Story: An Alliance

An Alliance
Someeta Das

“The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements”

Quoting a speech from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Mr. Mukherjee looked lovingly at his granddaughter Trisha. She knew he was referring to a pair of crows which had been constantly cawing from the boundary walls of their neighbor, Mr. Sen’s house, for a few days now. In fact, her grandmother had spoken of it as an ill omen, but Trisha and her grandfather had teased the elderly lady about her superstition. Both Mr. Mukherjee and his granddaughter shared a camaraderie, which her grandmother was slightly envious of, and would often pull the old lady’s legs jovially, to irritate her, resulting in the old lady complaining to her son and daughter-in-law who pretended to scold both, ending in laughter and good humor.
“Bosh and nonsense” Trisha, pronounced affectionately, as she heard her grandmother speak about her various fears,” How can anyone believe such things in the 20th century?” Having made her point, Trisha winked at her grandfather, who winked back at her, a joke shared, while waiting for the vehement protests from her grandmother, who more often not, arose to the occasion, providing the naughty ones with enough grounds for laughter.
Trisha was a young girl of twenty five and lived in the city of Kolkata, in West Bengal, with her parents and grandparents. Trisha’s father was a Doctor, mother-a homemaker. Being an only child, her grandfather was her constant companion, and she called him “Mandu”, while he lovingly called her “Guli”. He was her partner in crime when planning something naughty, consoling her, when she hurt herself in the park, dropping and fetching her from nursery school, comforting her, when reprimanded by her mother. He was the first person she sought when as a teenager she had shared her latest crush, and confided her heartbreaks too.
She remembered that one time Mandu had gone with the driver to fetch her along with her cousins from school.” It was probably in Class Three”, she thought, and Mandu had forgotten his purse. The four of them had clamored for Ice cream,” I scream, You scream, We all scream Ice Cream” they chorused.
Mandu had tried to pacify them by promising that he would buy them ice cream the next day, but they refused to budge out of the car till he returned with his purse and fulfilled their wishes. When he had looked at Trisha accusingly, she told him tearfully, “You know I had to support them, otherwise they would have called me a traitor”. Of course Mandu understood. Her mother was a little upset when she heard about the incident, and scolded her severely, but Mandu shielded her, as usual.
She had always wanted to study Biology, and looked forward to pursue a Doctorate in the subject, furthering her career in that field. It was while she was engaged in her scholarly pursuit in the laboratory, that she met Arun, a couple of years her senior, who was about to complete his Ph. D. Having struck a familiar chord, with common interests, they quickly became friends. Arun, like Trisha, was an only child and lived as a paying guest, his parents living in another city. Within a couple of months, Arun had begun accompanying Trisha home. When he proposed to her, she immediately said,
“Mandu has to approve of you first”.
She hesitantly confided in her grandfather who met him, and took an instant liking to the courteous suitor. Later, when Arun came home, Mandu made it easier for everyone to accept him.
“ I like the young man, he is exactly what I had wanted for Guli,” he declared. As Arun was extremely cordial and an affable young man, Trisha’s parents and grandmother approved of the match. The two families met, liked one other, and after much discussion settled on a suitable date for the wedding, to be held six months later. This would enable Arun time to complete his Ph.D, and pursue the new project that he had undertaken. The blessings of the two families were with the couple, and they dutifully tied the knot on the appointed day. Six months later, ensconced into conjugal life, the blissfully, happy young couple, was trying to settle down in the city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where Arun’s job had taken him. Initially Trisha was apprehensive, as she had never left her family and stayed elsewhere, but Arun assured her saying
“It is merely a forty five minute flight or six hour journey by train, don’t worry, besides there are a number of trains to and from Kolkata, and they can always come over.”
Trisha had completed her laboratory work and was writing her dissertation, so could accompany Arun without much difficulty. The excitement of a new city, adjusting and understanding new people who spoke differently, took much of her time, though she spoke to Mandu every day.
It was now six months since Trisha and Arun had arrived in Bhubaneswar but the situation was the same, nothing much had altered from the time of arrival. They could not they make new friends nor meet people as the Covid -19 Pandemic had started spreading its tentacles just after their arrival. The lockdown had prevented Trisha from venturing out of the apartment, and for a while Arun was working from home, but now his office had reopened and he had started attending office.
Arun came home one day, with a cold and mild temperature. Not being acquainted with too many people in the neighborhood, they decided to wait for a few days for the fever to subside. Every day the news of the impact of the pandemic intensified, with the whole world shaken by the magnitude of its effect. With Arun indisposed , Trisha thought of the immediate measures that needed to be addressed. For one, finances had to be secured, and a Doctor had to be consulted as Arun’s temperature persisted. Moreover, she did not want the families worried unnecessarily. “Probably it is just a viral,” she thought.
Then she remembered that her father had given her the telephone number of a Doctor friend, Dr. Pattnaik, and who she could contact during an emergency. Dr. Pattnaik asked her about Arun’s symptoms, telling her to observe him carefully. This ‘online telephone diagnosis’, made Trisha aware that no one could come physically to her aid, as the extremely contagious and debilitating nature of the pandemic, had made people too frightened, to help one another.
Keeping an eye on Arun, she noticed he did not seem to discern when the food was slightly burnt, and saltless. Trisha’s immediate reaction was to telephone her family, but stopped in time, as she knew that other than worrying they could do little, as all means of transportation had stopped. The elderly being more vulnerable, she was very worried about her parents in general and Mandu in particular, for Mandu was diabetic.
During the next few days Arun felt breathless despite taking medicines, and Dr. Pattnaik asked Trisha to consider shifting him to a nearby hospital where he would be monitored. He arranged for an ambulance for Arun, assuring Trisha that the doctors there would take good care of him. Moreover the apartment had to be sanitized, and he advised her against stepping outside the apartment, and to get tested too.
The day after Arun had shifted to the hospital, Trisha felt strange. She was anxious, squeamish, and barely managed to eat anything, but attributed it to the tensions for Arun. She had already informed the elders in Kolkata about Arun’s hospitalization, but did reveal to them that about being unwell, for the nausea and weakness continued. It was then Trisha guessed that she might be pregnant. A feeling of exhilaration stole over, “ I am going to become a Mother”, she thought excitedly.
There was no one she could turn to in these extenuating circumstances, as she could neither tell Arun nor inform the elders at home. The next few days passed off in a daze, speaking to doctors about Arun’s condition, and Trisha completely exhausted by the gamut of emotions running through her. At times she was giddy with excitement at Nature’s manifestation of procreation, but the next moment she was down in the depths of despair feeling hopeless and frustrated. The first week went by, with Arun in hospital, and herself sick- retching and suffering bouts of vomiting, spending her days in a kind of stupor. Always trying to induce a happy, positive note into her tone, she spoke to her family at home, crying her heart out when alone, for she could hardly do anything about the loneliness that engulfed her. Another week went by slowly, before Arun was weaned off the ventilator. By this time, Trisha had become a ghost of her former self. Formerly vivacious, and friendly, she was transformed to a wreck, living by herself, very frightened, her cheeks pale and sunken, her eyes weary from crying, but her voice was just the same. On one hand, she had practiced very hard not to distress Arun and her parents, but on the other, had lost so much weight that she could barely recognize herself.
The next excitement was Arun returning home from the hospital. He was discharged after two weeks, with Dr. Pattnaik offering to fetch him, a proposal, which Trisha accepted gratefully. She knew he would require a lot of care to regain his health, and she started preparing for his arrival. She spoke to Mandu, and her family, following their instructions religiously, sanitizing the rooms, making healthy meals, keeping Arun’s medicines on the bedside table. Finally Arun arrived late afternoon- slightly thin but shocked at Trisha’s appearance. She appeared thin, pale and listless, moving about as if in a trance. Together they decided to inform their families about the new addition.
There was a lot of excitement at the news. Both families wanted them to return to Kolkata as soon as possible. Since some flights had started between Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, they booked the next available flight. Two days before departure, to Kolkata, Mandu told Trisha that he would come down personally to Bhubaneswar to escort them home, and would reach the apartment by himself, ignoring her fervent protests. Next evening Trisha met Mandu, who arrived with a huge smile and outstretched arms. Blessing Trisha, he winked and said,
“So little Guli is coming, I am waiting eagerly to play with her” Mandu was convinced that the little one would be a girl like Trisha.
The following day, taking a lot of precautions they reached the airport and travelled to Kolkata without any hassles. But strangely, as soon as they reached Kolkata airport, Mandu was lost in the crowd and seemed to have disappeared.
“Where is Mandu?” demanded Trisha. Trisha’s father did not say a word just led the way to the car. Racing out of the car excitedly after reaching home, Trisha suddenly stopping dead in her tracks, for she had by then spied the bamboos neatly laid out. Her heart beating fast as if it would burst, Trisha entered the room and saw Mandu, arms stretched out, waiting to receive her, a smile on his face, as he lay on the bed, eyes closed. Trisha’s father informed her that Mandu had had a massive heart attack in his sleep, two days back in the afternoon, just after speaking to Trisha in Bhubaneswar. They had been waiting for Arun and Trisha to arrive, after taking necessary measures to preserve Mandu’s mortal remains.
Arun had not seen Mandu at all in Bhubaneswar, but had heard Trisha talking to herself. He had been observing her, but did not question her, as he had taken the call from Trisha’s father that Mandu was no more. He did not inform Trisha, but watched her silently as she spoke to the empty seat beside her, during the entire flight.
The crows were now cawing vociferously.