Can we change our destiny?

The whole incident took everyone who knew this family by shock. As Sengupta family stayed in a campus locality, all the neighbours gathered at their place after hearing the tragic news. Their quarter had to be opened with spare key and the house was in total chaos. Gas stove was on, bed was unmade and books and toys scattered everywhere. It showed the great haste before their departure. As shamir was known to be a speedy driver, his friends advised him not to take his own car this time but he never heeded their advise and what a price he paid for it.

Raima was admitted in a hospital with trauma and broken arm. She was never brought to the campus and was taken straight to Kolkata to her paternal grandparents. Later she was under the care of her uncle and aunt but according to sources close to the Senguptas, nobody ever cajoled and coaxed her to have her meals anymore, and the delicate and dotting girl was suddenly thrown into the harsh reality of life. She came to the campus once to visit some families, but her beautiful smile was gone forever and her melancholic and soulful expression mirrored her inner turmoil and loss. She remembered her house distinctly and told the new occupant that it was where she lived earlier and that she would like to go in once. Nobody could refuse her and waited with bated breathe for her reaction. But she didn’t betray any emotion and her face was totally blank. Even she failed to recongise some children who were her play partners. May be subconsiously she wanted to block her past life that was linked to her happier times with her lovely parents who meant the world to her and for whom she was the world. For Raima, life’s fatal and cruelest blow at such a tender age made her numb and devoid of emotion. The beautiful, vibrant girl, with a single stroke of fate, has turned into an inert self, with all her exuberance gone. To us, she is a constant reminder of the fact that transiency is thy name of life.

Can we change our destiny? (continued)

As an academician, he had to attend numerous conferences and workshops, both within India and abroad. Although many a time he wanted to take his family along, but due to financial constraint it never materialized. Then came an opportunity to take his family along, when he got a call to attend a conference in Bangladesh. As Bangladesh border was just three hours away from the place he was working, he planned to take his family along this time. They planned to take their car to the border post and from there to cross over to Bangladesh. Sharmishta was so excited about the trip that she told her colleagues in school that she can bring beautiful dhakai jamdani sarees for them if they wanted. Literally beaming, she told fellow teachers jokingly that that was supposed to be her first trip abroad.

The day they were to leave, was terribly hectic as Sharmistha had exam duty till 2 o’clock in the afternoon. They left in a hurry as they were supposed to reach the Bangladesh border, located in Dawki, Meghalaya, before dusk. The road was treacherously curvy, narrow, and tricky and shamir was driving at a great speed. As it was the first week of January, visibility was poor after 3 o’clock which was further aggravated due to constant drizzle. Then occurred the fatal error of judgment; Shamir overtook a truck and he failed to see the incoming bus. However hard he tried to ram on his break, he knew what was inevitable at that moment. The bus driver too, seeing the impending disaster, tried to swarve but the road was too narrow and the bus rammed into the car killing Shamir and Sharmistha instantly. Raima was sleeping at the back seat, and the impact hurtled her below the seat, where she was found later, unconscious and with a broken arm, but alive and orphaned.

Can we change our destiny??

Raima was a seven year old lovely and bubbly girl who stayed in our neighbourhood. With her fair skin and large dreamy eyes, she radiated angelic charm. Raima never really had to crave for love which, she received in abundance from her parents, and from her maternal uncles and aunts. The adulation and affection showered on her by her mausis and and mamas was also due to the fact that she was the only niece from maternal side and was understandably pampered and dotted on. She was always showered with girly and dainty stuffs like frilly frocks, barbie dolls and accessories, trendy hairpins, satiny sequined sling bags and also shoes of different colours to match her dresses. Her mother, Sharmistha was a school teacher, but despite her busy schedule, she always managed to bathe, feed and dress Raima, although children of her age in the neighbourhood, managed their chores on their own. Her bedroom wall was pasted with pink barbie wall papers with matching pink satin curtains in the windows. Stuffed dolls of all sizes and shapes were scattered all around her room but all she cared and loved among her toys was a bald headed big eyed doll which she used to carry everywhere.

Raima’s father, Shamir Sengupta, was a professor in the department of Physics in a technical institute of repute. A highly academic person, he was always buried neck deep with his book and was not the kind of person to socialize. Sharmistha, on the contrary, was a vivacious and attractive lady with a kind of exuberance that was infectious. She would complain often that Shamir was so much lost in his academic world that he never remembered their anniversary and birthdays. But when it comes to his daughter, it was as if all his dorment love surfaced and he would become a dotting father. It was amazing to see an over-studious person like Shamir feeding his daughter (who was a fussy eater) with full devotion and patience, sometimes even missing some important meeting in the process. (to be continued)...