Dakiyaa

Dakiyaa

Postman 

Maa would hurry to the front gate whenever she heard the cycle bell and ask the postman, "Bhaiyya, is there any postcard addressed to my house?" "No, sister, you just have this inland”.

Maa would inhale deeply and head inside. "Surely tomorrow I will get some news about Mashima," she used to tell herself. In our neighbourhood, Buban and his mother had rented a one-room set. Maa and this lady, Suro Bala Devi, grew close over time. Despite Maa's significant age difference, she found enough topics to discuss with her. The elderly lady, who was in her late seventies, used to visit our home every evening and have tea with Maa.

 On the weekends Dad used to join them, and the lady would chat about her late husband, a lower-class man who worked for a private company. He would frequently fall sick, and one day in his late 50s, a major heart attack claimed his life.

Buban was not good in studies and somehow passed his 12th class. He had a good body and used to regularly exercise. His mother used to say that his son had joined some bodybuilding class whilst they were staying in a village near Calcutta. After his father’s demise, he looked for a job in Calcutta and nearby but luck didn’t favor him when one fine morning his mother received a letter from her distant relative to visit Dehradun. It was here Buban got a permanent job as a security guard in one of the organizations that had a good name.

Suro Bala was happy and asked the landlord if they could cover the verandah using it as a small room and it was granted. This way six months passed. We saw Suro Bala doing all the household chores, cooking, mopping washing clothes, etc. Sometimes she used to make puffed rice coated in jaggery garnishing with green cardamom powder and bring it for us. Generally in the morning, she used to carry her pot and bring 250 ml of milk for the two of them. She used to spend money cautiously as her son’s salary was not much. But twice a month she used to generously buy one litre of milk and make ‘Payesh’ as Buban was extremely fond of it. 

One evening, the lady told Maa that she would soon get her son married to the daughter of her late husband’s friend staying in the same village from where they had come to. We were expecting some good news shortly but one night Suro Bala took hold of Maa’s hand and said that coming May her son’s wedding had been finalized and then she held her hand tightly, ‘Bouma, my son has turned me out of his house’. Maa, couldn’t get it and as though she didn’t know if heard correctly, she looked at Suro Bala. ‘Yes, you have heard it right, ‘Buban has turned me out of his house, and after a fortnight she would travel to Kashi and spend the rest of her days there.

Dad was furious and said that he would take things in his hands but sad to write, one morning we came to know that Suro Bala went to her distant relative’s house and had a short written letter which was handed by our next-door neighbor. It was written that in her son’s house, there was no respect and she preferred to go to Kashi. These were the words of Suro Bala that she asked her relative to write and she promised to send letters from Kashi to Maa.

Suro Bala was not educated and she only knew to sign her name and only one line she could write in her native language, ‘she is doing well’.

Dad was highly sad and he always used to say, ‘Never compromise with a wrong’. A wrong is a ‘wrong’. It has to be faced and settled down. Never run away and give ‘wrong’ to establish itself. And who can do it? The wrong that has been done to the said person. He/she has to stand, be brave and face and lo! Things can be settled down.

Maa’s wait for the postcard never turned true. Suro Bala left and she was gone.

PS: The old lady couldn’t take so much insult and she preferred to go away. Strange! what happened suddenly? Was it that his would-be wife didn’t want Suro Bala to stay? Or was it Buban himself who had turned a monster?

Whatever had taken place was it correct? Why must the mother leave? At this age to a new place and settled on her own especially when she had no money. She should have waited for Dad and all the other people in the colony to take matters into their own hands. But her blind love for her son prevented her from saying anything against her child.

Suro Bala compromised with a wrong unknowingly.