Accident (English Translation)

Written in Bengali language by Debarati Mondal: একসিডেন্ট

Sunday, I feel very happy to hear about this day. Speaking of holidays, it’s not that there is no work, but not too much. But today I have done a lot of work like shopping, tidying the house, giving time to my son, etc. Actually, I am so busy with office work that I don’t have time. Of course, I could not do these things before but over time, I had to adjust. Sometimes it feels good to remember old things but my heart trembles with fear. Those days will never be forgotten.

Let’s start from the beginning. That day there was Saraswati Pooja celebration in the college. Jayant had adapted the yellow Punjabi suit quite well. I, of course, was in a white saree. That day we talked for the first time and we fell in love. That time I must be about 22 and Jayant must be near 24. From the first day, a good relationship developed between us and I could not think of falling behind. Whereas, after listening to Jayant at home, my parents did not agree. Jayant’s father was a police officer and apart from this, there was no identity of his own. Our marriage must have been without the consent of our parents. At that time, Jayant had not got any job and no parent would permit to marry an unemployed boy. I married Jayant out of love and after that, I started working to take care of my family.

I feel that everything was fine until the wedding. It seemed like I was the queen of the royal palace and Jayant could not live without me, but does anyone know that fortune is not so good? After a few months, Jayant got a job in a small company and from then on, I was tortured. Attacks were horrific on me. Sometimes, problems were related to food and sometimes, my job. I told my mother about all the incidents. My mother explained to me how to adapt and she suggested that when I had a child, everything would be fine. Then my son was born and then a lot of problems really went away. I got my old Jayant back, but a few months later the drama began again. From abuse and being beaten up regularly, then being hit with a belt, to the threat of killing my son.

In this way, three years pass. And, the day arrives…

After having tea like every morning, Jayant was getting ready for the office. Suddenly I heard a loud noise.

“What happened!”

I chased the noise and saw Jayant lying on the ground with blisters all over his body. He was throbbing in pain and immediately was taken to the hospital. But he couldn’t survive.

Police said it was an accident. The geyser exploded and because of it, Jayant died. If it had not appeared as an accident, I would have been caught. I had turned on the geyser switch at midnight. I knew that no one but Jayant would go. It is possible that maybe after turning on the switch, I forgot to see if it was on or not. So this was an accident. Of course, I would have survived even if I had been caught. It was very hard for me to see him burning but my irritation seems to be gone forever.

Now, I am quite happy with my son. I’m working, I am living my life independently. I knew Jayant would never give me a divorce and going to the police means exasperate Jayant more, which makes no sense. So, I had to be selfish to save myself. And to speak of him, I understood that Jayant was jealous of me because I earned more than him. This was the only solution to this problem, so I didn’t want to waste any more time on it.

The End

This is an English translation by Diya Deb. Read her review here : Accident - Review

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Cover art courtesy : Diyali Bhalla