There she was!

                                                                   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!”