THE DISRESPECTED GODDESSES

PRAGYASHREE CHOUDHURY

Copyright © Pragyashree Choudhury All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-63873-447-5 This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

Contents Preface

v

Acknowledgements

vii

1. Chapter 1

1

2. Chapter 2

3

3. Chapter 3

5

4. Chapter 4

7

5. Chapter 5

9

6. Chapter 6

11

7. Chapter 7

13

8. Chapter 8

15

9. Chapter 9

17

10. Chapter 10

19

11. Chapter 11

21

12. Chapter 12

24

13. Chapter 13

27

14. Chapter 14

31

15. Chapter 15

36

16. Chapter 16

39

17. Chapter 17

42

18. Chapter 18

46

19. Chapter 19

53

20. Chapter 20

56

21. Chapter 21

63

22. Chapter 22

69

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Contents 23. Chapter 23

73

24. Chapter 24

80

25. Chapter 25

84

26. Chapter 26

88

27. Chapter 27

93

28. Chapter 28

96

29. Chapter 29

102

30. Chapter 30

107

31. Chapter 31

111

32. Chapter 32

119

33. Chapter 33

124

34. Chapter 34

128

35. Chapter 35

131

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Preface Not my fault if their intentions were wrong A scribbled mess by a sixteen year old

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Acknowledgements And as Chris Martin said, ‘There’s a light that you give me when I’m in shadow. There’s a feeling you give me, an ever glow.‘" To all those who believed in me throughout this journey, Thank you for being there when I needed you the most; When I pretended to have the faith in myself I didn’t. To start with, I would like to thank my parents for being the most supportive, Sir Deepak and Ma’am Nitusmita for being such excellent guides, my friends Tonmoyee, Swagata and Neelabh for going through all my tortures and also, my junior, Olivia for responding to my appeal and for allowing me to use her artistic piece (page 65). This couldn’t have been possible without you all.

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ONE The sun was there, high in the sky, Hiding amidst the clouds, As if it was a bit shy, To show up to the outer world. It was time for it to rest again, To go home, have a sleep And come back the nextday. The prettiness of the environment was just undefined, The birds and bees returning to their shelters to pass the night It was a tale of a warm summer’s evening. The calm and soft winds added a new freshness to the moment. The moment in which I was living, the moment in which I would love to live forever . My lips curved a bit and resulted in a big wide smile as I saw the sun slowly setting at its juncture. "Finally, you’re an 18 year old now, Miss Divyani Dutta " I whispered to myself. I was happy and excited. It seemed that even the leaves of the trees celebrated my day. I saw the lovely sky that changed into different shades and the prettiness that the clouds sprayed. But it didn’t take time for my happiness to be shattered and for my universe to crumble. It all happened unexpectedly but it happened for real. And it was ●1●

THE DISRESPECTED GODDESSES

suddenly dark, just dark everywhere.

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TWO “Hey, you know what? You are adopted!" My elder brother (Dhruv) said this and immediately burst out laughing. Like all other 8 year old kids, I too went to papa and asked whether I'm his child for real or not. He laughed out loud after hearing this. Seeing him laugh like this, I was convinced that my parents picked me up from the dustbin that is located near our local bus stand(And what about this dustbin story? Dhruv created it of course). It was then when papa picked me up and gently kissed my forehead. "Whom do you think an angel like you only belongs to?” He asked. " Obviously you papa," I replied. Dhruv too was awarded with some nice scoldings for making me cry for such stupid and fake reasons. I couldn’t stop laughing at that point. Obviously, who wouldn’t enjoy seeing their siblings being scolded by their parents just because of the simplest reason that they made you cry? "And so, will you even dare to call me an adopted kid again?" He didn’t respond this time. No he didn’t. Instead, he pulled my hair and ran away. "ugghh!! This boy!! " "What’s going on out there?", maa shouted from the kitchen. Dhruv ran and hid behind her anchal. And why won’t he? That’s the only hiding place left for him and ●3●

THE DISRESPECTED GODDESSES

maa was his only savior. She didn’t give any importance Dhruv’s silly talks, she didn’t listen to me either, but rather asked us to be either friends soon or to stay hungry for the entire night. I looked at Dhruv. He looked at me . He gave me a crooked smile, said sorry and woww! We aren’t enemies anymore.

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THREE And just one last period... "Divyani, hello? Divyani " "Goodness! Why are you shaking me like this huh?" "I have been calling you since the last whole minute. Did you just turn deaf?" Priya said with a harsh tone. To introduce her, she was my bench mate and of course my best friend. "Eh! Sorry. I was just imagining some good stuff" "Like what?" "Like going back home, taking a shower, having my lunch and then running into the fields for the cricket finals. Damn!! Just can’t wait for my turn to bat" "You ain’t ever growing up noh? Look at yourself. You’re no longer a kid of 7-8 years. You’re 12 now. How can you just spend so much time with all those boys of your street? When will you stop hanging out with these boys?" But why? Why should I stop doing so? Why should I stop playing with them? Or shall I just stop roaming around with them? I wondered. But I eventually couldn’t understand this point. I have been doing this since a long time and now, just because of my grown-up age, I am not supposed to play with them anymore?

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THE DISRESPECTED GODDESSES

Weird! I wanted to argue with her but all she said was " You won’t ever be able to understand this. There’s no point in discussing it."

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FOUR "And so, tell me, how was your day?” "It was all good maa. What’s for lunch today?” Dhruv asked curiously. "Shorshe Baata Maach (Mustard Fish),” maa replied with a wide smile. "No way, fish again?" I asked petulantly. "Of course yes, you adopted kid. How could you just react like that? Don’t you like fish? You’re a Bengali and how could you just... Oops! Sorry, I shouldn’t forget that you are adopted. It’s obvious that you would dislike it. You aren’t our blood for sure." He immediately burst out laughing evilly. Being born and brought up in a city like Kolkata, which is rich in cultural and historical heritage, a dislike towards something as divine as fish almost seems offensive. However, I was brave enough to commit this offence. I don’t like fish, and that’s the truth. I can’t help it now. After having my lunch, I made my way to my most favorite spot - the rooftop. On a daily basis, I would spend hours sitting on the rooftop, imagining stuff, dancing along with the tone of the wind and of course, staring at the pretty sky and smiling to it. My soul embraces the spirit of the nature, the spirit that is pure, that heals my cracked bones at all times. Today too, I sat and recalled the events of the ●7●