‘What happened, son? My dear child! Did you get hurt? I told you so many times to arrange the bricks properly.’

Tahirul wept uncontrollably like a child. He cried out, ‘I’m badly hurt, Ma! Really badly hurt! I’m dying, Ma!’

sixty-three

Suman was sitting outside a telephone booth; he had the chit with the number in his hand. He had called about half an hour earlier. The operator of the booth he had called would send for the intended person. He lived in the neighbourhood, everyone knew everybody there. That was why it took time. Suman was asked to call back after half an hour. There was one person before him in the queue now. He got his chance after five minutes. But there were still a few minutes left of the half-hour waiting period. Suman was in some anxiety. As soon as he dialled the number, someone received the call. A look of relief was visible on Suman’s face when he heard the familiar voice.

‘Hello! Dada, it’s Suman speaking, Suman.’

‘Yes, Bhai, tell me. How are you?’

‘Not good at all. It’s been three months and eleven days. I don’t like it at all here.’

‘Just wait for a few more days, Suman. I told you that we are setting up a branch in Islampur. There’s been talk of entrusting you with all the responsibility. You will be a whole-timer. Everything will be fine then.’

‘No, Dada, I don’t think I can do that. I’m setting up home with Reena. We have a lot of problems as it is. And then there’s the house rent and household expenses – how much longer can we continue like this? I’m spending money like water…’

‘Please wait for a few more days, Suman. Discussions are going on. Let me see what can be done. I think you should start giving tuitions there for now.’

‘Sandip Da, I can’t go on like this. You just sent me off to Islampur. There are no Bengalis nearby, everyone is non-Bengali. They speak Hindi or Urdu. There aren’t any Bengali-medium students here. There are other problems too. Reena is pregnant now.’

‘Oh, that’s great news, boy! Quick work indeed!’

‘Yes, Dada. It was unexpected. She didn’t want to have an abortion, so I too…’

‘That’s good.’

‘So what should I do? Continue to be incognito? I really don’t like it any more.’

‘I’ve asked Sujoy to arrange for some money. Don’t worry.’

‘Rubbish! Don’t tell me about Sujoy. He met me only twice in the last three months. All he did was show me the house. There’s been no sign of him after that. May I ask you something, Sandip Da? Are you people really arranging something for me?’

There was silence at the other end. After all, Sandip was Suman’s first cousin. It was on his instigation that Suman had come away with Riziya, aka Reena. But Sandip had failed in his objective. He ought to tell the truth now. Suman would keep phoning Sandip if he left him dangling like this. There was the sound of a cough from the other end, and of Sandip clearing his throat. ‘Hello, Suman, can you hear me? Are you there?’

‘Yes, I’m there. Tell me.’

‘Listen, Suman. Pay attention to what I’m saying. I’m wondering how to tell you, Bhai. Listen, I did something terribly childish with you. Forgive me. I urged you on in a fit of emotion, I realize that now.’

Suman held the receiver to his ear. He quietly heard what Sandip had to say. Sandip paused for a moment, and then continued, ‘To tell you the truth, Sujoy, Ramdas, I, and several others tried to convince Dada that we need to set up a branch right now in Islampur. But he isn’t heeding that. He was really drawn to you, he trusted you. He thought that you could help the work of our organization. But he was terribly annoyed to hear about you suddenly setting up home with Riziya. He is not accepting the matter. He said, “Let him get married if he wants to, but why marry an outcast Muslim girl! How can we be sure that he won’t be influenced by her! Besides, how can a newly married youth run an organization?” And if I tell him now that you are expecting a baby, he might kick us out of the organization. So … I think you should try to take care of yourself now.’

Suman was left speechless. What was this! It was like making someone climb a tree and then removing the ladder! He had been able to run away with Riziya thanks to the active help provided by Sandip, who had told him that everything would be arranged for him and that there was a job waiting for him, that the organization would get him a place to stay. But all that had turned out to be false now.

Suman chided himself inwardly for his foolishness. He was missing Sadnahati, his birthplace. His life there had been so full of honour and respect. Suman’s throat was dry. How could he have been cheated like this! And by his own folk? How could he have been so short-sighted? Suman’s eyes brimmed with tears. After a while, he said in a choked voice, ‘Can you send word to Abhi?’

‘Why?’

‘He’s my own brother, I’m sure you know that. So that he can send me some money.’

‘Don’t be angry, Suman. I know how you must be feeling. Am I not your brother too, dear? But you know what, there’s no way I can go to Sadnahati now.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Abhi knows. I had told him everything. Of course, he doesn’t know that you people are in Islampur. There was a lot of trouble in Sadnahati. It may have led to a communal riot. But that didn’t happen. Everything’s peaceful now. I don’t think I should go there right now.’

‘I get it, you did some mischief there. Actually that’s what you, or you people, wanted, isn’t it? So you made me your sacrificial lamb! Chhee, chhee! Sandip Da, damn the whole lot of you!’

Suman dropped the receiver abruptly. He knew that there would be a hefty call charge. He emerged from the telephone booth and, tearing the chit with the telephone number into bits, flung them into the distance. As if he was wiping off Sandip entirely from his life.

Suman walked aimlessly. He realized he had been awfully foolish to rely on Sandip. So, would he return to Sadnahati? How would the people there react? What if Suman converted to Islam? If he suddenly appeared in the mosque at Sadnahati? Surrendered himself to the Imam Saheb there? Suman knew that if he did that, he would be felicitated in Sadnahati. But one person would be displeased: that was Maruf. He wouldn’t be able to look Maruf in the eye. He had run away with Riziya. It wasn’t that Maruf would be angry simply because she was a Muslim girl. Rather, he would consider Suman guilty of wrongdoing, for acting in secret and deceiving everyone. Yet it was clear to Suman that under the present circumstances, it was only Maruf who could help him. If only he could speak to him! Suman kept wondering about how he could contact Maruf. But the very next moment he thought, no, he would not involve Maruf in this, no matter what.

Riziya did not know about Suman’s financial difficulty. He hadn’t let her know. He would feel terribly shameful if she realized the actual incapability of the person she had trusted and run away from home with, giving up her community and religion.

And now, in the middle of all this, Riziya was pregnant. That had left Suman in anxiety. Because that, too, involved a major expense. One didn’t have to tell womenfolk everything, perhaps they sensed things. Riziya had probably realized Suman’s situation. Or else why would she refuse when he mentioned visiting a doctor? Day before yesterday, Suman had said to her, ‘Let’s consult a gynaecologist. Ultrasonography might be needed.’

But Riziya did not agree to that. She laughed it off and said, ‘Rubbish! Nothing of that sort is required. There’s no need for any gynaecologist. It’ll just be an unnecessary expense for you.’

‘Hey, you need to be taking some medicines! If we don’t consult a doctor…’

‘Aren’t you feeding me! Our normal dal-bhat itself is full of vitamins, proteins and iodine. Don’t you know that?’

‘That’s right, but after all it’s your first pregnancy.’

‘I’m telling you, I don’t need any of that. I’m fit and strong.’