[ Please note - I don't know much about Marwadi language. Just googled that 'Bhindini' means Bride in Marwadi. Also Bhayli means silly girl and Balam means beloved. Please ignore mistakes if any. Also , I'm not aware of how exact proceedings take place in a Judicial court. So kindly read it only as a fiction.]
Bondita rushed towards Anirudh and helped him stand up. She saw Anirudh's cheek had turned red and cupped her soft hand across his cheek blowing some air from her mouth on his cheek to soothe his pain. Involuntarily tears had formed in her eyes seeing Anirudh being hurt. Anirudh's heart was beating fast observing how much she cares for him. Her care was melting Anirudh. He was not able to feel the pain on his cheek rather he was lost in his wives' care and attention.
Just when both of them were lost in each other, they heard a voice 'Bhindini', which made them aware of the surroundings. Bondita turned towards the young man and spoke in rage " How dare you hurt my Patibabu?" The young man replied in a very soft loving tone "What are you saying Bhindini? Are you still angry with me dear? Why are you touching this man?"
Bondita replied confused " What do you mean why Am I touching this man? He is my husband, address him with respect. Morever what are you addressing me as? I didn't understand and why did you hurt him?" The young man replied astonished " What? Husband? What are you saying my dear. I'm your husband, just because we had a fight, did you forget your husband, your Balam? And I hit him, because he dared to touch you, how can I let any stranger touch you?" Anirudh and Bondita get shocked listening to him. Anirudh replied in a stern tone " Excuse me. I'm no stranger. I'm her husband. I guess you are drunk to mistake her as your wife. Go before I get you punished. " The young man's expressions turned dark. How soft his gaze was on Bondita, equivalently dark his gaze was on Anirudh. He spoke in a harsh tone " AEYY HOW DARE YOU? FIRST OF ALL YOU KIDNAP MY WIFE AND CLAIM HER TO BE YOUR WIFE. HAD MY BELOVED WIFE NOT BEEN HERE, I WOULD HAVE SLIT YOUR THROAT RIGHT AWAY. IT IS JUST THAT I DON'T WANT MY INNOCENT ANGEL TO SEE MY WRATH, I'M GOING EASY ON YOU."
Anirudh was taken aback listening to his words. The way he was addressing Bondita as his angel was making him feel angry unknowingly. He knew that surely there is a misunderstanding but he involuntarily felt irritated the way this young man was addressing his Bondita as his angel. On the other hand, Bondita was extremely angry listening to his words that he would slit Anirudh's throat. Her face turned red, she had lost all her calm and spoke in a louder tone "HEYY ONE MORE WORD AGAINST MY PATIBABU AND I WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT. DON'T THINK I' JUST WARNING YOU, I REALLY MEAN IT. HE IS MY HUSBAND, MY PATIBABU, NOT YOU. HE IS MY SAVIOUR, MY RAKSHAK BABU. WHY WOULD HE KIDNAP ME? I'M NOT YOUR WIFE. GO FROM HERE RIGHT AWAY." The young man moved a step closer to Bondita and spoke with a very soft emotional gaze on Bondita "My dear, what happened to you? Why are you speaking this way. I know you are angry with me, but don't torture me this way. You want to slit my throat, you can." Saying, he very casually removed a small knife from inside his kurta and handing it over to her spoke " Here take it. You can give me any punishment you want. You know very well that I can even die for you, that's how much I love you. But don't ever say that I'm not your husband. You know from how many days I have been searching for you? Finally when I found you, you are behaving like this? Why?" Anirudh and Bondita were surprised to see his emotions. Anirudh moved in front of Bondita and spoke in a calm tone " Look, I think there is some misunderstanding. She is Bondita Anirudh Roy Chaudhary. She is my wife. Wife of Barrister Anirudh Roy Chaudhary. We both live in the neighborhood. You can ask anyone. Surely you have mistaken. "
Bondita blushed when she heard Anirudh call her as ' Bondita Anirudh Roy Chaudhary'. However the situation got intense when she heard the young man say " What evidence you have that she is your wife? I can find my wife even amidst infinite women who have covered their faces with pallu. It's no misunderstanding. She is my wife Bhavani. Bhavani Vansh Singh. Wife of Vansh Singh. She is my princess. "He said pointing to himself. He continued " And the only daughter in law of the famous Singh family of Bikaner. She was missing for almost two months. I was looking for her like a mad man. No one can dare to even look at the wife of Vansh Singh and you are claiming her to be your wife? You will be severely punished. " Anirudh intelligently questioned back " How are you saying that she is your wife Bhavani? Does Bondita's face resemble that of your wife's? You have come to my place and just randomly claiming Bondita to be someone else? "
Vansh replied " Of course she is my wife Bhavani. Wait let me show you. I would ideally never show anyone my wife's picture but since I have been searching for her, I had no choice but to show people her picture to help find her. " Saying this, he took out a roll of paper from his small bag he was carrying along and handed it over to Anirudh. When Anirudh unrolled the paper, Anirudh and Bondita's mouths opened in astonishment. The paper roll had a beautiful colorful sketch of Vansh Singh and a very beautiful women beside Vansh who looked exactly like Bondita. The only difference being that she wore an attire like a Rajasthani and her hand was filled with many bangles unlike Bondita who always wore shaka bola and a Gold Bangle.
Vansh exclaimed " What happened? Shocked that your game is over? Now surrender yourself and reveal your crimes else you will be hanged to death. " Anirudh immediately asked " This is just a sketch. This can be fake. It's not a photograph. If you can show me a photograph I can believe." Vansh replied with a chuckle " Excuse me Barrister, looking at your attire (Trousers and shirt) I think you have good connection with English men. You may purchase fancy English gadgets like a Camera, however people like us still are connected to our country roots. We still use sketches and paintings to capture precious moments not a camera." It was true that camera was very rarely used by few elite class people especially those who had been in touch with English officers. In case of Anirudh, Binoy had good connections with English men and Anirudh too being educated in London had collected many gadgets which were not very common in India. Anirudh had no argument against it.
Listening to all the chaos, crowd gathered around them. They narrated the whole story. After a lot of arguments and discussions they mutually decided to take the issue to the court.
In Calcutta court:
After few hours they assembled in court. Anirudh although being a barrister was not able to stand for himself as an advocate as he was the accused here. However he mad many supporter Barristers and other supporters on his side. There was a public prosecutor standing for Vansh Singh.
After the introduction and overview given to the Judge, the proceedings of the court were as follows:
Vansh's Advocate:" When did you and the woman whom you claim as your wife get married?
Anirudh : "7 years ago. We got married in a situation where I had to save her from Sati."
Vansh's Advocate:" Were there any witnesses?"
Anirudh: "Bondita's mother , her mama and mami".
Advocate: " Hmm, so you are saying that none of your family members witnessed your wedding? As in none of the Roy Chaudhary members have been present during the wedding nor do any of the members in Tulsipur have seen your wedding?"
Anirudh: "No. It was only after I returned home with Bondita that the whole of Tulsipur got to know."
Vansh's Advocate: " So when did you shift here to Calcutta?"
Anirudh: " I shifted 4 years ago and I brought her here a week ago for getting her admitted in the law college here. I was living in another house, but now that Bondita was shifting here I brought a bigger place."
The advocate called upon few of his neighbours of his old house and new house and asked them the following:
Vansh's Advocate: "So when did you first see Anirudh Roy Chaudhary's wife?"
New neighbours: " A week ago when he had been back from his brothers wedding."
Vansh's Advocate: "On the first instance, how did she look ? Was she comfortable and happy along with him? After all she was staying with her husband after 4 years, was that happiness present on her face? Does she mingle well with all of you in this one week?"
New neighbours: "Not really, she looked slightly uncomfortable. She looked worried. She hardly comes out of her home. Although our houses are so adjacent to each other that we can speak through balconies or windows she doesn't talk much."
Vansh's Advocate: "Point to be noted my Lord, she looked uncomfortable and didn't talk to anyone. Clearly looks that she might have been forced to do things as per Anirudh's wish."
Anirudh and Bondita fumed in anger listening to Vansh's advocate's accusations.
Vansh's Advocate: " So from when do you know Anirudh Roy Chaudhary?"
Old neighbours: " From the past 4 years he was living at our colony. Only 3 months ago, he shifted out of our colony. He had told he needs a bigger place as he was going to bring his wife to study here."
Vansh's Advocate: " Well, then did you ever see his wife? I mean did he ever mention about how his wife looks like or showed her photographs or sketches? Did he mention any details about her? I'm sure being his neighbours you would have seen him post letters to her or talk to her on the telephone. Isn't it?"
Old neighbours: " No. He never shared much about his personal life. We just knew that he was the eldest son of the Roy Chaudhary family. We had sometimes seen him talking to his kaka or Baba in the telephone booth but we have never seen him talking to his wife. In fact, only on the day when he was shifting to his new house, did we know that he had a wife and was being educated by him. That was the only time he had mentioned that he will be going to Tulsipur for his brothers wedding and will bring his wife in his new house for getting her admitted in the law college."
Vansh's Advocate: " Judge sir, it is very strange that not once in 4 years did he mention about his wife to anyone nor did he go to the telephone booth to call her nor did he write a single letter to his wife. Don't you think this case is far more complex than it is seen here? There are many angles to this."
Bondita got up from her seat in rage interrupting the Advocate, " I don't even know why all this is being discussed. When I'm myself telling that I'm his wife and I don't know who this man Vansh Singh is. Isn't that enough to close the matter and the court ask Vansh Singh to go away from us?"
Vansh's Advocate: "Judge Sir, how can we take a decision based on a woman's statement who is the victim? She might have been emotionally blackmailed or her food might have been spiked or she might have been forced to behave like Anirudh Roy Chaudhary's wife."
Bondita: " Just because I'm a woman , how can you say that my statement cannot be considered. The entire case is about me, then I have all the rights to speak. And I have not been forced to say anything. In all my senses , I admit that I'm Bondita Anirudh Roy Chaudhary. Anirudh Roy Chaudhary's wife. I know no other man."
Anirudh's Advocate: " To add on, what evidence does Vansh Singh have that she is his wife? We cannot conclude she is his wife , just on the basis of a sketch. Judge Sir, these questions and arguments from Vansh's advocate are just baseless and wasting the time of the court."
Vansh's Advocate:" Hold on my fellow Barrister, my client Vansh has many evidences. Just that since he hails from Bikaner, he doesn't have the evidences at the moment. Few of the evidences are such that they cannot be brought to Calcutta here. Hence I request that few Judiciary members along with Anirudh Roy Chaudhary and the so called Bondita Anirudh Roy Chaudhary travel to Bikaner. With the help of our Judiciary crew we can find investigate on my client Vansh's evidences. If the evidences are baseless, then we can close the case concluding that she is Anirudh Roy Chaudhary's wife. May I have your permission Judge Sir?"
Judge: " The court has decided that Anirudh Roy Chaudhary, Bondita, advocates from both ends and few more crew members go to Bikaner to Vansh's place and find more evidences and have an unbiased outlook. Till then , the court is adjourned."
Anirudh with a worried expression thought " Is it just a coincidence that Bondita and Vansh's wife look just a like or is it much more than what I can see? Each time I feel very restless and throb in my heart when something bad is either happening or going to happen with Bondita. Bondita calls our relation as 'Bina Taar vala Judaav' and calls our heart to heart connection as 'Dil ka tring tring'. I'm feeling the same kind of restless from morning as if my heart is signaling some danger. "
Did you like the twist in the story? Do you like how Anidita's relation is growing? Do you like to have court scenes like in this chapter? What do you think this track will lead to?
Please give in your honest views in the comments section. Waiting to know your opinion.
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