Walking into a silent home can have different meanings, the first obvious one being no one is actually at home and the second that something quite disagreeing of a great multitude had occurred inviting silence and let’s not go towards the third, the darker meaning you might be thinking of.
So, Chaitali walked into such a silent house on Monday night. She usually went to the yoga fitness centre straight after the office was over and then she returned home. This was what her usual working day consisted of, but on this day the usually cheerful parents did not have that cheerful element and Chaitali’s paternal grandmother sat confused whether she should say something to Chaitali or remain silent and side with the parents.
Chaitali had a beautiful family, her father used to be a farmer and he had done quite well for himself in life. Chaitali’s parents Mr and Mrs Nayak, decided to let go of the farming work and shift away from farming lands to live with their only child Chaitali who had found a job and life there, and Chaitali was more than happy.
The farming lands were taken care of by the other family members of Mr Nayak still living in the village.
But the issue involved Nanku, a boy from the village, around the same age as Chaitali, a son of one of Mr Nayak’s best friends, Bholaram Chowdhary. No, the boy did not do anything wrong, he was part of a successful poultry farming business which his father ran.
The problem lied with Mr and Mrs Nayak who wanted Chaitali to eventually end up marrying Nanku and Chaitali was quite surprised that even though her parents had accepted this life of hers away from the village, they were insistent on trying to get her back to it.
“What’s the problem? The boy is good looking, from a good family and earns more than most city people here,” Mr Nayak had asked Chaitali
“I am just not looking for commitment of such nature right now, I have to focus on my career,” said Chaitali and her father did not take it beyond few more words
In reality Chaitali did not want to end up with Nanku at all, the boy was very much dependent and overly proud of his father’s business and he had not looked at anything else beyond that, some said that the boy was an exact copy of his father, just looked different. Most importantly Chaitali did not have any intention of leaving the life which she had worked so hard to build and it does take a lot to build your own place in this world.
The line was crossed when one day Chaitali came home to see Nanku and his father sitting in the drawing of her house and smiling at her, they did look a bit alike. It was clear what they were here for.
Chaitali decided to take this moment and spoke in presence of all, “this marriage is not happening, I have no interest in this marriage and I am not going to compromise my life here. So, I hope everyone will understand and move on.”
A silence pursued and it was a silence which stayed after the guests departed. Chaitali hoped the silence referred to a process of realisation and eventually things would turn up all right.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Silent Understanding
Early Morning Memories 