141

THE FINAL SOLUTION

-MANIK BANDDYOPADHYAY
Even a few days back, one could see the forlorn dispossessed people, spending their
And nights, huddled together like herds of cattle and goats in the shelter of a
Days
Railway platform. Mallika’s family had a place, the length of one spread mattress.
Everything, everyone was squeezed there-Mallika, her husband Bhushan, their two
And half-year-old son Khokon and a widowed sister-in-law Asha, tin suitcases,
Beddings and bundles, pots and pans.
Another day had begun Perhaps, the sun had no Option but to come up, chasing
Away night’s shadows or else why would the darkness give way to light in this cruel,
Ugly world? Today, Mallika’s family had nothing to eat, the child had been whimpering
Since early morning. He drowsed as the day advanced. He howled and dropped off
From time to time. Millika lifted her eyes to behold Pramatha of ‘Help and Welfare
Society,’ people helping the refugees, accompanied by Ramlochan descend on their
Mattress kingdom. Asha covered her head, pulling the sari close to her forehead.
Bhushah’s temperature had come down. Wrapped in folds of the kantha he was dozing.
He wasn’t bothered by Pramatha’s appearance. So many had come and gone-men
From societies, associations, newspaper offices. It had made no difference to their lives.
Mallhka and her family didn’t rely on the government, but they had placed some hope
On these men. They had continued to live one hell of a life in the station, knowing fully
Well they were about to be turned out of the place.
‘How’s the fever?’
‘It’s come down, but will come back again, with all the shivering, for sure’.
It was always Mallika who replied to Pramatha’s queries. In talk, dress and
The impression of a middle-aged pater familias, that was why
Demeanour Pramatha gave
They resented his solicitations. The man had done nothing for them although this was
The fourth time he had come to enquire after their well being and demonstrate his
Concern. Now they were on the point of starvation.
Mallika didn’t mince words when she bluntly said. ‘We are relying on you and
You are doing nothing for us!”
‘We are really at sea...how many people can we take care of? Now if you don’t
Shape up, don’t try to help yourselves then...
‘Shape up, did you say? Should we try to? If that is what is needed then I’m ready
To stand up straight and behave responsibly. Here I am throwing my hands about,
Dancing and screaming for attention. What more is left?’
Her words carried a sharp sting. But the agony of the hapless lot never find a
Voice, signs of anger of humiliation never show on their faces. Pramatha found this
Mode of the destitutes rather terrifying at first; it seemed to him as if they were turning
Their backs on him in contempt, saying, ‘Don’t talk down to us, flood us with platitudes.
Tell
Us
Instead what we have to do, tell us what is the way out.’
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Pramatha was a realist; he was unusually aware. His head reeled, his heart
Thumped unnecessarily, unreasonably when he tried to work things out.Blowing hot
And cold, he sought to calm Mallika down.
‘What can I say... you have come in waves, flooding the city. The government is
Unable to cope. How many people can we look after? It’s all God’s handiwork, like a
Deluge or an earthquake. It is God who makes poor, insignificant men like us do what he
Wants. Or else why should we get perturbed about the sufferings of women like
And come running to help?’
‘Why take the name of that disgraceful being?”
You
Pramatha kept his cool. Leaving aside the badinage he came to serious business.
‘Look, we have no control over the situation but we can find you a job if you wish.
You’ll earn enough.’
‘Why don’t you tind my husband a job? He can join work after taking a couple of
Days rest.’
Bhushanrised his blood-shot eyes and looked at them.
Pramatha made sounds of regret. ‘There are no jobs for men; everywhere men are
Out of work. But there are some jobs still available for women.’
Will you find something for my sister-in-law too? We can both work and earn.’
Pramatha felt happy to kill two birds with one stone. ‘I think I Could,’ he said.
Mallika glanced at her skeleton-like child. She spoke to Bhushan
Softly, drawing her sari over her head. ‘There’s no other way for us, is there? What do
You say?’
Bhushan didn’t utter a word, he sat opening and closing his fists.
‘Oh God, even this was in my fate!’ Mallika cried out.
Mallika had called out to God out of habit. There was nothing in her voice to
Indicate she was making a plea. It seemed she was dismissing him out of her mind,
Taking his nam for one last time.
‘Okay, I’ll do whatever you say. Dance naked if you ask me to. But you’ll find a
Room for us first, won’t you? An enclosed space and spot of milk for the child, otherwise
He’ll die.’
Pramatha calculated in his mind. Calmly he said, ‘You’ll get a room to Stay and
Some milk too. Tak this money as advance, it’ll cover the room rent and the price of
Milk. You better give a receipt for the money straightaway. I’ll take you to your room in
The afternoon.’ Smiling to himself, Pramatha lit a cigarette. He was not chewing betel
Leaf; he felt bad about it. Blowing a ring of smoke he said, ‘Ramlochan, go and buy litre
Of milk, then stay here and look after these people, There are plenty of bad characters
About the place, waiting to Pounce on them, Remanin vigilant.’ All of sudden Mallika
Threw herself on the, ground. Then hurtling forward and taking hold of Pramatha’s
Feet, nicely ensconced in a pair of shiny polished shoes, she sobbed. ‘Are you a man or a
God?’
A young man of twenty or twenty two and a girl of the same age
Came up to her, almost as soon as Pramatha left. They looked like college students.
‘Did he say he’ll get you a job?’ The boy asked.

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Bhushan, who had been silent all this while, spoke out sharply now. One must never lend one’s
ears to such talk,’ and he dozed off all over again. The world, his own existence, had turned
remote, upside down. Everything had become muddled in his mind. Mallika, Asha, Khokan, the
crowd of people, the stench had no meaning for him. But for Mallika, a roof above their heads
was primary.

In the afternoon, Parmatha’s car came and took them to a small two-storeyed building at the edge
of the city. The house was situated in a respectable colony. They were given a room on the
ground floor. The guard at the entrance let them in.

The house had belonged to a Muslim family, who had fled when pramatha managed to cause a
riot in the area. It was what Ramlochan was to tell Mallika to express his admiration for
Pramatha, and to evoke feelings of gratitude in her too. Ramlochan wanted to press home the
extent Pramatha had gone to help her. Pramatha had also given shelter to four other families in
four other rooms. The men women and children of these families stared at Mallika with their
dull, vacant eyes as she arrived. They had nothing to say, They knew or had heard nothing. The
car’s driver followed them in and went inside a neighbouring room.

Mallika heard a girl saying, ‘You’re so late, when will I go and come back?’

‘What can I do. I don’t own the vehicle, do I?’

‘But the boss won’t renounce the rental, will he?’

That’s none of your business...’ The driver returned to the vehicle. Some time later Mallika saw a
married woman, a few years older than her wearing a nice sari get into the car alone. She looked
extremely dejected. Mallika could sense where the woman was being taken, she had known all
about it in her days and nights in the railway platform living among the multitudes. That boy and
girl had spoken to her in detail about parmatha’s various activities. She herself had seen how a
girl or a woman returned alone in a short time-an hour perhaps-clutching a few coins in her fists,
filled with impotent rage.

But she had not yet found out that Prarnatha had rented a room at a high price in a disreputable
colony, that he would pocket the payment for the room, the car rental, and the woman’s fees, and
that he would also take a commission against the woman’s earning from her temporary master.
Mallika didn’t have a clue about all this.

Settling in hardly took her any time; they had so little anyway. But at last there was enough space
for Mallika to sit down with feet stretched. She spread beds for Bhushan and Khokon and
plopped down hard against a wall. Her head would have burst if it were not for the cushion
provided by a mop of her unruly hair. She was perspiring heavily now. It was amazing how one
person was openly carrying on flesh trade, letting out rooms and giving cars at rental- all at one
go! How all of these were inter-connectecd. She hadn’t believed when she had heard about it,
now all that lay exposed to her view.

The front door was ajar. A couple of women were scrubbing pots and pans near the common tap.
Coming out of the room in the corner a man about Bhushan’s age about to go out stopped in his
tracks. He was addressed by one of the women.
‘Dada, listen... I have something to tell you.’

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It was apparent the man, who had taken the effort to look respectable, was dying to be out of the
house. The girl had come up from the tap. Slim and dark she looked as if she had crossed the
marriageable age. The girl and the man moved to a corner as the front door was wide open.

‘Where are you off to now?’ she asked.

“To look for a job, what else?’

‘Bring some medicines for Boudi, can’t you see how she is suffering! If you can’t get hold of
medicines, bring some poison then.’

‘What do you take me for eh?”

Although the man had not raised his voice, the sound of a slap bestowed on the sister’s cheek
entered Mallika’s ears.

Then silence reigned..for a few minutes. The girl had departed for the tap when a nattily dressed,
middle-aged gentleman led by the house guard came up on the courtyard.

‘Dada is not in,’ the girl shouted from the courtyard.

‘Oh, I met him outside. But come here, I have something to tell you.’
‘Why have you come again?’ the girl said as she came up.

‘Your brother, said unless the rent is paid in a couple of days, you’ll be thrown out.’

‘What can I do? He’ll pay when he can’.

‘Come with me for a while. Let’s see what can be done.’

‘No, no, no. I’m not going with anyone!’

Mallika had been watching the girl closely. Her eyes were glaring in anger. ‘The bitth,’ she said
to herself. Not married, doesn’t have a husband or a child, yet so hoity- toity!

Pramatha sent for her that very day. He couldn’t wait. It wasn’t the driver with the car who came
but Ramlochan in a taxi bringing some rice, dal, fish and vegetables for the family.

‘Must I go today-now?’ Mallika asked.

‘Babu wants you to come for a short while so that you can sit, chat, and get back quickly.’

Bhusan was down with fever as usual; the child had gone to sleep. All of a sudden Asha, her
sister-in-law spoke out ‘Boudi, you stay and cook the rice. I’ll go.’

Asha had been showing signs of extreme restlessness ever since they had arrived at the place.
Weak and soft-hearted, she felt pulled in both directions. Her nerves were on edge. Mallika
grasped her hand. I’ll be grateful to you, Thakurjhi, if you go... That’ll make us, the abandoned
people, come alive again. We’ll worship you, dear.’
But Ramlochan intervened saying that Asha won’t do, it was MallikaPramatha had sent for.
There was no choice for her, go she must. Led by the noose, she would have to take whatever
path was destined for her.

Pramatha had a small modern-looking, pleasant house all to himself in the city suburb. He smiled
as he led Mallika inside. ‘I’ve called you here so that we can talk. We must get to know each
other better, now that we have met.’ Mallika couldn’t object.

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Besides, she wanted to find out what kind of work Pramatha wanted from her. Was it similar to
the one the woman next door was involved in? Or was it something different? She was keen to
have a clear picture.

Dressed in grimy clothes, wrapped in filthy sandals and with unkempt hair Mallika looked rather
out of place on a colourful sofa in the tastefully decorated room. She felt as if she were a
maidservant whom the master of the house had lovingly sat on the sofa. That hardly mattered! To
Pramatha her emaciated hungry looks took on the form of a human tigress as she kept fidgeting.
The way she looked straight at him, her head raised, it seemed she was about to pounce on him,
dig her teeth into his flesh. The idea of taming the wild creature and bringing her under his
control made Pramatha happy.

I’ve taken the entire responsibility of your family. You have nothing to worry on, that score. I’ll
not make you do anything that may bring them harm.”

Oh dear-such consideration! Can’t be for the good, can it? Mallika silently thought.

You’ll work for me.’ Pramatha said.

‘Work for you? What work do you do?’ Mallika asked, knitting her brows. Mallika couldn’t
comprehend what he meant.

‘Do 1 have one kind of a job... I’m involved in so many things. No matter, have some tea. But
before that, go and take a shower. You’ll find soap on the rack. And put on fresh clothes. I have
kept them there.’

‘Not today,’ Mallikademured.

‘Dear girl, do listen to what I tell you.’ Pramathasaid, his voice full of affection. Mallika kept on
sitting, her shoulders erect, and looked at him steadily.

‘What’ll people say if you are dressed so shabbily’ Pramatha added. That was an entirely
different matter, Mallika thought.

Pramatha showed her the bathroom Rubbing the soap into her body in the brightly lit, aroma
filled bathroom, Mallika felt she was hit by waves of nausea. Was it because her stomach was
empty? She couldn’t fathom why she was, without rhyme or reason, assailed both by tears and
laughter.

Goodness! You do look nice.’ Pramatha exclaimed when Mallika returned to him in her new
clothes. The servant had already brought her some snacks and tea and had left whiskey, soda and
a glass for Pramatha. Mallika had seen many drunkards at the railway platform; it was the first
time she sat face to face with a person who drowned glasses of alcohol at one go.

Taking a big gulp, Pramatha came and sat beside her. Mallika had already had her

Tea. Drawing her to him and pulling her close to his bosom, Pramatha said tenderly, ‘It is how I
want you..come and be with me for a while and then you can go back. Suddenly Mallika saw red.
Her blood came surging up to her head. She had accepted the fact that Pramatha was going to
engage her in prostitution, she couldn’t tolerate
The idea that he had planned to enjoy her before introducing her to the profession Breaking free
of his arms, Mallika caught the bottle with two hands and brought it down on his head with
might. The bottle splintered and Pramatha went limp.

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Mallika stared at Pramatha’s senseless form. She was utterly bewildered. Her eyes looked as if
they were aflame.

A servant called out from behind the closed door. ‘Babu, have you asked for me?”

‘No... go away. She told him.

Mallika looked around. Pramatha had only lost consciousness, he wasn’t dead. Couldn’t she
finish him off, once and for all? Was there a gun in the house-but she didn’t know how to use a
gun. Should she beat him to death with the muzzle of a gun or twist his neck in the folds of her
sari end? She thought for a while. Then rolling Pramatha’s gift of a sari into a rope, she slipped it
over his head like a noose, tightened it around his neck, twisting and turning it with the help of
the mouth of the soda bottle. Pramatha would not go-that soon. It took Mallika a good fifteen
minutes to finally strangle him.

She unloosed the knot, unrolled the cloth and slipped her hands into his yest- pocket and took out
wads of bank notes. Some of it was meant for her surely, but why not take the rest as well, she
thought. Collecting her bundle of dirty clothes, Mallika came out of the room and shut the door
behind her.

‘Don’t go in, till Babu sends for you,’ she told the servant.

He grinned and said it was fine by him.

Ramlochan couldn’t be seen anywhere. He had known he wouldn’t be taking Mallika home that
night. There were two armed sentries at the gate. Pramatha had lived fearing for his life. He had
good reason to be.

One of the guards, recalling she had come in a cab, asked, ‘Shall I call one?’

‘It’s not necessary.’ Mallika replied.

Asha was shaking in fear at the terrible picture Mailika made.

‘Bou.’ She uttered

Mallika gave her a big smile. ‘I’ve found a way out Thakurjhi the final solution...’

Asha grew more frightened. ‘Are you out your mind, Bou?”

‘Perhaps I am... but I’ve found an excellent way out. That gangster! He thought he had got me to
carry on his infamous goings on. What did he take me for? Am I physically weak because I’m a
woman?’

‘Calm yourself down, Bou – sit down, I beg you.’

‘Have you cooked, Thakurjhi?’ Mallika asked settling down. ‘Have you all eaten... let me have
some food, my stomach’s churning violently in hunger.’ Shc gave a hearty laugh. We’ll never be
hungry again, Thakurjhi never, ever... My son will have milk four times a day... I’ll go to the
railway station every evening in my frayed sari, the sharks will come again to pick me up, for
sure...’ And lowering her voice Mallika added, ‘But this time I’ll be carrying a sharp knife with
me, you understand, Thakurjhi. I’ll hide it so that no one finds out...’