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| Rathindra Nath Bhattacharjee |
Namrata thought about her late father - how he dreamt of her mother Tamoshi being a singing star one day in Bengal before he bade the adieu to the world. She thought about her mother next. What a spritely lady she was before her father's death. How Mom stopped singing for good once her father was gone. It was as if the light had gone from her life. Even when someone asked her to sing later, Tamoshi just looked lost and evaded the request somehow.
"I'll fulfill your dream, Baba." Namrata whispered silently to herself as she headed towards the stage. "I'll make sure that music from Mom's life, doesn't go a begging."
As Namrata couldn't look past the first few rows in the semi darkness of the packed auditorium, she could feel her throat choking. "God! Am I to falter in the final hurdle? Is Baba's dream never going to materialise? Can't I bring Music back to Mom's life?"
She felt the pin drop silence in the Hall terrifying before breaking into "Rahe na rahe hum."
As she bowed down at the conclusion, she thought that the audience was the harshest she had seen anywhere. No one clapped. No one stood up. No one uttered a word of encouragement or appreciation. Everything inside the Hall was as quiet as the golden morning at the break of dawn.
When the result was announced, the winner was none other than Namrata. She had defeated the other contestants hands down. The Chief Judge, while handing the Prize to her, expressed it all. There was not a single dry eye in the auditorium after her superlative performance. Even the elderly lady at the back row couldn't stop sniffing and dabbing at her eyes!
Namrata grew up hearing about her mother’s extraordinary prowess as a singer. But Tamoshi didn't sing any more.
"I've heard a great many singers sing, " Rahe na rahe hum" (If I stay or not), but no one could sing it like the way Tamoshi did." An uncle said once.
"I still remember what my first cousin said about her when she sang in a small gathering on the night of the wedding. "No one can hold a candle to Tamoshi when it comes to singing," remarked another.
"When I heard Arunita Kanjilal or Bidipta for the matter, the new singing sensations in India, singing on the platform of the Indian Idol, I just thought about Tamoshi, where she might have gone if she had all these facilities in her days." The youngest uncle exclaimed.
Why did aunt Tamoshi stop singing all on a sudden just like that?" A curious friend asked.
"Though Sameer loved Tamoshi dearly, he was rarely very expressive. He is said to have left no stone unturned to help his wife win her share of recognition. He thought that Tamoshi would be a very popular singer sooner or later. Unfortunately, he was snatched away from Life a few days before his forty-second birthday... " Another elder of the family cut in.
Fact was that Tamoshi never sang again after her husband, Sameer's tragic end. He was a lecturer. One evening when Tamoshi was taking tuition from her teacher of Classical Music, Sameer lying in bed on the ground floor, complained of a severe stomach-ache. Half and hour later, he started throwing up. He asked his only child Namrata not to disturb her mother. But when he started throwing up with blood in it sometime later, Namrata rushed up to call her mother.
The end came sooner than unexpected. Sameer was diagnosed to have a damaged kidney and needed a transplant at the earliest. Luckily for him, even a donor was found in response to the advertisement in a leading daily.
The day Sameer was to undergo the surgery, he suffered a massive stroke. Tamoshi never touched the harmonium again.
"I'd like to dedicate this Prize to the one who has been my greatest strength all my life. She's been my best friend, mentor and guru. She is none other than my beloved mother. I love you, Mom." She uttered amidst the glittering lights and flashes from the cameras.
As Namrata was about to enter the kitchen on tiptoe that night, her Prize still held in her hand, she came to a stand still.
Tamoshi was humming the same tune, singing it with an abundance and gaiety that made Namrata rush in to put her hands around her mother from behind.
A doting daughter, Namrata kept the promise she made to herself by not letting music ebb away from her mother's life.
Bio: Rathindra Nath Bhattacharjee, more popularly known as RNB to his students and colleagues, is a retired English Teacher from Bhutan Civil Service and former Principal of St. Xavier's Public School, Joypur. Published extensively in magazines both national and international, his novels have recently been published by Zorba Books and by Amazon.in as well. A recipient of the Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching from His Majesty, the 5th hereditary Monarch of Bhutan, Rathin Bhattacharjee is a writer, blogger, podcaster, editor, translator, critic and an avid reader.
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