What Made Tamoshi Let Out The Secret?

Rathin Bhattacharjee 

What Made Tamoshi Let Out The Secret? 

Tamoshi's lifelong desire was to light up the faces and lives of the people she loved. Right after her marriage, she started pestering Partho, who till then, was happy earning his monthly income from the shop in posh New Market, held jointly in the name of his uncle and widowed mother. Tamoshi had always dreamt of marrying a banker, especially after her trip to the sea resort, Puri, with her brother. The palatial house they stayed in near the sea beach, made her decide to get married to a banker as the owner was a retired banker. Besides, she had learnt from her brother that the house rent for the SBI employees vacationing anywhere in India was quite cheap. 

Partho finally sat for the clerical examination conducted by the bank and got through both the written and viva test. He flunked the typing test though. It was a case of 'so near yet so far'! When Partho, by nature superstitious, got through the tests for recruitment to UCO Bank, he asked Tamoshi to keep the news of his success a secret. Though he had been learning typing from an Institute called Roger's in Esplanade, he barely managed to get through the typing test in his second attempt. He finally landed up with a banking job, thereby fulfilling Tamoshi's long cherished dream. 

Life went on as usual. Partho’s widowed mother got very hurt when her brother-in-law, someone she had treated as no less than her own brother, came back from the shop one evening and dropped a bomb by putting forward a proposal to her. She was quite heartbroken with her brother-in-law as he asked her to give his son the sole rights of the Shop in New Market, now that Partho had a secure job. She left the house and stayed at her daughter's for over a month. Every time Tamoshi visited her ailing mother-in-law, she asked her to remind her son to buy a flat. It didn't matter if the flat was second hand. She was not going to go back to their house any more. Her brother-in-law had hurt her a lot. 

Talks were going on regarding the purchase of a flat between Partho and the owner of an apartment. The day the deal was finalized, Partho came back home and informed his wife. He asked her to keep it a secret as usual. Nothing good ever materialized, so far as he was concerned, when things got revealed. He forbade his wife from telling his mother. How delighted she would be with the news! 

The very next day, after Tamoshi had dropped her daughter at college, she received a call from her sister-in-law, Partho’s sister, Purnima. 

"Tamoshi, where are you?" Purnima asked her in a tensed voice. 

"I'm on my way back home, Didi." Tamoshi replied tentatively. 

"Can you come over to my place? I don't like Ma's (Tamoshi's mother-in-law) behaviour a wee bit," she pleaded. 

There was something in the voice that made Tamoshi feel the urgency. 

"Don't you worry, Didi. I'll be there shortly," she exclaimed. 

No sooner had she arrived at her Purnima's place than she realized that things were serious. Her mother-in-law was lying in bed, eyes closed, teeth gritted. She, used to handling her mother-in-law, asked her sister-in-law to get a sorbet or sweet from the fridge. When she couldn't force it into her mother-in-law's tightly shut mouth, she got worried. She requested her sister-in-law to fetch her a glass of sugary water. 

This time, as soon as she forced a spoonful of the water into the aged lady's mouth, it trickled down the corner. 

Tamoshi knew then that things with her mother in law were critical. The next few hours were hectic. They called Mayflower Nursing Home and had her admitted there. By the afternoon, after the doctor had administered the shot and all, her mother-in-law finally opened her eyes. 

"Bouma, Gaba ( she called her son by that name endearingly) ki flat kinechhey"? (Has Gaba bought a flat yet?) She enquired, feebly.

That was the first question she asked her daughter-in-law on regaining consciousness. Tamoshi couldn't keep the secret from her mother-in-law, fighting her last battle, any more. 

The smile that lighted up her mother-in-law's face that sundown, brought her immense happiness and stayed as a lifelong boon. That evening she told Partho why she had to share the news of him having bought a flat, with her mother-in-law. 

 " I knew all along that you can't keep a secret. Now, let's see if we can have that flat or not.”

 Partho sighed. 

In the wee hours of the next morning, there was a call from the Nursing Home asking them to hurry as the condition of their mother had deteriorated. The couple left their only child at home and scurried there by bus. While travelling, they talked about the flat, how happy their mother would be on stepping in the flat for the first time. 

Hardly had they entered the Cabin where their mother was shifted when Partho noticed the white cotton tucked into the nostrils of his mother. He shrieked out in shock at the prospect of being separated from someone who had loved him unconditionally all his life. Tamoshi would never forget that shriek! 

Partho's dream of stepping into his new flat with his mother never materialised. Later, the day they shifted to their flat for the first time, after all the invited guests had left, Partho, looking out at the silvery ball in the sky, drew his wife closer to him. There was a thin outline of a smile lighting up his tired face. 

Tamoshi looked up at the sparkling stars and uttered a silent prayer thanking her lucky stars for not letting her keep a secret from the lady who loved her more than she loved her own daughter! 

The End