During dinner time

It all started on 1st May, 2021. Mitali was trying to have a good meal, but those loving thoughts of Rahul kept diverting her mind from it. She had to wait for seven days before becoming her beloved’s beloved wife. She is used to eat late, but this meal is expected to last longer.

The doorbell of the house rung suddenly.

She got distracted again, for the ringing of the doorbell at 10:30 P.M. is always a little mysterious to someone. “Who could be there at this hour?”, she thought. A train of anticipating thoughts crossed her mind and left it only when she had to turn the door knob and open it. She found someone in a burkha in front of her. From the dim light that came from her house, she could make out that it was a woman, who said, “Mitali”. Mitali felt hypnotized to hold her hand and bring her in when she requested to be admitted. The voice sounded too familiar to her. The woman curtained the windows nearby and gave a sigh of relief, before she uplifted her veil, and it was Mitali's turn to be surprised. The face was as familiar as the voice, but the look on it was not. There was her best friend Meenu standing in front of her with a face that showed terror in its wild form.

“I can apologize you a thousand times for I have, at this moment, put your life in almost the same danger as mine, and I am equally grateful to you for having me in”, Meenu said.

The women retired to the dining room, where Mitali had her meal, or was having it. She asked her, “Why you look so terrified? What had you been doing with yourself lately?”. Meenu looked at her friend, then at the dining table, facing down, she said, “Is this the cost of thinking for the people of your own nation”, “If they don’t want me doing this, fine”, “But they have to mend their ways as well”, until she noticed a teardrop on the table and Mitali’s hand holding hers, after which she wiped the tear on her cheek. Mitali had heard about Meenu’s dead family in the news. She had nearly died of shock when the bodies of her brother and mother were captured, blurring them at the faces to indicate that the faces were disfigured, so as to add to the show of brutality and to hide the identities of the victims.

It was then that they heard the doorbell ring for the second time that night. Mitali went to open it. It was an officer. The uniform, the straight posture, and the formal, composed manner told the feminine eye that much. He started the conversation by saying, “Have you seen Mrs Meenu Bhatt by any chance today? I was told of your friendship with her.”.

“No”, replied Mitali.

“Have you met her, or talked to her in the last two days?”

“No, sir”

“Tell the truth, young lady, or I may feel forced to search your house”, the officer seemingly suspected her.

“I tell the truth, sir”

“Fine. We still have to be careful with you, Madam, for you may be hiding a criminal”, he said, much to Mitali’s still concealed relief.

“We trust that we will be informed if you have any contact with her in future”, the officer said, handing her his card.

Mitali approvingly nodded her head and closed the door. She waited for some minutes until she was sure that the officer had went away.

“All is safe girl, the officer is gone”, she announced to pacify her friend on the dinner table.

“I could have wrung his neck. This man has no idea of the role he is playing in reality”, said Meenu.

The words again reminded Mitali of the T.V. report. It presented her friend’s achievements in many sorts grim and rude words in order to put her into the criminal category. She remembered herself worrying for this activist who had once improved many lives by a number of successful campaigns but had now landed inside her house. She again began consoling the sad soul and was successful after two hours of doing so.

Realizing the dangers her friend faced of being caught, Mitali insisted Meenu to stay in her house for at least that night, who could finally be persuaded after some emotionally blackmailing attempts.

Mitali agreed to sleep in the living room, since her bedroom was peculiarly small, while Meenu occupied the bedroom. A fear came over Mitali, and this feeling did not allow her to sleep until around 5:30 A.M.

Mitali woke up at 9:00 A.M. to hear the doorbell ring again. Responding to the ringing sound, she found the same officer as that of night in front of her, the difference being that the feminine eye now reported his strengthened suspicions. There could be no way the woman could avoid the searching of her house as he and his female juniors forced themselves in.

They first scrutinized the living room, followed by the washroom and then the dining room, till the last room to be searched was the bedroom, something that strengthened the fear of the owner of the house. One of the juniors of the officer went into this room and came out to announce, “I find nothing, sir”.

The officer, realizing his mistake, apologized Mitali and returned with his juniors when the apology was accepted.

Some hours later, a Whats App text appeared in the notification panel of her phone. It was from Meenu, who wrote-:

Hey Mitali, sorry for not in staying for too long. I had been away when you were in sleep. I was sorry for your life to be in a similar danger as mine. I was sorry for having put your life in danger, remember?

Mitali read this curt message of farewell, before she found enough words to curse herself for not recognizing her friend’s acting ability on time.