* Shompa - Part 2 * Morning turned to afternoon, but the fat woman still had no news of Shompa, which was a thing of concern. It was not entirely impossible for Shompa to have run away for good. This meant a direct loss of income for the fat woman, Madaam, as she was commonly known among the pimps and clients. Meanwhile, Shompa sat inside Kolkata Kathi Kabab, a posh eatery located in the heart of the city. She had never ventured out of the brothel this far, and as her proximity to the brothel diminished, so did the fear in her heart. Her focus was now on the food that the waiter had served her a few seconds ago. She looked at the food with greedy eyes - chicken biryani and roll, but the fork confused her. She stared at the other patrons, at the balding old man who ate with his fork in style, and then she looked around to see if anyone else was watching. Once certain that there was going to be no source of embarrassment, she started to eat with her hands. Twenty minutes and loads of food later, Shompa stood at the bus stop, awaiting the bus that would take her back to the brothel. Yes, she could very easily have avoided the brothel altogether, and gone home instead, but for that she had to have a real home. As things were for her, the brothel was the only home she knew. It was almost evening by the time she knocked at the fat womans door. Leela answered the door, and her face betrayed her surprise on seeing Shompa again. Shompa smiled. Leela signalled with her eyes – ‘Danger Ahead, Tread with Caution’. Shompa nodded, confirming her understanding of the situation, and smiled. Leela looked at her aghast, wondering if Shompas disappearing act had been enacted keeping the possible consequences in mind. What exactly did Shompa want to achieve? The fat woman was locked up inside her room with her long time lover, a measly pimp who had made it big through human trafficking. He called himself an importer, and his consignments hailed from not just West Bengal but also Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and even Nepal and Bangladesh. But in spite of cheating dozens of innocent girls on the pretext of getting them a job in the city, he never cheated on the fat woman himself. Or perhaps nobody except the fat woman would sleep with him, something that both Leela and Shompa had discussed umpteen times before. While the couple made love, Shompa decided to check her frog out. It sat comfortably inside a polybag punched with small holes to allow it to breathe. Shompa wondered what she should feed it when suddenly Leela spoke from behind. Ei, kothai chheeli re (Hey, where were you)? Leela questioned her. Janish phuto kaino korechi ei tholer modde (Do you know why I have poked so many holes in this polybag)? she counter questioned Leela. Leela looked at the polybag, then at the frog, then back at Shompa. Phuto holei to beche thakbe, nishshash nebe je (It needs the holes to survive, to breathe) Leela replied. Ami aajke ei bhebei nishshash neete gaechilam (I thought the same, and my excursion today was just me trying to breathe) Shompa replied. End of Part 2 of 3 ~ Abhijit
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:34:55 +0000
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