CHINGARI NAAM – A GIRL IN HURRY

CHINGARI NAAM – A GIRL IN HURRY The plot is very sketchy. Give a convincing reason why the grand daughter and grandmother conspired to kill PC. You have to hint at some plot right through the story. Why would the duo be willing to sacrifice the life of the granddaughter…not convincing enough/ Present Day The who is who and glitterati of the City of Joy were packed like sardines in the High Court of Calcutta. It was the day of denouement, the judgement day and the assemblage waited expectantly for the pronouncement of the verdict. The courtroom was packed with prominent film stars, directors, music directors, singers, models, industrialist’s, journos among others. Many of them could feel palpable tension and were sweating profusely in the sweltering heat. Their palms were sweating and waited for the judgement with anticipation. On trial was the sensational case involving the murder of a heavy weight of Bengal politics Pratham Chatterjee, a powerful minister in the government by the reigning buxom superstar of Tollywood, Arpita Mukherjee. Rumour mills churned stories about the alleged amorous relationship between the two. If that was so, what prompted the starlet who had the world at her feet to resort to take such a drastic step, wondered people of various hues be it politicians, people, fans and the ever-prying media who always unearthed such stories to increase their TRP’s. “What was the trigger for the sensational star to commit a crime so heinous or something which was not in public domain?” Dipankar Mukherjee the inconsolable father of the star to ponder. The trouper was charged for committing the grievous crime of murdering Pratham Chatterjee, an important Minister of West Bengal government who held several portfolios which included Information and Broadcasting, Culture besides holding key to the finances of the ruling party. Pratham was an influential character who had unholy nexus with the underworld, gangsters, top business tycoons and politicians across party lines. Partymen, the Chief Minister, general populace, cultural bigwigs of various fields were all petrified and disgusted of quantum of the power he wielded. “What could be the possible reason for this heinous act? After all she shared the spoils of profit and was cul-de-sac of the Minister. This was indeed intriguing? “Was the refrain of general populace. Many opined that there were more individuals involved in the matricide and Arpita Mukherjee was merely a cover. Rumours floated that the law-and-order agencies botched up the investigation under the domination of some powerful people. Meanwhile Justice Bimal Roy was adjudicating the case. For the past few months now as the trial was taking place the vernacular and English electronic and print media made a killing as it was splashed with every salacious detail about an alleged affair between the Minister and Arpita and other aspects about a murder so gruesome. This had provided enough cannon fodder to the opposition which demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister and the government. “If the Chief Minister cannot protect the life of his Minister, who apparently was having an affair with the actress, he has no business to continue in power. We have been demanding the resignation of the CM and the dismissal of this immoral and depraved government,” was the clarion call of the Leader of Opposition Tapan Bose. “How can this government provide security to ordinary citizens if it is unable to safeguard an influential and a puissant Cabinet Minister,” added the leader of opposition. Tapan Bose was once close to Pratham, but the latter worsted him in the state assembly elections and thereafter the Leader of Opposition nursed grievance against the authoritative Minister and was compelled to enter the State Assembly from New Jalpaiguri, his new constituency. In the court of Justice Bimal Roy The weather was sultry after an unseasonal rain and the Hooghly was tumultuous. As Justice Bimal Roy entered the chamber it appeared as if the entire state of West Bengal had come to a standstill, commuters on Howrah Bridge stopped and gasped and it almost appeared as if all the rivers including Hooghly paused to hear the verdict. “Under the provisions of IPC 302, 303 and 304, this court finds Arpita Mukherjee guilty of murdering Pratham Chatterjee and sentences her to life sentence. The detailed judgement would follow shortly,” Justice Roy cleared his throat and spoke impassively. There was a collective groan and a sigh in the court room. Sometime back A tall and swarthy appearing Professor Dipankar Mukherjee was a quintessential Bengali who lived in the bijou and the agrarian district of Malda. The erudite Babu Moshai was well respected for his knowledge and simplicity. Malda is a district in West Bengal, India which lies 347 km north of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal which is famous for mango, jute, and silk products. Professor Mukherjee had lately begun walking with a pronounced stoop perhaps weighed down by the unbridled and vaulting ambitions of his free-spirited daughter. Something similar had happened with his wife and he mused, “Well it is the same set of genes and DNA.” It was a sense of déjà vu as he recalled the immortal words of the novelist/philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” “This is indeed a double whammy. A few years back my wife forayed into the world of cinema and died under mysterious circumstances and now my daughter committed this butchery,” he thought aloud. “Was there any connection between these tragic events?”, thought polymath was to ponder and recalled the sanguine advice of his mother that “Tollywood “was not the place for them to be in. His daughter was recklessly ambitious and determined to carve a niche for herself in the map of life. There were some unfulfilled desires of her mother which she was determined to accomplish besides painful memories which lingered in the alcove of the mind of the curvaceous daughter which haunted her no end. Aditi Mukherjee, her grandmother, while staunchly opposed her daughter-in-law and granddaughter making forays into the razzmatazz of the tinsel world was deeply concerned about her son and the reputation of the Mukherjee family and thus gave a patient hearing to her granddaughter whenever Arpita broke open the closet. The septuagenarian woman loathed the film industry and its shenanigans, yet was ready to counsel Arpita to safeguard family honour. “Grandma ঠাকুরমা Ṭhākuramā is like a coconut,” Aditi Mukherjee always thought so. The Professor taught English literature at the Department of English, Malda College and was particularly fond of Fazli mango, Jhinga fish, the English language, and virtues of patience. As a duck takes to water, he was brim-full of patience but not his wife and daughter, who were desirous of showcasing their talent to the world. His only asset in life was the alluring daughter Arpita who had now blossomed into a buxom young lady. She was the cynosure of Malda College which was established in the year 1944 and where she was pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in History. But today she turned into a liability. The young lass was a girl in a tearing hurry to scorch the ramps of fashion shows and act in Tollywood. Dipankar was a widower today, living quite despondently with two souls, that is his mother and daughter Arpita. His wife Amodita once enlivened the Mukherjee household and the colony with her mellifluous renditions at Malda College where she conducted classes of Rabindra Sangeet. The winsome woman blessed with a euphonious voice had unfortunately succumbed to pericardial heart disease which shattered the family no end, in particular the father and daughter. There was a time when Amodita Mukherjee was a regular performer during Durga Puja and shortly began performing for All India Radio and Doordarshan, Kolkata which was not quite approved by her mother-in-law. It was a quirk of fate that Tapan Bose who taught history in Malda College apart from being an emerging politician from Malda and a friend of the Mukherjee family goaded Amodita to take the plunge. Tapan always had a secret crush on Amodita from their Shantiniketan days where he studied along with Amodita and Dipankar which he could never express to the alluring lady something which the pulchritudinous woman was always aware. Meanwhile Tapan had a competitor in Pratham Chatterjee a prominent politician of the ruling front who also hailed from Malda who assured Amodita a passport to sing at All India Radio, Doordarshan Kolkata and in times to come in Tollywood. Pratham was then OSD to the Chief Minister and thus wielded considerable influence in Tollywood. The Chief Minister held several portfolios which included Cultural Affairs; and Partha assisted the Chief Minister and was thereby able to manipulate the industry and was suitably compensated. The earnings were split between the Chief Minister, Pratham and the coffers of the party to keep the cadres happy. Her talent was soon noticed and was approached by the tinsel world of Tollywood to become a play back singer. “Mere talent does not provide a passage to the tinsel world. Amodita came under the bright lights, due to nudge by a leading politician of the ruling party,” was the refrain of Tapan Bose. Amidst all these developments, Dipankar Mukherjee maintained stoic silence much to the indignation of his mother. Much to the consternation of his mother Aditi Mukherjee, Dipankar remained a silent spectator that his wife began to sing for Tollywood movies. Not only was Amodita a remarkable singer, she was as a picture and the prepossessing woman was soon to play lead roles in movies. While Malda toasted on the heady success of gorgeous Amodita, Dipankar’s mother roasted her son. The lady spent considerable time of her day slandering and spreading canards about influential people from Malda who were instrumental in her daughter-in-law joining the silver screen. “Mind you Dipu, Amodita will soon go astray. This film world is a dirty business and will only bring infamy to our pious family. Your father would have been extremely distressed with this buildout,” the lady of the house was to tell Dipankar who was slowly rising through the rungs of the English Department. Years ago, the dusky Amodita and muscular Dipankar blessed with a baritone voice were to meet at Shantineketan and fell in love. Dipankar was a high brow Bengali a Brahmin by caste while his wife belonged to the lower rung in the social ladder, being from the reserved community and was a Bhuyia. Tapan Bose also a fellow student could never express his affection to the alluring Amodita and merely wrung his hands in despair. In the liberated society of Bengal caste was not a barrier in solemnisation of the marriage between Dipankar and Amodita. Dipankar’s parents had their moorings in Brahmo Samaj and were also staunch followers of Ramakrishna Parama Hamsa and Swami Vivekananda and were thus evolved in their thought process Dipankar and his mother Aditi brought up Arpita after the tragic passing away of Amodita and she was a girl in a tearing hurry who was determined to find her place under the sun and being patient was not sone of her virtues. The loss of her mother had deeply impacted the young girl and felt a part of her body and soul was snatched away and was determined to accomplish which her mother could not fulfil. And she shared her vaulting ambitions with her grandmother, who was taken aback. “ Thakurma , I realise you were not happy with my mother’s foray in the tinsel world. But she left a void, which needs to be plugged. You need to support my decision,” Arpita was to confide in her grandmother. Silence enveloped the Mukherjee household as the grandmother and granddaughter held hands and were involved in a major tete-e-tete. As Dipankar was left languishing in a silo of quietude after losing his wife, Arpita crash-dived into the showbiz industry. But he was miffed and surprised with his mother who did not question the decision of his daughter though she was certainly displeased when his wife had done so. Arpita was determined not to spend her life in the company of the teachings of Niccolò Machiavelli, Harold Joseph Laski, Quincy Wright. Rudolf Kjellén, Karl Marx, Kautilya, Confucious and Sun Tzu but to migrate to Kolkata and try her fortune in Tollywood. The feisty girl was now singled out by Pratham Chatterjee. Once it was her mother Amodita who fell for the shenanigans of the wily politician. And now it was Arpita who was enslaved with her burgeoning ambitions to reach the zenith which her mother could not. “A few years ago, it was her mother who fell for the charms of Tollywood and now it was the daughter,” mused Tapan Bose with concern. Arpita was ambitious, bold, and beautiful and a girl in a tearing hurry. She auditioned for roles in Oriya and Bengali movies. And quite mysteriously Pratham Chatterjee played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of both mother and daughter. “What was the connection and contact?” Professor Dipankar Mukherjee was to ponder. The arresting Arpita soon developed a close relationship with Pratham Chatterjee as some years ago it was her mother. Under a new Chief Minister, Pratham rose through the labyrinth of political circle and commanded more fear than respect among various circles and directed film producers and fashion industry honchos to provide her with breaks. This is how Arpita Mukherjee became a close confidante of the Minister Pratham Chatterjee and became the glam doll of Tollywood. Mukherjee had shown keen interest in modelling and film world. Though she received a few offers, including films in Oriya, Mukherjee was not impressed. People close to her opined that she only harboured dreams of becoming the lead heroine in a big-budget caper. And Pratham Chatterjee provided the necessary support and scaffolding for her to achieve her dreams. Soon through the intervention of Pratham Chatterjee, Arpita got a break in the tinsel world as the heroine in a film called ‘Chingari Nam’ helmed by a prominent director. The movie was financed by some unsavoury characters but became a cash cow and the money was now split by the Chief Minister, Pratham Chatterjee and Arpita. This did not go down too well with party cadres who were deprived of precious mana. Some of the cadres were to spread risqué details on the purported affair between Arpita and the Minister which was pounced upon by the ravenous media and public alike. Speaking to a prominent news channel about Arpita Mukherjee, the producer Sandeep Saha mentioned that she was “very bold, beautiful and ambitious". “We auditioned her twice during which it was informed by certain powers that she had come here to become a heroine and nothing else. Arpita was exceedingly good-looking but not someone with extraordinary expressions or great talent, quite unlike her mother Amodita. Yet we took her in our film, which was released in 2011, which gave her the identity of a star. She had become uppity and always flaunted her connections with the Minister Pratham Chatterjee to intimidate the film fraternity,” the producer was to tell the prying media soon after the murder of Pratham Chatterjee. Saha stressed that once Mukherjee achieved some fame, she was no longer interested in keeping in touch with him. The producer also mentioned that Mukherjee was miffed with him since her debut film was also pegged as a former starlet’s comeback movie. An angry Mukherjee skipped the film’s premiere and so did the Minister of Culture. “In fact, we were to receive a severe tongue lashing by the Minister and had to cough up huge profits of the film to the star and the Minister. We complained to the Chief Minister who was quite upset about the turn of events,” the producer gave a few bytes to the starved media which was sensationalizing the case. “We were stupefied. The moment she realised a few people had started recognising her, she stopped keeping in touch. I saw her with Partha da [Pratham Chatterjee] some days later. We were also shocked about the recoveries from her houses. She was just a buxom and sensuous girl with ordinary talent but with vaulting ambitions. And was certainly no match to her highly talented mother Amodita,” yet another producer narrated his plight to the media. People close to Mukherjee say that since 2013, when she started hobnobbing with Chatterjee, she cut all ties with those who were a part of the initial days of her career. A director Shangamitra Sen, who joined a rival political party, also recalled a simpler Mukherjee. “She worked in three films of mine. At that time, she was very simple; she drove her mother’s rickety Maruti. Later when successful she bought swanky vehicles.” “We used to have a gala time while shooting on the sets. After 2013, I joined a rival political party and she stopped keeping in touch. Subsequently I saw her on a Udayan Pujo hoarding. I was happy for her that she was doing well. After what has happened the film fraternity is numbed. This goes to show how senior ministers use starlets like her and she also got used." “There were also rumours that her mother though a pious lady fell to the charms of the artful Minister. But do not quote me,” Sen added in a hushed tone. People in the industry opined that Arpita Mukherjee was a girl in tearing hurry to make it big which was reflected in her demeanour, behaviour and increased interactions in the political circles and presence at big parties. From owning the second-hand Maruti car that once belonged to her mother to driving around in an Audi and a Mercedes, Arpita surely made it big but the path she chose was one filled with doom and destruction was the feeling of Tapan Bose and her colleagues in the industry. Arpita was to own plenteous flats at Tollygunge, Bhawanipur, Park Street, Salt Lake and Jadavpur while her mentor Pratham Chaterjee resided at Raja Santosh Roy Road in Alipore. Pratham and Arpita indulged in their amorous activities at these hideouts, where there was no dearth of kinky sex, booze and succulent Bengali fare and money. Meanwhile as days transformed to months and months into years the power of Pratham increased manifold in politics and the unaccomplished actor in Arpita by displaying her assets became an oomph girl of Tollywood. The grandmother in Aditi Mukherjee was closely watching the moves of her granddaughter. She sprung a surprise on her son by making a couple of trips to Kolkata to meet her granddaughter much to the surprise of her son Dipankar. His jaws fell and non plussed. when his mother was keen to meet his daughter whom she chastised for joining the cineplex. And it was Tapan Bose the silent lover of Amodita Mukherjee who felicitated the travels of the septuagenarian woman. Grandmother and granddaughter were to spend some quality time in cloak of secrecy. She was certainly a girl in tearing hurry. The Chief Minister was certainly not happy with the developments as his Teflon image was getting tainted by the unsavoury acts of Pratham Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee. The media, intelligentsia, opposition, the film fraternity, his own party members and women groups were gunning for Arpita, Pratham and found the Chief Minister sitting as a mute spectator. He could just not challenge the power and clout of Pratham Chatterjee who held the keys to the coffers of the party, immense clout over party cadres and the several secrets of party men of which he was aware about and used it as a leverage to hold the Chief Minister to ransom. A morning There was an emergency cabinet meeting in the Writer’s Building as the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh were to meet on several bilateral issues in Kolkata. All the Ministers were present except Pratham Chatterjee. There were the usual murmurs in the government and the party cadres on the absence of Partha Chatterjee. “Oh, he would be on the Arpita’s lap,” a senior Minister was to say but he was soon silenced and berated by his colleagues. A little later in the day news filtered in but soon spread like wild fire that Pratham Chatterjee was killed and Arpita was taken in custody for the alleged crime. Present Day – Verdict – At Malda Dipankar Mukherjee was a shattered man once the verdict was pronounced by Justice Bimal Roy. Meanwhile the edifice of the ancestral house at Malda was slowly crumbling. Aditi Mukherjee the matriarch of the house was getting it repaired. “Thakurta , Minister Pratham Chatterjee has been killed and your granddaughter has apparently been taken into custody for the murder,” a worker was to say with trepidation. Aditi Mukherjee smiled, “The demon has been annihilated and the enemy has been vanquished. This year Durga Pujo would be celebrated with the usual gaiety and not with remorse. I am proud of my granddaughter,” the geriatric lay was to say. Dipankar slumped in one corner and was inconsolable while Aditi was supervising the cooking recalling the day when she and Arpita met the Chief Minister to seek justice and they were accompanied by Tapan Bose the leader of Opposition. Women of Bengal are warriors. They deliver justice,” he was to say stoically. Granddaughter and grandmother then hatched the plan to lace the drink of Pratham Chatterjee with noxious poison. Minister of Culture, Pratham Chatterjee was asphyxiated and perished. And there after Aditi knifed the naked man and derived immense pleasure in chopping off his private parts and danced over the body almost like Chandi. Years ago, she lost her daughter-in-law to pericardial heart disease purely because of the immense torture by the Minister. Aditi and Arpita had decided to avenge the death of Amodita. And the two women assumed the roles of Durga to vanquish the Rakshasa in Pratham Chatterjee. Their accomplice in this effort was Tapan Bose who had axe to grind. Amodita was his unrequited love and avenge his political defeat at the hands of his political nemesis in Pratham Chatterjee. His fusillade against the Chief Minister was merely a ruse which was cleverly planned by the CM and LOP. Eventually, one woman went to jail and the master mind decided to celebrate by eating Jhinga Maach and playing the recording of Mahisasur Mardini rendered by the mellifluous Amodita Mukherjee. The assemblage wept in unison and Aditi Mukherjee thought aloud, “Now daughter -in- law can rest in peace.” “And which girl was in a tearing hurry – Aditi, Amodita or Arpita, ?” rankled the CM , LOP and also Dipankar Mukherjee.