There she was!
The epitome of
resplendence, if there could be any, she was.
Flamboyance
through simplicity, if there could be any, she was.
The analogue of sheer elegance,
if there could be any, she was.
The aura that
she generated could certainly turn an atheist in to a believer. Big black eyes,
portrayed the vehemence of anger, still retained the charm that enthralled and
could possibly make anyone beg, to fall in the depths of it. It seemed magical,
her ornaments, her crown, the ten hands, two sons and two daughters radiating
the same amount of splendour, the glitter all around and the sublimity of perfection, was magnificent. It got me involved.
The idol was
exactly the same as it has been since so many years but still; there was
something new to it that integrated the magnificence. It was hard to believe that human hands had made it!
While I was admiring the
spectacular beauty that appeared no less than reality, a hand creeped upon my
shoulder and gripped me back to pull up the hefty body that it was attached to. Unable to endure the intensity of the pull, I almost fell down. I turned
around to see a familiar wrinkled face and oversized body, it was my Aunt.
She needed a
support to climb the wooden platform that was a bit raised - she could have
asked for it - the sudden pull was unnecessary. She was one amongst that category of
my relatives whom I hated the most.
“Arjun! khabar
dabar ki bondo kore diechis? Why have you grown so thin?” she almost shouted.
“No Aunty I’ve been working out” I gave a reluctant reply.
“Working out? Has this zero figure thing gone trendy over
boys also?” now she had that evil grin on her face.
“Yes, it is better than your oversized, disgraceful, buffalo
like structured body, that itself regrets its existence!” I wanted to say but
instead, I replied, “No Aunty not zero figure, I would be putting on a few
kilos back again very soon”
“Better. Beta you are a Bengali and you should look like
one, hale and hearty” she said. I gave a smile, nodded, excused myself and
dismissed the conversation.
The evening, as I
contemplated it, was full of such unwanted conversations. However, the aarti
that was accompanied with dhank, made the evening blissful and took my mind
away from the torment and horror of my unreasonably inquisitive aunts and
uncles.
Back home, the
euphoria and excitement slowly started fading and the despair of reality seeped
back again. In short, the horror of exams again started haunting me. People
reading this might be quite appalled, “why this guy is so anxious about the
exams?" actually the anxiety comes up because “I’m not at all anxious!”
