Great Hopes

It was new year's day in Calcutta. Everyone was in festive mood. The
cake-shops were filled with people. The markets could barely hold the
crowds. In every home the best delicacies were being cooked. It was
apparent that lunch-time would be a small celebration in itself. The
streets everywhere were decorated with streamers. The menfolk were
gathering in street corners to confer on the state of the world. They
were dressed in starched white shirts. Some of them were smoking. As if
to declare their independence one of the 'boys' would let out some
smoke towards the open street and then commence speaking to his mates.
The topics of discussion were varied-politics, cinema, the last cricket
match. Each had a different opinion and each opinion was coloured by
the opinion-giver's situation in life. There were many in a given group
and all except one was unemployed. The employed person was in the
Merchant Navy. He usually sailed for 6-8 months a year. So whenever he
was in town he would catch up with old pals. Just as our 'boys' spoke a
beautiful girl entered their locality. One of the boys, who looked well
past thirty said loudly, 'Who is this new flower in our garden?'.
Another young man who seemed to look intelligent moved a few steps
forward and looking straight into the girl's eye spoke, 'Sophia Loren
won't you even speak to us?' But before he could even complete the
sentence the girl slapped him hard across his face. Sensing more
trouble the rest of the gang fled while the punished boy stood in the
middle of the road holding his hand to his face for a long time.
The boy who was slapped was Polo and the person who slapped him was
Tanu. Polo used to be a student of Presidency College the best college
in town. However, after his father's sudden death he fell into bad
company and had not attended college for a year now. Tanu on the other
hand was a student of Scottish Church College. She was two years Polo's
junior academically. After she slapped Polo for two full weeks he
refused to join his friends outside. Then the most unexpected happened.
He began to attend college. He had always been a good student and even
now he fared well. In three year's time both he and Tanu were at
Calcutta university. One day the two met in the library. Polo thanked
her for the slap and explained to her what it had done to his life.
Thus started a happy relationship. Since they lived in the same area
they would take the same bus to university. In the breaks between
classes the two would meet in the canteen. After a while Polo started
his doctoral work. He had a stipend now and they decided to marry. Tanu
lived with her sister and her husband. Her brother-in-law taught in a
school. Though he was eager that Tanu marry soon he was not happy with
her marrying a former roadside hero. There was no social ceremony, it
was a court marriage for Polo and Tanu.
Sony was a student of Polo's. Nowadays he took a few classes at the
university. People had forgotten the old hoodlum Polo and remembered
him as the quiet studious man that he now was. One day Sony's father
came to meet Polo. He was a businessman with interests in Europe. He
needed a chemist for a project. The position demanded 18 hours
attention. The pay was great. But there was one problem. You were not
allowed to take your spouse with you. But Mr Das, Sony informed Polo
that a lot of Indian men married local ladies after a few years and
that was allowed.
In the next few days, Polo had a lot of thinking to do. He imagined a
bright future ahead of him. He was ready to take the risk and see what
happens. At the same time he had his duties towards Tanu. It was
because of Tanu that he had come this far. Again, he was always in awe
of Tanu's personality. In the depth of his mind, he wanted to find some
way to get rid of her. A few days later his friends from the old
roadside days visited him in the morning. Suddenly he became his old
self again. His friends had brought some country liquor with them. They
poured the stuff into glasses, balanced the glasses on the heads and
danced in each other's arms. Tanu kept herself locked in her room. Her
husband and his friends drank to their heart's content and made merry
for hours. Suddenly, after what must have been an infinity, the
doorbell rang. It was Mr Das, Sony's father. The stench coming from
Polo and his friends was so strong and repulsive that he covered his
nose immediately. He took a good look at the party and immediately left
the revelers and their party. The next day Sony was not seen in Polo's
class anymore. Polo received a letter from Mr Das saying that he was
withdrawing his previous offer.