Free My Kind of Girl by Buddhadeva Bose Page B

her.”
    â€œYou do?”
    â€œHer illness is love.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œLove. What people refer to as falling in love. She’s fallen in love.”
    His words seemed to plunge me into water, from my safe refuge on land. I managed to compose myself in a minute and said, a suitably doctorlike expression on my face, “I see. Then there’s nothing that a doctor can do.”
    â€œNot other doctors, perhaps, but you can,” said Ramen, bending his tall frame a little and lying down. “Ah, this couch of yours is wonderful.” Rubbing one foot against the other, he continued, “The thing is, the object of this girl’s illness is me.”
    I smiled. “Not a new thing for you.”
    Ramen suddenly became agitated. “So what do you expect me to do? Die? Or leave the country? Bina’s such a nice girl, I had never imagined she’d create such a terrible situation.”
    Now Ramen started his litany of woes. How was he to get any peace if this kind of thing kept happening! He slaved at his businessall day, the evenings at Mr. Dutta’s were a pleasant diversion, he had become intimate with them in a short time, they were very nice people too, or else it would have been impossible for him to show up there anymore.
    Having heard him thus far, I said, “Well, I’m sure she’s not the only one to blame – these things are never one-sided.”
    â€œBelieve it or not, it’s completely one-sided. There’s nothing from my side.”
    â€œNothing? Rubbish!”
    â€œThere you are, you’re saying the same thing. I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Dutta think so too. And as for me, I’ve exhausted myself trying to explain things to her these past few days. I can’t take it anymore.”
    â€œWhat are you telling her?”
    â€œI’ve been telling her to be calm, to be composed, to be good, to understand.”
    â€œAnd what’s she saying?”
    â€œShe can say nothing – she can only sob. I had no idea anyone could weep as much as she can. She’s been transformed from a lively young woman into a corpse. And can you imagine how you feel when you see someone sobbing that way – especially when you know the tears are for you. The more I try to comfort her, the more wretchedly she sobs.”
    The sum and substance of everything else Ramen continued to pour out to me, was that he would have given up all contact with the family had it not been for the play. Besides, why should he give it all up?Did he not have a life of his own – his own happiness, his own peace? Should he stop visiting a place he wanted to visit simply because a young woman had lost her head? How unfair!
    I consoled him with the thought that this was the tax he had to pay for his good looks.
    Yes, he had realized long ago that his looks were his enemy. Just imagine, there he had been, enjoying his evenings at the rehearsals, and now tears threatened to drown it all. For the Bina I had seen, Ramen said, offered no hint of the kind of girl she really was. Bubbling, lively, pleasant – just the way Lalita’s character was at the beginning of The New Nest . Mr. Dutta might well have created Lalita in his sister-in-law’s mold. Whenever she had come in through the door, the specter of depression had flown out the window. A lovely girl, very nice, and if anyone had asked him, he would have vouched for the fact that anyone who married this sister-in-law of Mr. Dutta’s was a fortunate man.
    â€œShe has chosen the fortunate one on her own,” I teased him.
    Ramen only sighed in response.
    If only he hadn’t joined the group. Everything was all set for the play, but they hadn’t been able to find someone to play Anupam until they fortuitously discovered Ramen. Rehearsals went swimmingly for a month or so. Everyone agreed that the vivacious Bina was the last word where Lalita was concerned. They had known she would do well in