Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 77: Aamaya Banerjee

The journal entries were taking a toll on my mind so I decided not to read anymore and instead decided to take a long rest instead. It's been more than fourteen hours since dad has made any attempt to talk to me. He was still avoiding me. 

I know he has tried everything he could, probably more than any man would do for his best friend. I was still in a doubt, whether he was trying to avoid answering my earlier question whether he is the Phantom or was it that he was blaming himself for the failure to protect an innocent child. I really want him to talk to me, I don't want to know if he is the phantom, I just want him to talk to me. I don't blame him for anything.

It was around 10:30 AM. We had a scrumptious breakfast. Actually, yesterday evening Joshi uncle, who is the assigned in-charge and designated as Quarter-Master of the Officers Mess, came up to me and enquired if there was anything special I wished to have for breakfast.

I was very much partial to the Indian Chola-Bhaturas dish, but mom would never allow me to try because of the rich and heavy usage of oils in the dish. So, I informed him that I was craving for some Chola Bhaturas and that's what he served in the breakfast. It was very tasty, and I could not help but consume 4 Bhaturas and now I am feeling so full that I don't feel like getting out of bed.

Sagar Sir made fun of me by saying that Kumbhakarna’s spirit has entered my body and I was eating like him. Actually, a regular person cannot eat 4 Bhaturas without upsetting his stomach and that’s the reason he made fun of me.

As I was lazing around in the bed, J.P. Uncle entered our tent and informed me, "Bacha, your mom is in the room talking to Aamaya. She wants you there. There is something about that girl's life which your mom wants you to hear."

As he departed, I followed him behind towards the room. Aamaya di was locked up inside a cubicle. We were able to watch the proceedings in the cubicle on a television screen placed in the adjacent room.

There was Brigadier Shahi, Sagar Sir, J.P. Uncle, and Dad. Nishi Jethu has also come.

All of them, formidable in their aggressive stance, looked very serious.

As I entered the room Sagar Sir directed me to a chair next to Dad, "Why don't you go and sit on that.”

I went to sit next to him; dad pulled his chair closer to me and puts his arm around me. He pointed his finger towards the monitor which was placed in front of us.

As I focussed on the monitor, I saw mom sitting on a chair adjacent to where Aamaya di was sitting and discussing something with her. The audio is not working properly therefore couldn't hear anything discussed between them. 

Sagar Sir started fiddling with the speakers, trying to set up the volume to make it audible for all to follow the conversation.

A lady officer entered the room. Nishi Jethu, Brigadier Sir, Sagar sir, and dad immediately stood up to welcome her. The lady officer stood on attention and gave a salute on entry and the four of them reciprocated too. Dad introduced the lady officer to Nishi Jethu.

"Sir, meet Major Annie of the Military Police. She was the officer assigned to investigate the murder of Lt. Col. Banerjee and his eight men..."

Nishi Jethu stretched his hand forward to shake hands and greeted her, "Hello Major. It is nice meeting you."

"It is nice meeting you sir. I have heard a lot about you." replied the Major.

Nishi Jethu smiled at her and commented, "I hope you have heard all the good things only."

"He-he... Of course, sir... you have a reputation of being a no-nonsense cop... and when you are right, you don't care who the person at the other end is, you always prefer to give them a piece of your mind...and the justice you think they deserve according to the law."

She continued after a short break "As a matter of fact your ability to strategize anti-insurgency operations is being used as case studies in Anti Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte."

"Everyone in the Military Police knows about the incident at Bhubaneswar railway station when you were posted as the DCP Anti-Terrorist Squad Orissa and your team hunted and killed five militants in the crowded railway platform in a record time of 4 hours."

"Your reputation precedes you, sir..."

I saw Nishi Jethu blush and retort with a smile "Ma'am you are embarrassing me... We were just doing our duty..."

As I was soaking in the information, I was shocked by this revelation about Jethu. Is he really that good? My curious train of thought was broken by the sound of Aamaya di and Mom's voice coming from the speaker.

I heard Mom softly asking Aamaya di "Why do you hate Abhinu so much... All he wanted from you was a little bit of love... and you reciprocated by hurting him."

Aamaya di, her head lying face down on the table, replied: "I hate him and everyone in this stupid world."

"I beg your pardon..." Mom asked again...

Aamaya di raised her head and shouted "I SAID... I HATE EVERYONE IN THIS STUPID WORLD... EVERYONE ONLY CARES ABOUT THEMSELVES... NO ONE CARES ABOUT HOW I FEEL.." and she started to weep...

"I don't understand..." saying this mom stood up and pulled her chair to be closer with Aamaya di. Mom picked up her left hand, placed it on hers and started to caress them, and continued "Why don't you try to explain it to me… You never know, there will be someone who might actually understand your feelings... Being the mother of a very young daughter, I might be able to help you if you open up to me."

She looked at mom and asked, "Are you sure about your urge to listen to my side of the story..."

"Try me..."

Aamaya di started... "Aunty... can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead..."

"Do you have any memory of that fateful day when you fell in love for the first time and the experience of losing that special someone for none of your faults?" Aamaya di asked.

Mom suddenly looked towards the camera, smiled, and replied "Well dear... I do remember my first love... we were together for 14 years and finally decided to get married... he is none other than your uncle."

I turned to look at dad and saw that everyone in the room was looking at him with a smile. I saw the embarrassed look on his face as he was trying to neutralize the attention created by Mom’s revelation. 

Mom continued "When you mentioned the pain of losing someone special, I have lost a lot of people I truly cared for. During my first posting in Assam, Tinsukia district, I was sent as a mediator to get in touch with the leaders from the United Democratic Force of Assam and try convincing them for a ceasefire agreement and if possible, convince them to surrender."

"It took me 3 years and a lot of effort. I was actually successful in convincing three of the topmost leaders to surrender, Samarjit Saikia, Dipul Chaliha, and Jayanta Handique."

"During their surrender, they were being taken away to a high-security prison. I and my team of Rashtriya Rifles commandos were assigned to initiate the transfer."

"On the way, our convoy was attacked. We lost seven of my best soldiers that day. Do you know as a lieutenant my squad consisted of nine soldiers and I lost seven of them that unfortunate day? I still blame myself for not being a good leader that day."

Aamaya di had a sad look on her face and continued "I am sorry to hear that Aunty…" she paused for a while and continued "But truth be spoken… not everyone is lucky like you in matters of love. Not everyone is destined to experience a great love life as you did..."

Looking at Amaya di, I could sense she was in agony and her tears confirmed it... I saw mom caressing her arms, trying to comfort her.

Aamaya di continued in a somber voice, "12 years ago... dad had been struggling a lot with his business. We were nearly broke. To make matters worse, he had to raise three children, me, my brother Aahron who was a year older than me, and Darika who was only a few months old."

"One day we came to know that one of dad's old friends had helped him financially to get his business back on track and wanted him to relocate to Mumbai. Back then it was known as Bombay."

"We were happy with our new life there and dad's business also started to recover and flourish. He was doing really well when one day we heard the news that his friend and his wife had met with an accident and were no more. They had left behind a son, Allen."

"As his friend didn't have any next of kin, his son was being sent to an orphanage, however, dad decided to be his legal guardian and brought him home to stay with us. He was very happy to be with us."

She gave a beautiful smile when she said the next sentence. "He was a couple of years older than me. I was a mere child when I first met him."

                                                    TO BE CONTINUED...

                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~