The next day Etwa and Saiba came with Nimu and took Dhanesh back to their house in spite of his unwillingness. In Nimu’s car on their way home, Saiba pleaded to her father-in-law, ‘baba, new labors are coming from Nepal and Bihar and they may do the rest of the job. You’ve done the best part and you may now take rest. You’re old and have become sick. Sethji would give us the jobs after the pujas even if you hand over the work to other laborers now. So why should you take the drudgery of felling the tree?”
Nimu too requested Dhanesh to handover the rest to the new laborers. But Dhanesh said, ‘no I myself would do it till the tree falls down.’
Dhanesh felt he cannot let his friend be killed by others. They would certainly torture it to death. Let the tree die at his hand painlessly and peacefully.
Meghraj and Babulal, too, suggested that the rest of the felling to be done by new laborers from Nepal and Bihar but Nimu who had felt the emotions of Dhanesh decided against it and told them that Dhanesh would fell the tree only in the morning hours and thereafter he would work in the gaddi.
One day Gittu came to the gaddi to meet Babulal and Nimu. He was soon leaving for Kolkata. He had sold the house here and rented a house at Kolkata and arranged for admission of his son to a school there. He had already purchased the share of his friend and was now the sole owner of the hotel. Gittu wished to see Dhanesh and Nimu took him to the latter’s house. He presented them with garments and toys for the children. He said, ‘I’ve heard of a chemical that makes the wood soft and cutting easier. You may look for it at the chemical stores. I don’t know exactly the name of the chemical, but the shop keepers or distributors must know.’
Nimu looked for the chemical at the chemists’ shops at Jalpaiguri town, but no body could give any information about it. Eventually Meghraj learnt from a whole seller that such a chemical was available at Kolkata and he might arrange for it if order was placed. Meghraj placed order and paid the advance right away and the whole seller, after talking over cell phone with the distributor at Kolkata, told that the chemical would arrive by a fortnight by transport service.
II
Durga puza came close by. Nature too got ready to greet the goddess and her family. Fields wore the snow-white shawl of kash flower, sthal-padma trees got adorned with deep pink large flowers, air got suffused with the enchanting smell of shiuli flower and the deep blue sky with rafts of white clouds made the atmosphere joyous.
Durga puza is the greatest festival of Bengal. During the four days of the festival, not only the Hindu Bengalis, but all classes of people irrespective of race or religion get hilarious and enjoy the gorgeous festival.
Hectic preparations were going on for the puza at the major clubs and houses of rich people in the Jalpaiguri town and adjacent areas. Bamboo and wooden structures were erected to construct the large pandals imitating not only the famous Indian temples but also the architectural monuments of other countries. Orders were placed with the technicians of Chandannagar for lighting displaying mythological stories and current incidents. All the vendors and owners of footpath stalls and shops were busy replenishing stocks to cope with the heavy demand during the puzas. Priests, drummers of dhols and dhaks, sellers of flowers and puza materials, the owners of makeshift stalls selling fuchkas, toys, balloons, egg-rolls and other stuffs were happy expecting brisk business. Cloth and sari shops were busy selling garments and saries and tailors had to declare in writing that they were unable to take any further orders. Children were gathering around the workshops of the potters to watch the progress of construction of images of the gods and goddesses.
Schools, colleges and other educational institutions would remain closed for a month and this made both the students and the teachers happy. The entire Bengal became festive and joyous.
Nimu told Dhanesh that work would be resumed after the puza and so he could take adequate rest. There would be heavy rush in the cloth shop and Dhanesh would help his father sell garments to the innumerable buyers buying new puza garments. In the mean time he expected to get the chemical from the Kolkata distributor.
Like other years, Etwa and Saiba got temporary jobs at the house of a local businessman. Their puza would be more gorgeous this year as the two sons of the businessman had returned from America. Every morning Etwa and Saiba went to the house with children and return at night with delicious Bengali food. They had presented Etwa a dhoti, Saiba a sari and the children shirts, pants and toys. Descriptions of Saiba, Etwa and the children of the well dressed educated relatives of the man, about their manners, food habits and English talks like the sahibs made Dhanesh spellbound.
A large television set was installed at a local club and Etwa and Saiba watched every evening T.V. shows at the club. Dhanesh never liked this and he reminisced how this cinema machine could spoil human minds and destroy family peace.
After retrenchment from the tea garden Dhanesh had a whole time servant’s job at a Bengali family of a bank clerk. It was a very happy family and the boy loved Dhanesh very much. He enjoyed the boy playing with his beautiful and magic toys. His books were full of beautiful pictures – of humans, their houses, animals, birds, insects, fishes, frogs, fruits and flowers. He used to take the boy out to the tea garden, river, lake and the fringe of the forest. One day the boy was elated to find a large frog in their kitchen garden. He insisted on catching it but Dhanesh explained that it had family and children and so it should not be captured.
‘How would you like your father being held captive?’ He asked the boy.
The boy smiled and said, ‘yes I now understand and henceforth I would never catch frogs or any other small animals or birds.’
The boy showed the colored picture of a large frog in his story book and read out the story, of a large Golden frog who was blessed by the fairies and had become the king of the frogs. The story of the quarrel between a tiger and an elephant and the amicable solution by the sage god Narada was also interesting. Dhanesh also used to entertain the boy with the folk tales of the Kurukhs.
Time of Dhanesh with the happy family passed on merrily helping the couple and swapping stories with the child. But soon ominous things started casting dark shadows over the family. A neighbor bought a television set and being insisted by the lady and his son the babu also bought one.
This cinema box became the root of all trouble. So far the lady loved her husband and son and was satisfied with whatever she got. But now after seeing costly garments, posh houses, cars and luxurious durables in the box she started demanding these things from her husband. If the husband said, ‘with my income how can I afford these things?’ she would say sarcastically, ‘then why have you married me?’
They started quarreling every night ignoring the shrieks and cries of the child. Things became so difficult for the child that one day he left home and his uncle informed the parents that the child would henceforth be staying with him.
One noon, when the babu was at office, a fat bald man with a large pot belly came to the house and the lady welcomed him and took him to the bed room. They got nude and played the husband-wife game. The dirty game went every noon since then. From their talks, Dhanesh learnt that he was a rich contractor and he had a wife and three children. He promised to the wife of the babu to buy new house for her. Every day he presented the lady with costly saries, cosmetics and beautiful jewelry. One day the lady poisoned the babu and eloped with the contractor. At first the police had harassed Dhanesh but a local influential landlord pleaded him non-guilty and soon the two culprits were arrested and charges against Dhanesh were withdrawn. But he became unemployed once again.