The New Nation - Internet Edition

Anup Saha

One:

On went a group of people to a village. Their talking, if it was heard from outside, seemed that they were coming back from a nearby market. The way where did it stop at localities, a field soon after started from there and next to it was the village. The moving people, leaving off the way, downed to the field quickly. As soon as they were in the field, a fire was seen flaming on, from a crematory platform. Some people had gathered rounding it. Inquisitively, someone from the departing people asked.

"Whose cremation is going on?"

"Nirupama's." Someone answered from the gathering sheepishly.

"Nirupama?" The man frowned and tried to figure out the girl. But he could not figure her out. He confusedly asked her again, "Who is Nirupama?"

"She is a daughter of Sudhan and reads at class nine." "Oh!" He fell into trouble as he could not recognise him. He asked him again, "Is he from the east part or the west part?"

"He is from the north part," the man answered him gravely. The man did not finish his question yet, he went on asking, "How does she die?"

"She has committed suicide by hanging."

"Committed suicide by hanging! That means a case of self-killing?" The man feared by the thought of the dreadful event. He then suckled his tongue time and again and nodded his head from left to right.

The question and answer, when got its impetus, someone from the gathering shouted. Say it, Lord is merciful (Hari Hari Bolo). The boy who did the shouting had the frailty in his voice, as if, a pain had bequeathed from his heart. The others answered following through him in an unusual way. Be the Lord with us (Hari Bol).

The racketing went on for three times. No sooner had the shouting did end than the group of the people went away to the village hurriedly.

Few people, as the shouting stopped, began to sing a devotional song beating the kohl (long shaped drum) and kartals (a pair of round shaped metal instrument). "Lord, my days have passed out, night have fallen and take me away .. " Others were trying to cry out at the sad demise of Nirupama in a nasal voice. Nirupama's parents were besieged with grief at the unexpected decision of their daughter. Tears were not rolling down from eyes anymore; it had dried up because of the heavy downpour. Now they turned into statues and starring at the flames of the cremation.

In this evening, the people who downed to the field were mostly boys and they were facing the platform in front. There were, in the gathering, some older people also.

A fierce looking man was raising fire by a long bamboo section as to cremate the flesh of the young body. The fire had not yet full-blown, just began to stirring up. The dead body, before placing on the cremation, was cleaned up and new cloth was put over the body. The loincloth, usually did not match well with her olive coloured body though, today she looked very elegant and well groomed. She was good to see as a new bride.

The fire drove up quickly from the bottom like of a glowing spire and caught the cloth from the bottom. With its annihilating power, fire advanced and began to grasp the cloth. When it came onto her bosom it swallowed the cloth over her full sized breasts and aptly made the bosom bare breasted. The young boys were observing the very insalubrious playing of the fire with snooping.

Nirupama was reading at class nine - she attended the school at her advantaged stage - she looked grown up. The old people, looking at the scenarios, turned their faces back and went away to other directions.

In the dim light, when the young boys, were in trance by the decaying beauties, someone roared from the group. Fiercely from the crowd,

"Say it, Lord is merciful. "

The hollowness again racketed in his voice, as a ragged lute. With perplexed expressions, boys answered, "Be the Lord with us. "The fire grasped what he could grasp. It immediately burnt the worldly body and de-figured the sweet soft human being.

Two:

Sudhan was a poor amateurish family man. The family meant nothing but of a poor household. He inherited few bighas of lands from his forefathers and nothing remained. He had gradually sold out the lands. Among remnants were only the household and few kitchen gardens.

Now, he toiled in other men's land and toiling was not available. He had to work on what he could manage. The family did not go on well - he had no fixed income. But Sudhan had a pastime he loved open-air opera performance. In his youth, he was a player of an open-air opera and received acclamation from the people. He couldn't forget all those sweet memories, a mood hanged on to him as soon as the evening caste down; he could remember the dialogues from the "Chandra Shekhor" (drama). In this drudgery, he had to go to the nearby town to fulfil his dream. For his lavishness, he had to quarrel with family members as he spent out the required money for the family. The women sometimes was not lit up - they had to starve. He could not restrain himself from this extravagance and for this they had to starve. Sudhan knew that his human faculties would die if he did close to see them all. It seemed to him that he had died out already and if he lost it he would obliterate all his way of life permanently. What would remain to him? He thought - there would be a skeleton only but no life.

Among three children, Nirumpa was the eldest, and brilliant. Studious. She had to go to a school of two kilometres far. There was no school in her village. The way to the school ran through a forest and she had to walk down the whole forest to go to the school. There were houses on the way to the school but did not help. She had to go to the school and came back upto class seven alone. Sometimes, Sudhan or villagers going to the bazaar accompanied her. Nothing fearful happened nobody told anything - people saw her with eagle eyes.

Sarder para lay beside the big forest between the dwelling place and the school. Narumpa heard boys of Sarder para are brutal - they looted things - killed people and raped girls in the broad day light. When she passed the forest she shivered from an unknown eerie sensation. A fear chased her, anything unnatural could happen.

Boys of Sarderpara didn't do any harm to her when she was in class eight even. They laughed at her only. That laughing seemed to Nirupama that there was a temptation and beneath it had a relationship between a prey and a predator. One day Nirupama told her mother, "I fear when 1 pass by the Sarderpara, and you do not accompany with me!"

Nirupama's mother asked warily to her daughter, "Has anything wrong happened?"

"No. Nothing of that sort." "Then?"

"The boys of Sarderpara always laugh at me and that laughing grows my fear."

"You should be very cautious when you pass the forest and try to avoid them," her mother warned her grimly.

Three:

Nirupama, student of class nine, was now a young girl.

Her body had fully blossomed. Though she was mix complexioned yet she had an attraction - everybody loves her.

The first term examination of class nine had started, seven examinations out of ten had completed - three were left. After examination, when she was returning home, it was nearly evening. No one was on the road. The winter evening had come down quickly. It looked like a deep night. She walked down to the forest quivering and heard a crackle sound in the forest. Nirupama shivered from an unknown fear. She looked around in fright and finding no one around she thought to be creatures walking on the leaves. She began to walk speedily to cross away the forest. Today was a bad day for her - her mother had quarrelled with her father. She left home without taking any food as there was nothing to eat - her examination was not good enough - as her concentration was not intensified. Nirupa walked down safely for some time but her safety wasn't well corroborated. Advancing few steps she saw the boys of Sarderpara were hiding behind the trunks of the trees. They clutched her mouth and tied up by the cloth she was wearing. Nirupama tried to resist them with her remaining strength. A groaning sound came out through her tied mouth. They took her inside the forest and began to take off her clothes.

Dabir Sheikh was planning to fetch the cow from the forest for a long time but he could go out. His pegs were not fitted properly. He was a carpenter. The cow was making noises to come back home, as it was dusk already. On his way home, Dabir Sheikh heard the scuffles in the forest and a groaning sound was raising from there. He advanced to that direction to see what was going on. Seeing the boys in the dim night and their position inside the forest, he understood what was going on. Dabir Sheikh made a bully in the air and people of the nearby places came running to the forest. The boys left half-fed Nirupama when they saw people began to venture.

Nirumapa was rescued. Iramoti, Nirupama's mother, came hurriedly to the place when she knew the matter. She floated in tears holding her daughter and promised in broken hearted that she would not send her daughter to the school again. She reviled her husband violently,

"Didn't 1 tell you that 1 would not send my daughter for schooling? Who cares me? She would be made judges or barristers! Now see! What would happen to her if Dabir uncle would not go to fetch the cow!"

Iramoti told all those things to her husband in lamentation slapping her head fearing at the dreadful event that could happen to her daughter.

Four:

Nirupama was in her captivity nearly one year. People insinuate her as a seduced girl when they saw her. Off late she doesn't talk with her mother spontaneously. Her mother exchanged unspeakable words and scolds her for negligible reasons. Nirupama lost her mental strength. She began to think herself as a social outcast.

Her marriage was about to settle down but couldn't settle up, as the groom's party lost their interest taking Nirumpa as a bride. The girl who was abducted by the boys of Sarderpara to rape could her be taken as a bride for their son! Arrangements broke down three times. The hope of light she saw each time sneaked away at a snail's pace.

In her eyes life is now full of darkness, hopeless and fearful. Gradually her moving lines narrowed down and nipped out from the stalk. She does not know the way of life - yet she desires it now. The known boundary is hostile - fearful.

Five:

Nirupama searched her way out. She fell in love with a tall and shaped tree. She considered him as her groom. In one quiet evening she wore a banarashi shari, put conch bangles on hands, gave vermilion on the halves of the hair and stood before the tree. She bowed at him in obeisance and climbed up the tree to mate him. She was shivering from extreme fright and excitement. She melted in emotion and then leaned forward to his embracement. The moon was then glinting above the head. She took all her clothes off from her body. She was fully naked now. She showed her naked body to the moon. The moon loved her - adored her. The playing with the moon underwent the whole night and stopped one time. Still body was swaying in the breeze.

Someone went out of the house in a shadowy dawn. He saw a body was hanging on a tree in blur. Then he saw the body was of a young woman and finally discovered that the body was of Nirupama's. When the body was descended down from the tree - everybody saw vermillion on his head, conch bangles on her hands and banarasi on her neck. Sudhan broke down on her daughter's cold body and floated in tears. He anguished for his daughter's decision. His misfortunes had now swapped to her daughter. Those who experienced a stain in her disrepute, today they witnessed Nirupama is a sacrosanct, simple and untainted girl.