“Tomorrow, we will be leaving at 5 in the morning” Santanu announced and added “We got the permit for hunting”.
It was a Friday evening when the usual group had come to the Sengupta residence. Santanu Lahiri had arrived with his wife Nirmala. They both were a bit older but that didn’t deter them from being part of the social escapades of the Senguptas which had become the talk of the town. Santanu was the eldest son of the founder of Chirimiri, Mr. D.K.Lahiri. He was slightly overweight but had an amazing personality and naturally had become the leader of the social group. Nirmala on the other hand didn’t look her age at all. She must have been about 45 years old but with stunning looks and perfectly shaped figure could pass of as a 30 year old. Anuradha among all other people that she knew had bonded with her, whether it was going to the movies, shopping or simple gossip. She too reciprocated equally and treated Anuradha as if she were her own daughter. Both her children Aparna and Arghya were married. Aparna was married to an Engineer in the United States and Arghya had taken up a job with the Kenyan Mining Corporation. To Nirmala, Amitabha and Anuradha were an escape to the void that surrounded her.
Aranya Gupta arrived a bit late with his wife Shobha and their two children Toto and Moni and making himself comfortable in the living room sat next to Santanu. The kids both around the same age, 6 and 7 started playing with Rahul under the watchful eyes of Barouni.
He had recently become the General Manager of Chirimiri colliery. It may have been something for him to celebrate but it was more of an unfortunate event which catapulted him to such an important position. Mr. AnolTarak Bhattacharya the earlier GM got killed in an accident which had prompted an enquiry by the National Security Council. One fine morning he was inspecting one of the under ground road headers when he slipped and the broom mounted cutting head ripped his head off. The attached Huwood conveyor belt which had dutifully transported coal out of the pit, that day, had also transported Mr. Bhattacharya.
Rani and Mriganayani were busy helping Anuradha with the snacks. They were around the same age, close to 21 and old enough to start their own families. Rani was the only daughter of Dr. Chakraborty who had migrated in search of better prospects. Mriganayani on the other hand was an admin staff in D.K.Lahiri College. She had come to this far away place in the midst of a jungle from Calcutta all on her own and stayed in the staff hostel. It was rumored that she was having an affair with Srikanto Lahiri, a professor of the same college that she worked for.
Probir Dasgupta was tuning his Sarod in the living room sitting on the carpet. He worked for the National Security Council and had an interesting job. During those days it was difficult spreading awareness among miners regarding the dangers of working in the mines. His job was to show documentaries on security measures shot on 8mm and 16mm films. He used to travel to all the collieries and would assemble the miners and show them these films which served both as entertainment as well as educational.
Having considerably mastered the Sarod he took care of the cultural aspect of the social club. Anuradha and Probir were both from Ranchi, they knew each other and she also knew that he was madly in love with Mriganayani.
The strumming of the strings filled the large living room. Probir played the Purva raga, which symbolized the falling in love of Radha and Krishna from the epic Mahabharata, maybe trying his best to impress Mriganayani. From the corner of her eyes Mriganayani looked at Probir from the kitchen where she was preparing Samosas.
Probir must have missed a beat as Santanu exclaimed.
“What are you doing Probir, you just missed a beat”
Partha was busy helping Amitabha with the drinks. He was very thin and had a dark complexion. His long and bony fingers flashed numerous rings with precious jewels embedded on them. A firm believer of astrology like most of the Bengalis was advised by one such astrologer to wear those.
“Don’t worry, you will get a very good wife” A local astrologer had forecaster looking at his Kundali and had scribbled names of jewels that he was suppose to wear on a piece of paper. Before handing it over to him he reminded him “Don’t forget to buy them from Sarno jewelers, OK”.
It had taken him about two hours to find the shop located in Bow Bazaar in Calcutta.
“How is Rita doing?” Amitabha asked Partha. The grin was all over his face.
“You will be the first to know, Right?” He replied being a bit sarcastic.
Partha used to stay with Mr. R.A.Kumar an executive engineer for excavation who was an expert on heavy earth moving vehicles. They had a mutual understanding which was a unique one by itself. Mr. Kumar had a Bungalow and had rented Partha a room as his family stayed somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. But when his family visited him every year for a month or so, Partha was suppose to stay outside. Amitabha being a good friend would let him stay in his house. Partha who worked for the Coal Controller department was very much in love with Rita, Mr. Kumar’s eldest daughter which he was not very keen about and kept a close tag on them.
All the men were on one side sharing jokes and sipping their drinks, the women on the other side murmuring and giggling and the children were all over the place. Probir played on and kept missing beats which was promptly highlighted by Santanu. Finally it was about 9pm when the party ended. All the men were excited about the next morning to come as they were all going for a hunting trip to the jungle.
“So at 5am we all will be here at your place” Santanu reminded Amitabha before he left.
