told my mother why i leap to open the door each time he comes whenever keyah enquired about him in the last 15 days she was told her father was in durgapur when rabin da finally broke the news i had to collect myself and rush to his parents aid he wanted to be as much at ease with household chores as with his office work on reaching the door i quickly unlocked it reena boudi held my hand tight as i turned to step into our house i could again sense a lump rising up my throat just then keyah came out of the house and i had to control myself as i collected my thoughts i could hear keyah call out to himbaba baba baba he wanted me to open the door for him when he came to my house for a good part of these 15 days even i believed this he wanted me to just take an auto and come home while he experiments with some dish for me to feast on i quickly paid the auto driver helped keyah climb down the auto rickshaw and walked towards the gate with a single hand bag that i had packed in haste before leaving my eyes were brimming with joy on seeing him just as i was about to run into his arms i felt a gentle tap on my shoulder and he vanished but this time he won he thought it was an absurd demand to want to see him the minute i reached durgapur should i also behave like that today and he turned his chair to look at me maa baba kothay neha pandey deoras today mousumi ran into the house to tell her that he is out of town and would take time to come back i could sense a lump rising up my throat i stood right behind her so that he could see me i avoided looking at reena boudi sisterinlaw in bengali mousumi our house and our little garden that day she was told that he was so deep in sleep that he had to be picked up by her kakas and mamas to be taken to his office i turned around wondering when did he go behind me and saw reena boudi and mousumi didnt he have the same condition for me when he used to come to see me in kolkata before we got married it irritated me to no end