Dedicated to nilmanidey Thank you for being a consistent reader. I am indeed indebted to you for the detailed review that you cared to share with me. Thank you fellow bengali😊

"Fire can either cleanse all remnants of your past and help you rise stronger or can burn you down forever. It is up to you what you do with the fire... Conquer it or submit to its rage."

                      -Elegiac_Damsel
____________________

Indrayan's pov:

Can anything be more twisted than this?
We thought we would find Anya here... But there are more troublemakers on the run. There is at least another person inside the factory right now and there is someone in the electrical room who is trying to set this factory ablaze.

I called the police immediately after I caught some movement near the factory's electrical room. Sampurnaa was unaware then.
She noticed much later and would have given our presence away to the intruder had I not stopped her in time. She seemed to be panicked. I held her hand and assured her that the police would be along soon and she tried to regain her composure.

It was past 5 minutes since we both had decided to stand silently. Sampurnaa was growing restless. She would turn every 30 seconds and ask me the same question, "We should try and go closer. Why aren't we?"

I decided to ignore her after a while.
I could sense her glare on me every time she addressed me and I chose to keep mum.
A sudden noise caught our attention. It was a fairly loud noise which sounded like a controlled explosion.
The electrical room which had earlier been smoking, burst into flames in mere moments and the dark night sky lit up with the red, yellow and orange sparks from the fire.

The factory door opened and Sampurnaa and I hid ourselves.
She was shivering a bit at the sight of fire. To be honest, I was shaken too.

We both were silent and still as we observed the scene unfold in front of our eyes.

Two women and three men walked out of the door and walked towards the electrical unit.
The fire was raging and soon a part of the factory also caught fire.

Where the hell had the police and fire brigade gone?

Meanwhile the occupants of the deserted building had grabbed fire extinguishers from somewhere and were trying to put out the fire.

Sampurnaa was about to run towards them when I caught her hand and stopped her from doing something like that.
She looked at me angrily, "aamay jete daao!( let me go!) We've been waiting for the police for a long time! Do we wait for everything to get reduced to ashes?"

I shook my head. She still looked angry.

She tried to free her hand from my grip and I could read her intentions. I am sure she was thinking of going and catching the criminals.... But this is not a god damn movie for God's sake! They can harm her physically!

She was continuously muttering under her breath... After 10 minutes, I totally lost it!

"Shut up! And stop moving! You think we both can combat these people? What if they have weapons or arms? We don't even know who they are or what they are here for!! Just stop being stupid! This is not a Bollywood movie!"

Just as I let go of all the bundled up anger, a distant siren from a fire brigade truck fell on our ears. Help had decided to arrive... Late!

........................

Sampurnaa's pov:

I was shaken to the core! I have never seen flames actually engulf things and consume them gradually.
I wanted to do something but Indrayan stopped me! We had an argument there. Had the fire brigade truck not arraived on time; we both would have lost it totally!

The firefighters rushed out soon and started preparing themselves for putting out the fire. I urged Indrayan to walk out in the open now. We have to ensure that none of the men or women escape.
One of the women turned just as we were approaching them and her eyes widened as her gaze fell on me. She was one of the women from the video footage that had been submitted in Mr. Sequira's favour at the court!

The police cars began driving up to where we were standing just as she alerted the others. Fortunately, two of them had inhaled a lot of smoke from the fire and had been hyperventilating while one of the other women had fainted due to asphyxiation.

The police held up their guns and pistols and the criminals willingly surrendered. They had little choice anyways.

They were taken into custody immediately. There were female officers too.

I breathed out a sigh of relief even in the smoky ambience that we were standing in. My head had began throbbing out of nowhere due to the unpleasant and unhealthy air that I had been forced to breath.

The police asked me and Indrayan to move away from the site as it could be hazardous for our health. They assured us that Anya's accomplices would be under their custody and that they would be presented in court during the next hearing.

It was 3 am by the time we both decided to be on our way.
The fire had been put out mere minutes ago. A part of the factory had been reduced to ashes while the electrical room had been burnt to the ground. There were charred, packaged boxes in one part of the building that had been saved from the fire. I wanted to wait till the boxes were opened... But I was dragged away.

I got into the car angrily. He had really pushed the lid off my temper tonight.
He got into the driver's seat and looked at me. I turned my face and folded my arms.

He groaned.

"I am sorry for shouting at you! But admit it! You were behaving like a difficult kid! And you should know why I dragged you away now! It is past 3 am! The police are not supposed to check evidence that has been gathered from the crime scene; in front of the witnesses. We may have reported what we saw... But the truth is that we are normal citizens. You and I will know of everything the same way every other citizen does... Via media."

I smiled triumphantly at that, "You mean through me on TV?" my voice turned stern after this, "I had my press pass with me... I could have got some amazing breaking news for tomorrow!"

"Are you seriously one of those journalists who can literally do anything for breaking news? I have had two journalists who crept inside my house at night! I did not expect you to be one of those fools!"

I glared at him.
"I know how to respect someone's privacy Mr. Chakraborty!"

"Oh God! I am sorry! Anything more? I'll treat you to blackforest cake! And stop addressing me formally! It is weird! Can we please be okay now?"

I nodded and grinned happily and held my hand out for him to shake.
He took my hand and we both signed a silent treaty; an agreement to be on normal terms.

.......................

28th September 2019 Shubho Mahalaya🙏 শুভ মহালয়া

Rupam Dehi Jayam Dehi
Yasho Dehi Dwisso Jahi

Translation and meaning:

Oh Goddess, please grant me spiritual beauty, victory and glory and please destroy my inner enemies."

Third person's pov:

It was 4 am when Sampurnaa woke up.

Having been born and brought up in Kolkata, she had the habit of waking up early on Mahalaya.

Mahalaya is the new moon day before Navratri and Durga Puja. It is believed that the Goddess was created and blessed by all the Gods in heaven for defeating the evil asura (demon), Mahishasura.
Traditionally, sculptors and artisans draw the eyes of the idols that are going to be worshipped on this day.  Mahalaya marks the beginning of Devi Paksh when female deities are worshipped. Devi Paksh begins with Durga Puja and ends with Kali Puja and Jagadhatri Puja.
In Bengal, it is a tradition for most households to wake up early and tune in to the radio for listening to hymns and songs. The most popular recordings on radio are the hymns recited by Shri Birendra Krishna Bhadra.

Sampurnaa like any other Bengali living outside Bengal, had to turn to YouTube for listening to the age old recording that announces the beginning of festivities.

It was pitch dark outside when she switched on her laptop and played the recording on her personal speaker. She was careful enough to not turn up the volume too high as it would disturb everyone else.

In the calm and serene morning, with the sun still yet to arise, she felt a sudden satisfaction. Having spent the last 4 years of her life abroad, away from the country she has loved and grown up in since her birth was a pain. Her mind ran hither thither as thoughts raced through her mind.

She replayed all that had happened with her, to her and in front of her since she began her job as a journalist. She had begun earning on her own, she had a job in her hands and was gradually becoming independent. She had met new people, she had gained confidence.

She reminisced the painful memories at the brothel and shuddered a bit.
She mentally reviewed  all that had happened ever since the court trials had began. Md. Ibrahim. Siddiqui and his sister had been arrested. The other women and men who had been found at the abandoned factory along with Anya were currently in police custody. The goods recovered from the factory included smuggled drugs, gold, alcohol and even tampered medicines. What shocked the police the most was the fact that there were cellars in the factory where many women were found, drugged and unconscious. There were a few children too who had been kept restrained.

According to the statement given to the police, the men and women who are the accomplices of Anya; they were daily wage labourers who had migrated to Mumbai from Bangladesh illegally. They had been caught in a debt trap and Anya had rescued them. They had been involved in child trafficking, smuggling, forced prostitution and many other criminal activities for the last 25 years!

Sampurnaa had kept her silence in the public when it came to her discovery about Vijay Desai's mother. She did not have legitimate proof yet. The only person who knew about all this other than her was Indrayan.
They had not met one another since that eventful night. Needless to say, Sampurnaa had been ticked off badly at home when she returned at 4 am in the morning. Her parents finally calmed down after she assured them that she wasn't in that deserted place alone at midnight. Their worry had been successfully turned into happiness when Sampurnaa informed them that she would be going to Kolkata for Durga Puja too.
Abhimanyu had raised his eyebrows once when she gave him the flight details and informed him that Indrayan was her co-passenger on the flight, but Sampurnaa had ignored him.

Everything seemed pretty normal in the Roy and Chakraborty households.

The only thing that was a mystery till now... Was that intruder who had tried to burn the factory down... The one who had set fire to the electrical unit.
The police had been unable to gather anything that could belong to him from the crime scene. Anya and Ibrahim had both been unable to shed any light on who the intruder could be as they had not received any threats. They had innumerable people who desired vengeance against them of course; owing to their criminal deeds.

There are unanswered questions even now... Which time would answer at its own leisure and pace.

.......................

Indrayan's pov:

Things have returned to normal. There are no court hearings till the 11th and I have been a bit relaxed lately. I have helped Maa and Dad with their packing and mine for the impending visit to Kolkata.

It is Mahalaya today. I never knew the significance of this day till earlier this month when Sampurnaa had taken some time off on one of our coffee sessions, to explain me Goddess Durga's birth and the significance of Mahalaya. For the first time in my life, I actually bothered to listen to the radio recording that she told me about.

Maa and Dad have been really happy. They have invited Adrija, Abhimanyu and everyone else for dinner today.
I know for a fact that Sampurnaa has a tight schedule tonight as she will be reading the news at 8 pm. I am positive that she will be arriving late.

I have taken a few days off. I am totally going to forget work till I return back after Durga Puja! Maa was thrilled when she heard this news and Dad was happy that I could spend some time with both of them at home. The only thing that had surprised me was the fact that neither of them had spoken about my marriage even once!

There is definitely something on their mind that I am unaware of!

...........

9pm

Abhimanyu, Adrija, Uncle and Aunty are here at home. Just as I had predicted, Sampurnaa was late. She had called up barely 5 minutes ago to say that she was done with the shoot and that it would take her around 40 minutes to come home.

We were waiting to have dinner with her but she had specifically asked Adrija to eat her dinner early instead of waiting for her.

Maa had arranged for Adrija and Abhimanyu's overnight stay at our home as it would be stressful and tiring for Adrija and her baby to travel late at night.

Our house was fairly big. It was a two storey bungalow in Pali Hill that Dad had got after his retirement as an IAS officer. There were 6 bedrooms in all. The ground floor had the kitchen, the living room, two guestrooms, the puja room, the dining room and 3 bathrooms. The first floor has 4 bedrooms; Adrija's room, my room and Maa- Dad's room and another guestroom which mostly Dida occupies when she visits us.
We have a small garden in the backyard and a parking space near the gate. There are two cars: my father's Jaquar and my Mercedes.

I never had the need to buy a house since I already had one, hence I had saved up my money and bought a Mercedes. I love cars!

Just as I was going through random things in my mind, the bell rung. My mother went to open the door. It was Sampurnaa!

Unlike other days, she was dressed in a one-piece dress instead of formals.

She looked different and radiant.

She greeted my mother with a hug and my father with a smile. She went and greeted her parents, brother and Adrija. She turned and saw me and smiled and mouthed a hello. I nodded in reply.
For some unknown reason, we never really communicated that openly when we were in front of our parents.

Maa decided to serve us quickly as it was already past 9.30. Sampurnaa insisted on helping her while serving. Her mother also helped them. That made me a bit uncomfortable as I don't really buy the age old tradition of women serving everyone and then serving themselves. I looked at Dad.
He understood what I wanted say and stood up immediately. Everyone looked at him strangely. He smiled and said, "Mahalaya marks the beginning of celebrating the strength females possess. How can my son and I let you all serve us? We, men are going to serve you tonight and we don't want any argument!"

I nodded in affirmation and stood up too. I went and made Deepshika aunty sit while Dad made Maa take her place. Abhimanyu got Sampurnaa to sit in her place and we began serving them.
Maa had a satisfactory smile on her face while Aunty looked a bit embarassed. Sampurnaa's face did not give away anything. Adrija was watching us and was giggling each time we made a mistake.
To be honest, I knew how to cook and serve owing to the fact that I went abroad, alone for studying; but I never had to do anything here in India because Maa was always there.

Once we had finished serving, we began serving ourselves. We looked at the three women who were looking at us. They had not began eating.
I voiced my thoughts, "Why are you all not eating?"

Sampurnaa chose to reply, "We were waiting for you men to join us! At the table, we must begin together."

We all sat down to eat after that and dinner was fun with so many people there to talk and laugh with.

..........

Deepshika's pov:

For a change today, the men served us. No matter how much the society screams and fights for equality; a few jobs have traditionally been assigned to women, cooking, serving etcetera included.

Ever since I was married, it was always me who cooked at home and looked after the meals of each and every family member. Abhimanyu's father had always taken care of me and kept me well. I had the liberty to work even after marriage at a time when society still looked down upon women; yet the narrow-minded world posed several challenges.
I had to cook, clean and take care of my kids before leaving for work. It is hard to accept the reality as a mother, but I did have to compromise with my career and aspirations because of my children and marital status.

When I had my daughter, Sampurnaa, I wanted her to achieve all that I had failed to. She has grown up now... She is no longer that baby I held in my arms or the young girl who refused to brush her hair properly.
She is of marriageable age.

She always gets irritated when I ask her about relationships and her love life. She feels annoyed when I insist on getting her married early. Alas, no matter what my intentions are, she'll never understand my point of view untill she finds herself in my shoes.

I have always wanted to look for an eligible boy for my little girl so she can live in peace. I don't want her to be restrained by the shackles of marital life and motherhood like I had been. She'll never know why I want her to get married now. Truth be told, she can marry early, so she has ample time to adjust with her new family, husband and establish herself with their support.
That day when Manabi had hinted about getting Sampurnaa and her son married, I had been worried.

A mother's heart; no matter how well I know their family, it was important for me to know the boy. Having observed him over the last few months and tonight, I know that my daughter would be happy with him. He is open minded and good. His family is always going to support her. I am positive that this man will always push my daughter towards her dreams.

Now matter how brave my Sampurnaa is, she has a fear that she'll never accept aloud; she fears being married to a man who would cheat her or disregard her. She may be happy as an independent woman, but like any other girl, she has dreams too.

No matter how introverted she is, a mother will always know her daughter's fears and expectations. After she heard Zeenat's story and that Sourire owner's wives' stories, she's even more afraid. But I hope she knows when I tell her who might just be the right man for her... That he is her parents' choice for her and that her parents wish the best to come her way.

He was with her that night when she wanted to spy on an abandoned factory. He was with her when she was trapped in a brothel.
Professional obligation maybe, but I see more...

It will take time for their professional relationships to be forgotten; but I am positive that they would progress in their lives... Together.

..............

Sampurnaa's pov:

Today's day was a long one! I had applied for leave for 5 days and my boss had agreed.
We had dinner at Adrija Boudi's parents' home. To see Maa and Manabi Aunty being served by their husbands tonight, was a great sight. They both have held their respective families together for so long.

It was a touching sight that I hope to see again and again in the future. I believe this strengthens relationships and enhances love.

We all had a fun dinner talking about the upcoming festivities.

.....

It was around 11 pm when Maa, Baba and I got up to leave. Tomorrow is a Sunday, but I have work tomorrow. Baba and Maa had packing to do.

I bid farewell to Dada and Boudi and we were about to leave when aunty stopped me.

"You gave us gifts for Durga Puja... Amader theke nibi na?"
(won't you accept gifts from us?) she asked me.

I smiled, embarrassed.

She asked me to wait while she came with gifts. I looked at Maa for help. I did not gift her something only to get something in return!

Aunty returned soon. She had a packed saree and an anarkali suit in her hand.

"I am sorry that I couldn't gift-wrap these."

"Aunty! Firstly, it isn't necessary for you to gift me anything! Secondly, when you are gifting me something, why apologise? And last but not the least, I am accepting only one!" I replied

"You are accepting both if you respect me!"

There comes her intimidating voice!

I accepted her gifts and bent to touch her feet and then uncle's in order to take their blessings.
She whispered in my ear, "One of the gifts is on behalf of that idiotic son of mine!"

I shook my head at what she said.

I suddenly remembered the watch I had purchased for him.
I took out my purse where I had put the gift this morning. I had been hesitating to give it to him... But I guess now we are even.

I rummaged about for the watch box and then handed it to aunty once I found it.

"This is for that one member of your family who I did not gift anything to, yet."

She smiled and took the gift.
"I'll give it to him. Meet you in Kolkata, child!"

We left after that.
I was hell tired after driving home. I changed and fell asleep soon... With a smile on my face... Durga Puja is almost here!

................................................................................

To be continued...
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