Evasion ।। Md Harun

Risingbd Desk: In her youthful days Molly found Peter so attractive and loving that she would flee from home and marry him within a few days of their inception of romance. It was too early for Peter though! He needed some more time to embark on the new chapter of life.

He could convince his parents more reasonably of his appropriateness of the new beginning had he taken a more few days to take any decision before deciding to elope with Molly. In fact, he could manage an arranged- marriage; his parents, siblings and others—all there would have been in jovial mood and boast of the grand party—Peter and Molly’s marriage ceremony!

Contrarily Peter’s father went mad and swooned several times from the beginning when he heard of his son’s eloping holding the hand of a girl—it was not the identity of the girl that mattered to him, but his shattering of the dream of arranging a grand marriage ceremony for his son! The girl was not of his dislike though, rather it was very seemingly of Molly, in every way, to make a better wife for his son, yet he would expect his son to give him enough time to arrange for a marriage in his own way. His heart broke also for the reason that now he would have to keep his head low before the other members of his social web.

The shock was too strong for him to bear! He would ride on the top branches of trees now and then to search for Peter, would behave as if reciting the saddest rhymes written there on a book, though practically none yet heard of such books written for reciting agonies after one’s offspring’s romantic elopement.  He would cry his heart out so loudly as to make his son hear it of and come back to him to embrace him and tell, “Daddy I am back, I’m not eloping and neither did I elope. I’m here in your heart, where I always had been! I am here forever in your heart!”

Peter found the tune of his father’s wailing too intolerable. His mother’s ones were probably too feeble to reach him acoustically. Nonetheless, its perceptual velocity would tear his heart into pieces! Despite all these, he would distance himself from them. He was two crops-lands away from his father, from where he could easily hide himself from his father’s eyes behind the tall jute trees, though his father was not far away from his eyes.

Intolerable was growing the father’s wailing to him. Ascension to the top of the highest tree would symbolize the depth of his agonies. It appeared if no human touch made any contact with his heart; the soul would come out from his body and fly permanently to the sky any moment. Peter overtook of the sorrows from the other side of the crops-lands! He would send one of his compassionate-heart-possessing-friends to his father to embrace his chest and to calm him down. He knew he could not appear before his father’s eyes.

For that could have two consequences—either his father would be overjoyed to crush his feeble heart down by getting his son back so immediately, or his marrying Molly now would be impossible. So, he would rather marry Molly first, and later look into what could happen.

Few months went by. Love was so natural between them. Neither Peter nor Molly could bear to disappear from each other’s eyes! It tided over them for few full months. To Molly, Peter was the descended apostle of Cupid! She adored him! No, in fact she worshiped him!

Then came the ebb. Molly started feeling Peter was becoming unusual…too harsh, dominating and less attractive day by day. But he was responsible and dependable indeed. He epitomized the meaning of dependableness. Contrarily, Molly would also let her emotions loose every now and then, that would somehow end up with a violent quarrelling and again loving each other so violently after few hours of romantic grudge…Molly would very often demand more maturity of her understanding of the world, of her environment, sense of security, society and so forth.

The diverging maturity gap between them would grow ever fattening. She started discovering very often Peter’s childish behaviors and decisions. She would have thought in a different way if she were in Peter’s footing/position—she very often told him. To Molly, Peter was now getting sillier and shabbier both in head and heart. When Peter and Qaran, his compassionate-heart-possessing-friend who embraced the father and appeared to him as an exchanged son when Peter eloped, would walk together, it was Peter who always looked sickly and smaller compared to Qaran. Despite she would love him because he was constant and secure in love and in the world of affairs as well.

Qaran, on Peter’s request, appeared as an alternative son to Peter’s father when Peter eloped with Molly. When things became normal, Peter’s father would long for seeing his son’s favorite friend. The father in him multiplied. But Qaran would intentionally distance himself from the family. It was only for the father he would come close to the family again. Peter and Qaran very often went for some business trips and adventures together.

Molly also accompanied Peter on many such trips and adventures in their later life. Even though in adventures, Peter would remain calm and quiet, deeply delved into the business of the world! Very often the three would go together—Peter, Molly and Qaran. When the three traveled together, Peter’s quietness and lack of emotions appeared more noticeable against the backdrop of Qaran’s youthfulness and adventurous spirit.

He appeared lovelier and more attractive! To Molly, the softies of Qaran were ever pleasing and resembled the inking of poetry directly descended from the heaven. “Was there any better way to sing the beauties of Molly than this? What capacity of praise people might have!” Molly pondered over this in a forgetful way. Qaran acquired a natural endowment from the core of the soil to praise others and show compassion for them—an all conquering and loving person Qaran is indeed!

Peter could never sing the softies of Molly’s beauty in such a way! Additionally, he appeared, now-a-days more in the world of affairs and so equally far from Molly’s mind. Molly expected even better appreciation of her beauty, as every wife does, from her husband. She would not even beg for any appreciation from Peter. To Molly any appreciation achieved /gained after begging meant no appreciation at all, rather contrarily, any appreciation attained after begging proved insulting and humiliating to her womanhood.

Though he was a man of adequate quietness, reason and rationality, Peter would go out for adventures very often with his wife. Very often they went for fishing on   a far away river. Qaran would accompany them very often on Molly’s request. This time they would discover the hidden beauty of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world where inhabit a good number of wild animals including the famous Royal Bengal Tiger of Bangladesh.

On a particular Saturday-Sunday weekends of June they started for the adventure. The charming nature beautified herself with the clothes of summer sun’s bright ray during the day and in night, she took the mystery of the deepest core that of a woman’s. Molly’s ecstasy of seeing such a beautiful forest would echo in the sky, her merry-making and cheerfulness would have penetrated Peter’s heart certainly! He accompanied her probably for this reason. The day time passed that way with the whole day penetration into the deep core of the largest mangrove forest. Molly always kept a tight hold of Peter’s hand out of the fear of any animals jumping upon her from somewhere while enjoying the forest.

The Sunday day time was also of full of fun and lots of gala for them. They would return home during the night. The next day was meant for business and lot of work for Peter.

Qaran knew how to drive and hence took the charge of the steering wheel. It was about four o’clock in the morning when their car reached the bank of the Padma. “The ferry for the next departure would not be seen until five o’clock in the morning.”—a signboard read. By this time Peter fell fast asleep. Molly made room for Peter to sleep on her lap as she knew he had to attend lot of businesses during the day.

Qaran would not sleep now; rather he decided to get the fishing net from the car and started towards the river. Molly suggested him to have some sleep. Yet he opted for fishing with the reply throwing back, “Sleep is always good for the dead ones. I prefer more of life than death.” Molly instantly looked at Peter. He appeared more not more alive than dead in sleep! Only the heart pulses assured Molly of his life.

Severing Peter’s head from her lap Molly followed Qaran to suck the beauty of the river so closely. Qaran was walking very confidently towards the bank of the river. He appeared smarter and irresistible. The river was looking excessively beautiful in the moon-blanched early summer morning. In such a morning Qaran’s fishing in the Padma made her happier.

A silent moment remained to elongate the happiness. Qaran spoke out after some time, “Fishing gives us pleasure. We feel ecstatic by getting hold the fishes. But for them it is the contrary. A certain sense of death and doom for them. They become frightened before their death! It is totally pitiable and unjust from our side for them. To them it is death, but for us it is pleasure.” Qaran continued, “in the same way it is unjust for us to come here so close between ourselves. Though it would mean pleasure for us, it is not so for somebody.” He would not utter Peter’s name intentionally.

Did Molly realize earlier that she had a kind of likeness for Qaran. Why did not she feel like going back to Peter who was sleeping there in the car so deeply? Did Qaran have any right to address her as ‘The Queen of the Beauty-Pageants of the whole world’? Why such praises by Qaran would make her feel so happy. She was contemplating.

“Everything is fair in love and war, so your love for me is fair too.” Qaran assured her. Molly was not though sure of it. Yet she could not resist Qaran when he put his hands around her and longed for a kiss. A long, passionate kiss inebriated, for Molly the ever best!

The fishing net had been thrown into the river before the kissing began. How heavenly, spontaneously was love for them! Molly would extend one hand to pull the net towards the bank from the water, but was not sure of where the other hand was. Qaran could not fail to understand the indication of Molly’s other hand stroking his head and hair, the hand that was full of love and adoration!

Qaran also had one hand still by Molly’s waist, though the other was taken off to join the pulling off the net towards the bank. Molly felt she could not have more strength to press herself against Qaran’s! His hands would soon engage to untie Molly’s girdle! For Qaran, her mind responded first. Peter could never love her so violently and was never so good to her, was never found so natural and satisfying. Her love-making with Peter seemed always more of the engagement of body than mind; a kind of forced attempt. But certainly, he was more secure and stable in the way of man and woman with Peter, more constant in love and relation… and in the affairs of the world. Qaran was the contrary, too violent…too fragile to hold the foundation of faith…Not ready for the world yet, and immature indeed. He would not even bind himself with responsibilities.

Peter was deep in sleep and he would dream ghastly to see his father’s crying his heart out just the same way when he eloped with Molly! Molly was standing  half-way between Peter and Qaran when Peter’s horrible dream made him awake…

(Dedicated to My Better-half Whose Constancy Makes Me Happier)

** Md. Harun is working as lecturer of Department of English, University of Comilla. He completed his Honours and Masters degrees from the Department of English, University of Dhaka. He stood First-Class-First in Masters.
 

risingbd/Dhaka/March 11, 2018/Harun/Saiful/A K Azad