The Midnight Lamp

                                                     The Midnight Lamp…

                                   Karabi Das

 

Ratan was laying on a torn mat. The twilight sky was ablaze with the dying streaks of the Sun. This was the third day that Moyna had not talked to him. Ratan with his wide opened eyes gazed at the sky, the muddy alley leading to the river. Ratan was a fisherman. With the other fishermen he used to take his trawler and fish for days. The monsoons had set in and the lanes had become muddy, stinking with fallen mango stones and rotten leaves. Ratan looked up at Moyna. She, oblivious of Ratan watching her continued with her cooking. Ratan was watching her. Her hair was tied up, but the breeze was caressing her locks. Her red yellow sari was beautiful to look at. A drop of sweat was running down from her neck. That reminded Ratan of their marriage. He yearned for Moyna’s love but knew not why he had been unable to picture himself as her husband in her eyes. Moyna always complained about their poverty and compared Ratan to Ismail, the hero of the village.

Ismail was the owner of an aquaculture farm. He had a three storied house with latest comforts. His wife and children had a cosy and nice lifestyle. Ratan used to work under Ismail. He hated this bitter comparison and couldnot stand when Ismail and Moyna exchanged looks at each other. He couldnot speak up and instead used to give all his efforts to catch hold of poor fishes. Ratan always craved for a lucrative business with which he could win Moyna’s heart.

Ratan met Dipu on his way to the market, the next day. Dipu had been out of the village for some days. On asking the reason, Dipu told Ratan about some men hailing from nearby towns. The leader of those men, Hari had given Dipu a work. The work was to collect the old coins found in that village some days ago. Dipu knew some of the villagers who possessed these old coins. He took them in confidence smartly and handed over some old coins to Hari, in return of which Hari gave him 75000 rupees. Ratan, not so smart at first became nervous but then Moyna’s frowning face flashed before him for a second. She was of the view that men become men by what they earn and how much they earn. Dipu held his hand. Ratan affirmed. Both of them decided to meet Hari, the other day.

It was afternoon. Moyna had been planning to take a nap after lunch. She heard Ismail calling, Ratan, Ratan, achish naki re?”. Moyna came out and looked up at him, she replied,” Na, o bajare.” Ismail decided to leave but his eyes got fixed at Moyna. Moyna was looking very attractive in a peacock blue sari. Her sari had moved a bit revealing her black blouse. Ismail moved forward and touched her hand. Moyna did not try to remove her hand from Ismail’s clutch. She was watching Ismail’s built. Ismail came closer to her and hugged her tightly. She did not rebuke him for that. In a minute or so, Ismail was kissing her everywhere. He caressed her parting her hair from her sweating face. She closed her eyes and succumbed to Ismail’s clutch. At the sound of thundering clouds both became inseparable. Outside, it was drizzling and the cool breeze touching the coconut trees raged. Both cuddled together, Ismail was kissing Moyna’s navel hovering his hand all over her while Ratan stood like a statue watching them. After some time he left the house and took the alley to the river. The river was sweeling with rage and he was getting wet �" whether in rain or in his tears he did not know.

Avani was at her writing desk. She was preparing to leave for Chandanpiri, where she had planned to put up a research base. She was working on the life of the fishermen of Sundarbans. Taking some letters, she took her bag and left for the station. The station was bustling with people. She had boarded a train to Namkhana. The train was cooped up. She, interestingly observed each and everyone in the compartment. There were housemaids, there were people from towns who had put up a holiday plan. Two families were sitting contently. The women being really fat, had difficulty in sitting. One girl was wearing a pink dress and a short pant. The others were gazing at her feet but she did not care about that. Avani looked around and found three people stuffing their bags on the tiny space of the compartment. They were a married couple taking a baby with them. The wife had stuffed the baby in her husband’s hands who looked her helplessly but did not utter a word. The compartment was bustling with the cacophony of people. Within that small compartment, a person was singing songs of Hemant Kumar and was selling various books. Avani smiled to see books like �" books for sms, books for cooking, poems, songs and others in his store. The other man was selling puffed rice. Avani was surprised to see how briskly the man poured puffed rice in a bowl, mixed local chanachur and other snacks in it, mixed some cut onions and red and green chillies and at the last of all mixed drops of mustard oil in that and handed it to the ladies. Avani spotted that the man was not making any mistake in handling the errands. He was handing the right packet to right person. At the other end of the compartment a person was selling cosmetics to the ladies. He was crying in a sore voice “ Kiranmala chiruni gulo ache, ektay charte kaj hobe, kapor kachar brush gulo ache, gorali poriskar korar brush gulo paben, baha clip gulo ache”. Avani spotted another man selling carbonated water in the compartment. At times people were hailed by the lame, by the blind persons singing songs “koto sadhonar phole emon sadher manob jonom pele, dudin badei to chole jabe, ei harinam tumi gaibe kobe?”( you have attained life of a human after many hurdles and will leave the world in a few days, when will you worship God then?). Avani gave each of them 5 rupees with a heavy heart. Her eyes gazed at the cloudy,sulky sky and the fields outstretched.

All of a sudden Avani found a young man watching her. The man was handsome, clad in a white and green striped shirt and black jeans. He wore many rings on his fingers but had one finger empty. Avani understood that he was a bachelor. The man broke the ice and started talking to her “ Hello, where are you going, I hope you wouldnot mind if I sit beside you?”,he said. Avani replied,” Certainly not”. Avani learned that the man was Abhishek Chatterjee, working at Namkhana. Abhishek watched Avani. Avani clad in a white shirt and blue jeans was looking nice. She wasn’t very beautiful but there was something which made her all the more appealing in front of Abhishek. Her ears were devoid of ear rings and her pitch dark hair was carefully tied into a ponytail. Avani inquired about the BDO of Namkhana to which Abhishek replied in positive. On reaching Namkhana, both parted shaking hands. Avani took a toto and reached the BDO office. On her way she enjoyed the fields, the small huts from where ladies with babies on their laps peeped to have a look of her. She was taken to the room of the BDO by another man and she held the letters in her hand. She looked up and was greeted by Abhishek. She was surprised to see him there and Abhishek smiled back “ You see, actually I am the BDO. When you asked me whther the BDO was helpful or not, I affirmed. Its always nice to praise yourself, right?”. Avani smiled back at him. Both did not know what was there in air then but both felt a fantastic feeling creeping inside. A sparrow flew inside looked at them and went back again. Avani started her work and Abhishek tried his best to help her, making her comfortable enough. Deep down in his heart, he felt an inner voice talking to him asking him not to let go of this new friend.

In the meantime, Ratan had met Hari with Dipu. Hari had given him a work. Ratan had to get hold of a gecko, a very special and rare one. At first Ratan hesitated hearing that he had to be out of his house for days together hunting for this gecko but he accepted the proposal lured by the prize amount of 1 lakh. The gecko would be sold to a foreigner for some” khokha” (some crores of rupees). Ratan dreamt of defeating Ismail and winning Moyna again. His conversation with Moyna had been decreasing day by day and he somehow knew that Ismail and Moyna united everyday secretly. He returned home to start his vigil from the next day. On reaching home, he found a new person in his house. She was Avani, questioning Moyna, a part of her work. Finding Ratan around, Avani conversed with him. She inquired him about his income about the fishes caught and so on. She visited the fishermen with Ratan. By and by Ratan grew important in her eyes and for everything she seeked his help. Ratan felt very happy, this was the first time in his life that a woman was giving him importance. For days together, Avani visited places with Ratan, seeing the trawlers, visiting the forests and interviewing people. Moyna couldn’t stand this. She was the person who gave least importance to her husband and had a firm belief that her husband was a good for nothing fellow but Avani had a midas touch with which he transformed Ratan to a person having his own opinions. She interviewed Ismail too but brushed him aside to be with Ratan.

One night when Ratan received a call from Hari, Avani was in their house. She for the first time in her life secretly listened to their conversation and was shocked to hear the trade of geckos. She disguised her knowledge under her simple looks and thought what to do. Back in her hotel, after having her dinner, she sat by the window and was thinking how to stop this. She got a call from Avishek, inquiring about her work and her health. She blurted everything to Avishek seeking his help. Avishek drove to her hotel and met her. He said that no body will believe her. When Avani’s eyes met Avishek’s eyes, he saw her eyes loaded heavily with tears. He touched her and said “ Even if no one is there for you, I shall be there.” The clock struck ten and in excitement Avani hugged him. Avishek closed his eyes hugging her tightly,realizing again that he had been in love with her.

Days followed and both of them kept a close watch on Ratan. Twenty days had been spent but Ratan and Hari failed to get hold of that gecko. Avishek was constantly being reprimanded by other officers but he stood still beside Avani. As the twilight sky dropped a palour and the crows cried coming home, Avishek kept on watching Avani for hours. Her constant talks, her love for the rustic people struggling for livelihood there amazed him. Avani sat beside him and said “ My gut feeling says there will be some success today”. Avishek touched her hand and said “ I don’t know if we will succeed in catching them red handed today but I promise I shall be with you for the rest of my life”. He kissed her forehead and she kept her head on his shoulder. She felt an unusual peace and solace in the company of Avishek.

That night, they followed Ratan and Hari and reached a dingy house. Located in the middle of a forest, it was a perfect place for horror movies. The branches of banyan trees hung here and there. Avani and Avishek crept inside the house to be greeted with snakes and lizards. Avani was about to scream in fright when Avishek put a hand on her mouth and nodded to her to keep quiet. Moonlight soothingly touched the walls of the house and there was a colourful gecko, secretly calling out. This was a new breed as Avani had seen in the newspaper miles away at her house. The gecko was afraid and tried to move in. Hari had spotted the red and yellow spots on the gecko and tried to catch it when Avishek jumped at him and grabbed him by his shoulder. Ratan was shivering beside looking helplessly at Avani.

It was a big news. Both Avishek and Avani were rewarded and Hari along with his fellows was put behind the bars. On Avani’s request Ratan was freed. Avani gave a share of her prize money to Ratan. Ratan was contently returning home. He met Moyna at the doorstep. By this time Moyna had understood that Ismail would never leave his wife and child for her. She came forward and began crying. Ratan wiped her tears and said “ Ghore chol”.(Let’s go to the house). That night was auspicious. Avani was to leave for her home the next day. Knowing that Avishek dropped in to have few words. He had a ring in his hand and asked Avani “ Will you marry me?” Avani replied “ Yes” and smiled back at him. She couldnot help blushing. Both hugged each other and a lizard cried out. They laughed.

Some distance from the hotel Ratan sat beside Moyna by the midnight lamp. The lamp flickered a bit in the monsoon breeze but did not blow out. This was the first time Moyna couldnot held her head in shame. Ratan touched her hand. They united for the first time and the lamp smiled back, growing brighter. Far in the dark forest, a gecko might have called out but no one could hear its secret call. The moon rose up and the clouds started playing a hide and seek game. Ratan looked at the sky and murmured “ Life is beautiful”.