few lines from the opening chapter of my new novel

He had seen Sima once or twice after her marriage on those few occasions when his visit to his family and her visit to her parents coincided. Each time he missed the pleasure of her husband's acquaintance by a few days, either he himself had arrived after her husband had left or had arrived a little early because her husband would come to pick her up only after he would return to Calcutta. Not that he minded it very much. Though he might have subconsciously wanted to meet the man because he learnt he was a very pleasant personality. Finally he had the chance to meet him when he went home after the 2nd proff. exam and he was happy because he really was a very friendly person. His name was Harihar.Harihar repeatedly pointed out that his home might be far from here, it was not that distant from Calcutta, so he must visit them in his free time and he made him to promise that he would surely do so. One of his qualities, which pleased him was his ability to mix with the people who he knew were banagls, people migrating from Bangladesh, and not ghatis, those who had nothing to do with Bangladesh, like him. He knew a lot of so called ghatis who cringed at the idea of bangals and took a contemptuous pleasure in demeaning their language, their culture and their food habits; they considered them outsiders and spoke about it boldly. Such broadmindedness from Harihar was not surprising for after all he had married on his own consent, although no doubt beauty of his bride had influenced him and his family.

Sunderban with all the mysteries that it stood for was very much on his mind and he decided to make a call, if only to explore a new land.

* * * * *




The lake, with its vast silver floor of clear water and its rim of trees, which on the other side of the lake appeared still and picturesque against the backdrop of the sky looked majestic. He had been told it was known as Motidighi and he was surprised, because in Gazol too, slightly moved away from their village and surrounded by a mango grove and paddy fields and close to the roaring highway there was a lake though not as big as this, with the same name. As if for the first time he realized how dogs and lakes tended to have same name everywhere. A short walk from Sima's house had brought him here. Pinky, the eldest child of Harihar's brother, had shown him the way and then left leaving him alone.
A bunch of boys frolicked in the water on the other side of the lake. In the midday silence the occasional burst of shouts and shrieks from them created a gentle ripple, unlike the huge splashes the children generated as they flailed their limbs around wildly. At the edge the trees cast their shadows to keep the water cool, and when he scooped up a palmful of water to wash his mouth it tasted bitterly salty.

He arrived here this morning, three and half hours after he boarded a bus in Calcutta. He was always susceptible of a long bus journey but the warmth with which he was greeted by his hosts made up for the discomfort suffered on the road. Sima was so excited to see him that she fell all over herself in her attempts to please him. Since it was Sunday, Harihar was home and more than once he told that he was happy he had come on a Sunday when he was home and not attending his shop. The first thing he noticed after setting his foot in this area of the world was the queer looking two storied mud houses the like of which he had never seen before. Their house in Gazol was of mud too but not was it two storied. From whatever little he saw as he passed through the brick layered street of the village on an overly packed van-rickshaw from the bus stop it appeared every family had at least one such structure on their property. Some of them looked quite odd while many of them were surprisingly elegant with smooth walls sharp outlines and some even had a small balcony. Harihar and his family possessed two such large buildings, facing each other across a courtyard. These two houses, one for each brother, were connected by a number of clotheslines. When Anil asked about the making of the houses Harihar's brother, Rakhal, a figure that had gained weight from his sedentary job as a cashier in the family garment shop, explained how unbaked bricks were used for the building purpose. Anil had no idea that raw bricks could be so useful as well. Mud was used as a substitute for cement, Rakhal informed him further. Anil wondered how people back home had failed to come up with such an ingenious way of house making.
Anil could see Sima was sincerely happy for his visit. Because of the huge distance that lay in between her parents’ house and in laws’ she rarely saw someone from her home or village and through him she met her family and the village people who, when distance and separation played their parts, were no less than family.

Harihar and his brother lived in a joint family. Their father, Bimal Adhikary, who was not interested in agriculture, although their grandfather was a prosperous farmer, founded the garment store. After grandfather died Father sold some of the land and with the money obtained bought a new place for the store which till now was housed in a rented property, and also expanded its volume. While rest of the money was put in the bank the remaining lands were leased out to small farmers who themselves had little or no land. Even in father's time the shop had a considerable business and now after five years of his death it had only prospered under his two sons who perhaps were still living as one family because of that store.


In the summer heat the water of the lake with the comforting coolness in its depth was alive and it seemed it had wound him around with invisible tentacles .He almost felt like as if he were a water creature and he would die if he had to return to the land. He swum around, took dips and did underwater dives surfacing at the middle of the lake. It was such an elated feeling to have this vast expanse of water all to himself, a pleasant change from the leaky taps of mirthless bathrooms of his hostel. But as his eyes started burning he took his last dip and turned toward the bank smoothing back his wet hair with his hand. But before he could take a step forward he stopped and stood in water that reached close to his chest. He was startled and bewildered and then an involuntary and hoarse shout ripped out from his throat,
"Hey, stop...stop"
The figure was concealed behind the shrubs but the red dress was visible through leaves and twigs. It was the hand with a few glass bangles around the wrist that showed the person was a girl. From her concealment behind some undergrowths, careful not to expose her face the girl had stretched out her hand and between her fingers she held his watch a few inches off the ground where he had kept it along with his glasses and his clothes before going into the water. As the initial bewilderment passed Anil was shocked to realize that his watch was being stolen, right before his eyes. Instinctively he dashed for the dry ground, his eyes, red from water fixed on that hand as though he hoped to grab it before it moved away. The water suddenly felt too heavy to move through and the earth beneath his foot too slippery to steady his balance.