Maithili….
#Maithiliepisode1
#Author: #RhituparnaChakraborty
#Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction with no relation to any person/organism living or dead. Every episode, every character is a work of imagination. Any resemblance to any person, organism, place or character is purely coincidental. There is no intention to hurt or rebuke anyone through this work. This story/episode cannot be copied, published or reproduced without the permission of the author RhituparnaChakraborty.
There was chaos in the Banerjee household. Well, something which had never happened before, happened. Shubhra’s niece Shayantani married a boy who was not of the same caste as the Banerjees. One shock was less though. At least the boy was a Bengali boy. However, the cast mismatch was not acceptable. Shubhra was crying. She took the end of her saree and wiped her tears. Her husband Satyajit Banerjee was furious. Shyantani was Shubra’s elder sister’s daughter. Shubhra’s elder sister Sharmishta and her husband Shoumesh were shattered. Shoumesh suffered a stroke and was admitted in the hospital. Shayantani got married clandestinely in the city where she was working. Her long term boyfriend, who is now her husband, used to work with her in the same organization. The Banerjee family was a highly orthodox conservative family. Getting married to someone not matching caste, creed and religion was a sin. This family will now never accept Shayantani and Rounak.
Maithili was 18. She was awaiting results for her medical entrance exams. She was keen to become a doctor. She had always dreamt of wearing that white apron, carrying a stethoscope, prescribing medicines and curing people. Although her father had told her to go for civil services instead of medicine, Maithili was adamant. She had been a bright student through out. Cracking civil services would not be difficult for her because she had the patience to sit and read for long hours. More so, she was rarely distracted. She was never active on social media. All the same, she was not a boring human. Full of humor and life, she could brighten the glummest of environment. However, nothing could distract her from academics. Her ‘Mama’ aka her mom’s brother Ranjan Mukherjee was a practicing orthopedics doctor. He did tell Maithili ‘It takes ages to become a successful doctor, primarily because graduation and post graduation, both are long and then you would need to do super specialization. It’s a never ending process. You will have to keep yourself updated with all the latest things happening in the world of medicine and keep on studying all your life.’ Maithili was absolutely fine with it. Her mom Shubhra had told her, ‘But Shona, you are a girl. You would want to settle down too. If you pursue medicine, it will take time for you to get married and settle down. Moreover in arranged marriages, families usually prefer girls below 27. Maithili had said, ‘That we will see when we are there.’ Shubhra had then brushed Maithili’s head and said, ‘See Shona, no matter what, always remember I and your Baba love you a lot. Please don’t do anything to hurt us.’ Maithili was a subtle girl. She did not like melodrama neither did she want to hurt her parents. She had said nonchalantly, ‘You have to trust me Maa. I won’t do anything that will bring, as you guys call it, “disgrace” to the family.’
With a height of 5 feet 7 inches, Maithili looked tall. She was not skinny but she was neither fat. She was slightly plump. She was fair with her skin turning pink every time she smiled. She had shoulder length wavy hair. Her rimless pink tinted rectangular eye glasses complimented her skin. Her favorite attire was cotton long kurtis with matching leggings. She used to wear flat stylish slippers. At this point in life, she was not used to wearing make up. The only make up stuff for her was a simple lip gloss.
The results of the entrance exams were declared. Needless to say Maithili bagged a seat in one of the most prestigious medical colleges. Her parents wanted her to pursue her studies in the city itself but Maithili wanted to get away from her home town for some years at least. Not that she did not like her home. It’s just that for some years she wanted to live her life the way she wanted.
After all the admission formalities, Shubhra and Satyajit had come to drop Maithili at the new town and Maithili’s hostel. The campus was huge. There were 4 girls hostels and 4 boys hostels. Undergraduate and P.G hostels were separate. All the departments were spread out. Students either walked to the classes or rode a bicycle. Shubhra came with Maithili to Maithili’s allotted room to help her arrange her clothes and other stuff. Shubhra was stressed, worried and pained. Staying away from Maithili will be difficult for her. She was trying hard to control her tears. Just then a girl came to the room with her mom. Apparently she would be Maithili’s room mate. The girl was around 5 feet 2 inches tall, skinny with wheatish complexion and a super adorable smile. She was wearing a pair of denim trousers with a short kurti. She smiled and said, ‘Hi, I am Anu. Anu Verma.’ Maithili smiled, extended her hand, shook hands with Anu and said, ‘Hi Anu, I am Maithili.’ Shubhra was happy to see Anu. Anu seemed to be a nice girl. Anu’s mom was also happy to see Maithili. Shubhra hugged and kissed Maithili and said, ‘Okay Shona, take care of yourself. Study well. Call us every day and yes, remember, it should be a video call.’ Maithili smiled and said, ‘Now now Maa, don’t worry. I will be fine. I will call you and Baba every day.’
After Anu’s mom and Maithili’s mom left, Anu and Maithili sat on their respective beds with pillows on their laps. Anu then looked at Maithili and said, ‘So, here we are. 5 years together and maybe more.’ Maithili smiled and said, ‘Oh yes. Cheers.’ Just then someone knocked at the door. Anu went ahead. There was a girl. She said, ‘Please come to the hall. The seniors want to meet you. There is an introduction session.’ Anu said, ‘Sure’. After some time, all the freshers assembled at the hall. The senior girls came after some time. The seniors made the freshers dance and sing during the introduction session. Later the freshers were instructed to wear ‘Saree’ for the next 2 weeks from morning till night. At night they could wear night wears. Anu and Maithili looked at each other and said, ‘There. This is the beginning. Pheww.’
The classes were scheduled to start from 8:30 a.m. Getting ready with a saree and reaching class by sharp 8:30 a.m. was not breeze for these girls. Haphazardly, they wrapped the sarees and rushed for their classes. Most of them struggled wearing the sarees and then walking with fast pace. Anu tripped twice and Maithili thrice on their way to the class room. The boys in their class were wearing Kurtis and Jeans. Everyone realized that was the dress code for freshers.
The first class was that of Anatomy. Professor Sohum Awasthi came. Salt pepper hair, stern eyes and a short height, Professor Awasthi looked very strict. All the students will have to spend years in this college and hence there was no way they could afford to be in the bad books of any professor or senior. Maithili and Anu grabbed the first bench. It was a muggy day. The weather was humid and there was power failure. The sarees and heat made things unbearable. Behind Maithili and Anu sat Kartik Sharma, Sunit Chakraborty and Rafique Khan. Sunit saw that Maithili, Anu, Radhika and Nimisha were highly uncomfortable in the sarees. He stood up and opened one of the closed windows beside them. Some fresh breeze swept in. Maithili and Anu turned around. The boys smiled at them. Anu whispered, ‘Thank You!’ Sunit smiled warmly and said, ‘No thanks no sorry between friends.’ Sohum Awasthi saw that and said, ‘Well, since this is your first day I am excusing you guys. But henceforth, please, I want pin drop silence in my class when I am teaching.’ The students were scared. Again, no one wanted to be in the bad books of the teachers.
After the next class, the students had a 45 minutes break. Maithili, Anu, Sunit, Rafique, Kartik, Radhika and Nimisha, went to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was crowded. Seeing their attires, everyone knew these guys were freshers. After ordering tea and snacks, Maithili and Anu got up from the table to wash their hands. As it is, the saree was super uncomfortable. Maithili tripped and fell. She was embarrassed. Anu helped her get up. Maithili looked around. People were staring at her and giggling. Anu helped her get up. Without looking at anyone, Maithili went out of the cafeteria without having tea. She was so embarrassed that she could not talk to anyone that day. She tried to fight her tears but that was apparent on her face.
Next day, again, the same story. Saree was a pain. But, nobody could say anything. They had to wear Saree no matter what. After shower, when she was hurriedly wrapping her saree, someone knocked at the door. Suchitra, a fourth year student was there. She looked at Maithili and said, ‘You and Anu do not have to drape sarees henceforth. You can wear anything you are comfortable with.’ Maithili and Anu looked at each other wide eyed and then at Suchitra and said, ‘Wow, so this rule is no more there?’. Suchitra smiled and said, ‘It is there for everyone else. But you guys are exempted.’ Maithili and Anu knew if they asked more questions they might be asked to wear Saree again. After Suchitra left Maithili and Anu said softly, ‘Yippieeee!’.
After two classes, during tea break, Maithili received a text message from an unknown number. It read, ‘Trust you are comfortable.’
To be continued…………………………………..
