Free A Bend in the River of Life by Budh Aditya Roy

duty to Monika. Rana also kept visiting Monika at a regular interval. The River of Life was flowing to its brim with a sage like serenity. There never is a dull moment in it. Even when it appears to be in lull, behind the scene activities continue to shape the future events that would affect the lives on earth far down the road. Devika and her husband Siddharth came with children to say goodbye. He got a promotion with a transfer to Darjeeling on the Himalayas. In the colonial days when Calcutta used to be the capital of British India, Darjeeling was the summer capital. Rana could not be delighted more for Devika on hearing the news. He congratulated her and she invited him to spend the next summer vacation with her family in Darjeeling.
    When all seemed to be cruising along merrily, one morning Monika called Rajani to convey the message that Nandini who was then92 had breathing problem and she was restless. The family doctor came and on examining her said that her condition was due to old age and there was nothing much that could be
done. Nonetheless, he prescribed a medicine to reduce her restlessness. Rajani had a premonition. She went to her country house that same afternoon. Sumit and his family were already living there. So in case of emergency his help was assured. But to be doubly sure she asked Rana to follow her next morning. The following morning Rana left before sunrise and by the time he reached Rajani’s country house, it was mid-morning. From outside the property nothing seemed to be unusual. As he went near the entrance, he saw the doctor coming out of the house with Sumit following him closely behind. Nothing was expressed on their faces. Rana stopped to find out from them if Nandini was alright. Sumit indicated to him to go inside.
    Approaching the inner veranda of Nandini’s house he found the four women Rajani, Sarojini, Padmini and Monika wiping tears silently. There was no shrieking, no moaning, and no wailing. The only sign of mourning was silence. Not that they were not anticipating this eventuality, but that when the soul leaves the discarded body and the body remains there motionless and mute, human mind cannot reconcile with the reality. So many decades of familiarity with the departed soul, her voice, her movements come to an abrupt end. The memories tend to fill up the vacuum. The sudden flood of memories overcrowds the mind causing it to be unsettled. This unsettled state of mind gives rise to bereavement which finds expression in tears.
    Rana stopped there for a while. He knew that the inevitable which was prolonging for some time had occurred finally. He went inside Nandini’s room and found her to be in deep slumber. Her face was glowing like the setting sun. There was no shred of earthly pain. It only reflected abiding faith in God and eternal peace. Nandini’s soul which was growing increasingly restless in her decrepit body finally found sublime joy and ultimate freedom in God’s abode.
    While he was standing in the silence of that solitary room looking at the radiant face of Nandini, his mind flashed back sixteen years, when at the age of two he first met with Nandini at her village home near the bank of the River Padma. Rana went there with Rajani and Devika on vacation. He still remembered her homestead which was built on an elevated land. She had lived there almost seventy years before the partition of the country drove them out.
    That part of the world was historically cyclone and flood prone. During their stay there it rained for about a week. The River Padma overflowed its banks and flooded all the adjoining areas. Her house was spared because it was on a higher elevation. But her courtyard and backyard inundated with water. It was still fresh in his memory for carrying him on her lap Devika waded through the knee-deep water for his fun. The flood brought a crop of fish to the courtyard and Devika caught a few and cooked them for his joy.
    Turning his thoughts back