The Sunday Carrom

Tutun was reading the newspaper. It was more of flipping through the pages than reading though. He had just woken up. His hair was unkempt and his eyes still had the sleep dust. It was quite late though. A steaming cup of tea is kept on the coffee table in front of the sofa he was sitting on. Simply dressed. A simple grey T shirt with a round neck jacket and a thick trouser..The winter is giving way to the Spring. But the morning is still cold. The house help is working in the kitchen. Had she not rung the calling bell, Tutun would have slept more. The bell worked like the alarm clock today. Today was a sunday!

It's been a month or so - Tutun has come to Delhi. He got a transfer from Mumbai. The private firm, he's been employed with for 3 years, keeps him traveling. Delhi posting is his 2nd transfer. First one was from Kolkata to Mumbai. After graduation from a reputed Kolkata college, he got this job. It was not a bad one though. He loves to travel and this one has been a good opportunity.

Someone rang the calling bell. The house help couldn't hear it. Tutun got up. It's a 1 BHK flat in south-east Delhi neighborhood. He was thinking who could be coming over now. He opened the door and to his surprise it was Akshay! His colleague from office.

" Areh what a pleasant surprise! Akshay! Come on in! How did you know my address?! "

- " Areh Dost! Cool place man! But what the hell - I've been calling you so many times! Where is your mobile phone?!" - Akshay said while coming inside the house and plonking himself down on the sofa. He did not wait for Tutun to escort him to the seating area.

- " Oh ho! Sorry dude! I have kept my phone in silence since last night! Didnt want any disturbance!" Tutun, aka Tanmay, said in a low voice and sat back beside Akshay facing him.

- " i hope I'm not disturbing you! Thought of just dropping by. Today is sunday. You said that day that you'd taken a flat in Sukhdev Vihar. And I stay in Sarita Vihar - nearby. Exact address I took from our HR system when I didnt get your response on the phone! Just wanted to take a chance. Otherwise I would have had a Pao Bhaji in a nearby dhaba! We must try by the way! " Akshay - said almost in one breadth!

- " Oh good! Fantastic!" Tutun flashed in a big grin. " I was also thinking what to do alone this Sunday! Didnt want to get hooked onto Netflix today again. Last Sunday did watch 3 series back to back! "

- " I see! Lets do something today. Office will be less hectic this coming week. So lets just chill! Will get some beer too! " Akshay made himself further at home on the sofa stretching his legs on the coffee table.

Tutun took a look and thought something for a moment - " what about a carrom board? you can play carrom right? I just bought a board few days back "

- "Awesome! I love playing too! Bring it in here! Will have a marathon!" Akshay sounded excited!

- " cool! Care for a cup of tea?" Tutun was getting up to get the board

- " perfect!"

- "Lakshmi di - 2 cups tea! Quick! " Tutun called out to the house help - Lakshmi.

- Lakshmi yelled back from the kitchen " but dada - Have you finished the first cup? I think it's still on the table lying untouched!"

- "Oops! True! " Tutun got a bit uncomfortable. Lakshmi can see everything without casting her eyes! Alright. No problem. I will have it then!"

Tutun and Akshay laid out the the board on the coffee table itself. They started setting up the board arranging the wooden coins with a generous sprinkling of the boric acid powder across the board. In the mean time, the tea tray was served by the house help Lakshmi. Thoughtfully she served some mixture and cookies as well. Tutun noticed it and gave an appreciating smile to her. Akshay wanted to start by aiming the striker. As he shot the striker it went straight to the coins - the carrommen, the doorbell rang again!

While Akshay started counting how many white coins got pocketed, Lakshmi opened the door. A female voice drifted in from the door: " is sir inside?" the visitor was not visible to the men busy playing inside. But she peeped inside from the half open door.

- " Tutun Dada - some maam has come to see you" Lakshmi called out standing near the door.

- " plz come in", Tutun called out to the visitor without being able to see her. His focus is now on the red coin which seems to be within his reach now and he cant wait to pocket it!

- " Hi Tutun! How are you?" the female visitor calls out while taking a step inside appearing in full visibility in the hall room.

- Tutun got surprised at this and cast his eyes to the visitor immediately as if he couldnt believe his ears! Who knows his pet name here! "Tutun"!

- " What a pleasant surprise! It's you, Nandita!?? How come you are here!? " tutun is taken aback completely! His college friend and batch mate from Kolkata, Nandita is here! He got up from the sofa - still in surprised look!

- " bhai - 2 whites pocketed! " Akshay all of a sudden exclaimed in joy and looked up from the board.

- " you recognized me right Tutun?" Nandita chuckled and said in a mysterious voice staring at Tutun.

- " Ofcourse Nandita! It's been ages! " Tutun exclaimed too while trying to hide and suppress his emotional outburst standing in the same position.

- " didi - come come... Sit..dada - make her sit na..and then talk! " Lakshmi interjected and went back to the kitchen.

- " Oh right! Why both of you are standing?!. " Akshay said while pushed himself aside to make way for the visitor.

- " double surprise today! How come you know where I stay? And you're in Delhi? Since when?" Tutun sounded as if he is still in disbelief!

- " You forgot our chat in Facebook messenger? Two or three weeks back only! You only said where you stay! " Nandita said smiling while making herself comfortable on one side of the sofa. She's in yellow colored salwar suit with a maroon color woolen jacket. Her earring with a dark red color stone in a silvery designed case glittered in the morning sun light. Glossy lipstick of the same color gave a pleasant contrast to her fair complexion.

- " is it!? May be! But I couldnt imagine you'd be in Delhi. I said casually where I stay in Delhi thinking how it matters to a person far away seemingly no chance of chancing upon here in Delhi! But how did you come to know my address?! " Tutun still spurted out his surprise.

- "I told her!" the voice came like a thunder from Akshay. He was looking at the carrom board while aiming at his carrommen and about to flick his fingers at the striker. It was his chance again as he pocketed two white coins.

Tutun turned his face ninety degree at Akshay from Nandita. He looked bewildered. His face became like his hair - unkempt needing a comb badly! " what do you mean?! " he could barely utter.

By this time Akshay shot the striker in his turn. All the coins on the board made a more chaotic arrangement. No coin got pocketed this time.

- " You know each other or what?!" Tutun asked both sounding desperate to get a breather from the back to back surprise!

- " you will get to know soon dear! mausi - one more tea for me!" Nandita called out to ensure the sound of the ending sentence reach out to the kitchen.

- " We're engaged! We're going to get married soon!" Akshay looked up and said with a chuckle.

Tutun lowered down his face. He looked at the board once. All the coins are in complete mess. The queen, which was in his proximity before this turn, was now in clear shot range of Akshay! He felt a sudden hiccup in his chest. He was in outburst of joy seeing Nandita. Now he did not understand why suddenly his senses started giving a confused sensations to his brain.

- " Oh really! How!?" Tutun was in loss of words. He couldn't understand what was happening. All looked mysterious all of a sudden. Dreamlike. Or nightmarish to be apt! He was getting surprises back to back from the morning. He had guests in his house. One was colleague and one was friend from his college days. Both of them were supposedly unrelated to each other. All of a sudden they paid visit to his house navigating to his address. And now one was claiming that they were related or going to be related through marital ties! This mystery-full of surprise got intensified with a pinch of heartburn as Nandita was his college crush! How he could forget Nandita! She was the only woman who he had desired since his manhood built his emotions. How could he forget the trauma he underwent after Nandita declined his proposal he made in an empty classroom of their college! Heartbroken, he went back home walking 10 kms in a complete daze!

- " arranged marriage bro! Our parents got the connections through some network! We chatted then to know each other! You see! " Akshay told as if he is peeling off an onion staring at Tutun.

- " Oh congrats! Awesome news bhai! " now Tutun looked up, shaken up from his reverie and cast his eyes on Nandita who was sitting quietly at the corner of the sofa with her eyes set on the carrom board. A smile on her lips was still visible but it was impossible to decipher the meaning of that smile!

- " Yes we chatted and discovered that you are our common friend! Isn't it incredible! It's such a small world, you see Tutun!"

- " Tutun - what a funny name Tanmay! " Akshay burst into a hearty laugh now! " Hey, by the way - It's your turn to strike Tutun-ji!" Akshay adds to the drama and tried to make light of the things!

- " So it was a plan to come to my flat and give a surprise to me?!" Tutun asked looking at both sitting side by side. Akshay and Nandita looked at each other. Lakshmi came and served the 3rd cup of tea for Nandita. Nandita smiled back to her and said " thanks Mausi!"

- " In a way yes" Akshay had a chuckle again. While Nandita is sitting little quiet. Akshay continued: " we wanted to pay a visit to you and have some fun of dramatic situations! So I think we're successful! Anyways - I'm full game for the carrom, ok? This game of Carrom is unplanned in this drama by the way!"

- " My parents liked Akshay's profile." Nandita broke into the conversation without looking up and continued: " They asked me to chat with him. I figured out that you both work in the same company. I asked Akshay whether he knew you or not and got to know you were good friends, not just colleagues! Since then we had been planning to have this get together! "

- " Oh good! Congratulations to both of you! I'm honored that you both considered me as your good common friend to chalk out this plan." Tutun tried to put up a smile on his face.

There was a silence in the hall room for a few seconds. Lakshmi in the kitchen must have started cooking. Noises like clanking utensils tried to break the silence which was little discomforting for all. Tutun sank in little with the silence. He picked up the striker and looked at the board as if he was working out the strategy to strike now in his turn. The coins were in complete mess. The queen was clearly in a maize of the carrom-men of both the colours. Nandita was checking her mobile phone. She got up and said " let me help the mausi with the cooking. you guys continue with the board." As she went towards the kitchen, Akshay said in his characteristic chuckle: " play carefully bro! do you think you can get the queen? do you have the cover for her positioned well? " and then started laughing in a metallic way.

Tutun struck with his striker. one black coin got pocketed. " Oh good my boy! not bad!" Akshay exclaimed. Tutun continued with his follow up strike and pocketed another two black coins. Akshay seemed little nervous now. Tutun knows this face. He had observed Akshay this way in last month's sales review meeting in their office conference. The Regional Sales head was taking monthly sales review. Akshay was standing quiet with a nervous and serious face like today as their boss was sparing no word to criticise Akshay's dismal sales performance the previous month. Tutun clearly remembers what happened next. Mr. Agniprabha, their boss, in his mid forty carrying a protruding beer belly, made an announcement in the room which sounded like a submarine shooting a torpedo in a deep blue sea: " Akshay - give your Delhi accounts to Tanmay. You rather focus on UP accounts. Tanya might know how to handle metro city accounts better than you!" Akshay had looked up once and glanced at Tutun, aka, Tanmay - the new sales executive transferred from Mumbai.

It was now Akshay's turn. He was aiming the striker for quite some time.

- " Nice house Tutun!" Nandita said while sitting back on the sofa. " you still have the creative bent of mind. I assume you did all the home decorations!"

- Tutun looked up at Nandita taking his eyes off the carrom board. "Thanks". He said with a faint smile draped on his lips. " You also did not change much!" Nandita blushed at this remark. She lowered down her face...started fidgeting with her earring..looked away from Tutun's and looked out of the window. The morning sunlight gleamed her face like a dew drop on a tip of a grass. Her lips with glossy balm kept glittering as if they want to say something. But the eyes were away somewhere.

- "yes! two white coins!" Akshay jumped off the sofa almost as the pocketing sound on the wooden board struck them like a commercial break! In full excitement, Akshay got up.

- "Who's winning?" Nandita asked them both casually.

- "Who do you think?" Akshay blurted out looking at Nandita from the corner of his eyes. Nandita did not understand what to say. But Akshay went on saying creating an eerie ambience of a thriller! " whoever wins the queen wins the game!" He said as if he was thinking aloud and now darted his look pointing at Tutun: " Isn't it right Tutun-ji!" and burst into a laughter which irritated Tutun. "Right absolutely ..that's the rule of the game!" he tried to sound natural and sporting. Nandita went towards the kitchen saying " Lunch would be ready in half an hour. By that time finish the game!"

Akshay and Tutun continued playing for another 15-20 minutes. Both of them have been playing seriously. Sudden cheer and jeer from Akshay was anyway coming from time to time. The sound of cooking from the kitchen blended well with this. Tutun could find it all musical as concentrating on the board he went into a trance. All of a sudden, a shrilling whistle sound came from the pressure cooker of the kitchen. Tutun's trance like reverie broke into pieces.. as if he just woke up. The battleground - the board - is now at a stage where the most dramatic and climactic movies end usually. There are two white and black coins and the red queen on the board. Red queen can be pocketed with a cover of the own carrom men - black for Tutun and white for Akshay. And the more horrific part is the red queen and the white coin are well within the range of Akshay. Tutun did not understand how and when he got so much engrossed into this game of carrom. Why he was feeling nervous and anxious - he could not figure out. It started out as a friendly casual game between two friends and colleagues. Why then it suddenly took a turn like this. Tutun could clearly feel his throats going dry, guts running chocked. When, their boss Agniprabha announced to hand over the accounts to Tutun taking away from Akshay, Tutun felt the same. He was sitting quietly in the conference room. On the other side of the table, Akshay was sitting blank. They were supposed to start the "Knowledge Transfer" and account transfer activities. Delhi accounts were the most contributing accounts to the north region of the company. Whoever handles them, might have a clear success story to climb up the corporate ladder faster. Akshay could see his future crumbling down. Tutun could feel what an unfortunate win-lose game he was getting into.

But today that red queen on the carrom board looked a lot more like Nandita. Tutun was bewildered with the news of their engagement. It was incredibly sounding like a conspiring coincidence. For a moment, Tutun thought, Akshay is taking revenge. The professional and personal sphere is blending together like a deadly cocktail. Tutun could never forget Nandita even if she declined his proposal in college. He doesn't nurture any sour feeling but somehow kept Nandita as an iconic doll in his heart's case. But, this turn of events brought back the desire again in Tutun's heart. He felt competitive with Akshay fiercely. He wanted to snatch the queen badly and defeat Akshay in an act of primitive avenge.

- " I know your and Nandita's story!" Akshay said in a very low baritone voice. He was holding the striker still looking at the board. A shockwave went down Tutun's spine. He looked up at Akshay. Akshay looked calm and composed. He went on saying in the same voice: " Nandita shared with me. She did not hide. Now you see, we're engaged. We will be married soon. But Nandita wanted to meet you once. I agreed. I did not ask her why and did not try to stop her. I wanted to see her in front of you. I also wanted to see you in front of her. " While saying this, Akshay started aiming his striker at the queen which was in close proximity to the striker. Tutun was sitting speechless. Like they were sitting in that conference room after everyone else left in the office.

Akshay made the strike. The red queen went into a pocket at ease. Tutun closed his eyes. Akshay was preparing to take a shot at his white coin to cover. Tutun, in his closed eyes, could see a black chamber with perforated wall all sides. Sun lights coming through the holes on the walls. He was confused, whether he should plug the holes to stop the sun lights or make more holes to let in more sun lights! He could remember, he had gone onto meeting the Delhi accounts of their office. He learnt that all customer accounts were very happy with Akshay. He made quite an effort to retain and grow the accounts. There was some fundamental flaw in the service level for which sales were not growing in Delhi for last 5-6 months. Tutun made a report of his findings and submitted to their boss Agniprabha in an email, where he suggested Akshay's re-appointment in the best interest of the organisation. Tutun did not reveal that to Akshay. He left it to Agniprabha to decide further.

Tutun thought once, whether he should tell this to Akshay. If he thinks otherwise and turns little soft towards Tutun.

" Oho! bad luck!" Akshay said in a rough disappointed tone as he failed to pocket the remaining white coin to cover the red queen. Tutun opened his eyes and took a quick look at the board. His chain of thought broke out into a ray of hope now. Akshay took out the red queen from the pocket and put it back in the centre. The black coin is within the range for Tutun. This is the chance! Tutun seems to have gotten back all the hopes of his life. How and why, he can't explain to anyone.

- "It's all yours dada!" Akshay chuckled now and said in an amused tone. Tutun was on razor-sharp focus to pocket the red queen. He made the strike. The queen got pocketed in a bullet shot. The black coin was lying near one pocket to his side. It took no time to pocket it too. Tutun heaved a sigh of relief! he finally won this game of carrom - seemingly a battle apparently for no reason!

- " Good bro! queen was always yours dada!" Akshay made a taunting comment while putting his signature chuckle on. he went on in a mysterious tone: " I knew I wouldn't be able to cover her! You missed out on her earlier, but she was always yours! I'm not that stupid dada! I can see all!" Akshay competed his speech looking straight into Tutun's eyes.

- "Guys! lunch is ready! Tutun - I have made your favourite dish! you remember you always used to get for lunch in college?" Nandita stormed into the hall room carrying some plates in her hands.

- "Oh great! Tutun-ji! will celebrate now!" Akshay got up too from the Sofa and made some gestures in the air as if trying to dance to some popular Bollywood number.

Tutun was still in some trance. He realised he won the game of carrom. Akshay and Nandita excitedly were discussing the lunch menu. Tutun thought he would join them too and thank Nandita for preparing his favourite dish today. He got a WhatsApp message on his phone. His boss Agniprabha's message. He got curious to open. Message from him on Sundays are not that unusual though. Tutun went on reading: " regarding your email last week, I gave it a thought to your market findings. Quite interesting observation. I discussed with Akshay yesterday. Let him only continue handling the Delhi accounts. Will discuss your accounts tomorrow! enjoy the Sunday!"

- Tutun now smiled. he looked at the carrom board - one white coin was lying on the board sheepishly. He looked at his guests for today - Akshay and Nandita! They're still discussing excitedly something related to food at the dining table. Their voices seemed to be now spiralling into a groovy foot-tapping track playing at the background. It suddenly felt that, both of them took a look at him for a while. Tutun was slowly slipping into a trance again. He felt awakened all of a sudden when Lakshmi came to him and said in a low voice: " dada-babu, I will have this job right? if didmoni comes and keeps making your favourite dish?" Tutun looks up at her - she was all smiles!

( The End)