I'LL TRY

CHAPTER : 1

Author : Kirtida Dhar.

If there is any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know its almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.

–Celine (Before Sunrise).

Lalita woke up with the yelling of her mother. It was 12 o’clock. She couldn’t open her eyes as they were swollen and, her head was feeling heavy. She managed to sit up and looked around the room. There were ashes all over the bed and some of the Old Monk spilled over the bed.

Her mom began to bang the door loudly this time. She stood up hurriedly and began to clean up the mess. The mess quite resembles her life. She turned over the bed sheet, covered the rum-spilled area with a pillow, hid the cigarettes, bottles in between the clothes, scented the room with her body spray and quickly opened the door. “ I was in the loo, Mom” 

“ Its 12 and you are still in your room. Who made you the  princess in this house?..... and. why have you perfumed the room? Were you smoking?”

She came in and started picking up the clothes which are thrown here and there. 

“ Mom I’ll do this myself” Lalita said holding her head  firmly with one hand as if it would topple down. “ I have to leave … Please make me the breakfast.” 

“ Oh yes sure… that’s all i’ll have to do all my life serving you, your dad, cooking, doing dishes……”  she continued to scream and left the room. Lalita cleaned the room as soon as possible, went to bathe, got ready  and came to the dining room. 

“Where is Ron?” Lalita asked. 

“ Left for the school…… when will you be back?” 

“7 probably”

“ But the college will over at 5 na?”

“ mom I am getting late for the class, bye” she took some handful of biscuits and left.

“And what will I do with this maggi?”

Lalita left without answering. While walking by the road she was wondering if she could be as careless like this in her relationship. She checked her inbox the messages are left seen and no reply from Anirban. she scrolled though the Facebook. A post popped up ‘ DISTANCE GIVES US THE REASON TO LOVE HARDER’.

“Bullshit…. “ she murmured to herself in disgust and shut the phone off and took the bus to library.

Four years! Lalita could feel her four year relationship falling apart. They were 1887 km apart from each other for two years but it seems like this distance is building up an glass wall between them. It was slipping off her hand like sand. Anirban used to hold her hand and they would walk all the way home together. Now he could not travel anywhere without a cab. How could a person change so much? Lalita used to love him more when he used to took her on ‘Kochuri’ dates. Anirban would bunk his college classes and how daringly she used to bunk the tution classes! She thought that she would skip anything for him all her life but never thought what would happen if he doesn’t react the same. With time the he got absorbed in corporate life while she was struggling to spend her college life without him.

 Suddenly she heard the conductor shouting ‘camac street, camac street’…. She got off from the bus.  

This is the most important place to her. She could spend all the day smelling these books, reading articles without thinking of him. Away from her self-obsessed friends, the hustle-bustle of the world and the chaos of her life, she finds her solace among these books. She managed a sack-bag to sit while her phone rang. It was from Anirban. She rant to the washroom and picked up the phone. 

“hey”

“hey”

Silence……

“will you please stop drunk calling me?”

Lalita didn’t say anything and he continued. 

“ how many times will I say that I am in a mid of important project. I couldn’t do my work properly. I managed to submit the PPT anyhow in the morning but you never try to understand me. Grow up Lalita for God’s sake.”

“ I thought u called to say sorry”

“ why on the heck will I say sorry?..”

“Because you keep saying  ‘ I’ll try, I’ll try’ but you never do so. When is the last time you really did something for our relationship?”

“same topic again… I am getting late I am leaving for the office. I called you to tell you to stay at home. These virus and all stuffs are brewing…..” he couldn’t complete while Lalita hung up the phone. Her hands were trembling,and she despondently stared at herslf in the mirror. Such a transformation within four years. She was so carefree, mature and most importantly happy. All her joys and sorrows got tangled with Anirban now. It had been a year now that they haven’t met. He was the one to cancel all the plans in the last moment. Why does he keep brewing hopes in her? Every damn time when he says “ I’ll try” , she consoles herself. Every damn time when he says “ I LOVE YOU” , she forgets all her woes. Long night chats, sudden meet ups became history which haunts Lalita the most. 

“ hey, get an umbrella and come outside?”

“why??” 

“come . I am waiting”

“ you IDIOT, you are in Kolkata?” Lalita screamed in surprise. She ran outside. He was standing there all wet. They went for a small walk in the rain. She was in the seventh cloud. Anirban was back from Bangalore after six months. The surprise plan was stupid but she wanted to bury her head in his chest and to stop that time.

“Mam…. Mam”  a stuff called her. She got up from the floor and floored herself to the present date admist the chaos again.

“Di, why do you bore yourself watching these news yarrrr?” Ron copmplained. “Di , please!” 

“Shhhhhhh…watch this. There will be Janta Curfew tomorrow”

“whatever”

“ many countries are already having lockdown because of the outbreak of this virus”

“give it to me the remote” Ron tried snatch it from her.

While her phone beeped and she gazed at the phone with amaze. A message flashed on the screen ‘Piku, my flight landed just now. Can we meet tomorrow?’     

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