Shards of love
There Was No One at the Bus Stop is a novella by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay in Bengali and translated to English by Arunava Sinha. The story set in the 70s is a peek into the lives of Trina, an adulterous, married woman and her widowed lover Debashish. It shows us the other side of an adulterous relationship, more so the aftermath of it,
the changed equations within the family for Trina, who continues to live on with her husband and kids despite being treated like she doesn’t exist. On the other side, it explores the inner conflict faced by Debashish, whose wife recently committed suicide; and his relationship with his son, who yearns for his mother’s love.
The book portrays the stark reality in the lives of the main protagonists, each of whom long for the other, want to be together, but are faced with inner conflicts and baggage from the past, aside from what society expects from them. It adeptly deals with the broken relationship between Trina and her children, particularly her teenage daughter, as well as her equation with her indifferent husband. On the other side, it brings to life the delicate moments between Debashish and his toddler, the little boy who prefers to live with his maasi and her children. It explores depth in human relationships in our society, one between father and son, another between mother and daughter.
Set over twelve hours on a particular day in the lives of these characters, it takes off to a promising start. Trina is described as being elegant, intelligent, attractive and desirable. She is the character who seems to frustrate you the most as she doesn’t quite know her mind. She trips from one situation to another, not sure where she’s at or where she’s heading in the future. If it was intended for it to be this way, Mukhopadhyay has done a stellar job. It brings her guilt and shame out in the open and how she finds it difficult to deal with as she’s found happiness outside her marriage. At times one wonders what is going through her head, and wonder what her problem is when she changes her mind every few minutes.
You tend to relate more to Debashish, a man once married to a depressive woman, and a father at the risk of losing his son. The realisation that his son might not be raised in a manner that he sees fit seems to eat into him. He appears the stronger of the characters. Parallels are also drawn quite well, as both our protagonists have each other and yet they are lonely human beings, wallowing in self-pity.
The tone, dialogues and a realistic portrayal of adulterous relationships in India of the 70s makes it a worthy read. It’s still possible to come across people like Trina and Debashish, people who know what they want and yet hold back, as they cannot let go of what they already have. Not for a reader looking for a breezy campus read or time-pass pulp fiction.
Ahmed Faiyaz is the author of Love, Life & all that Jazz... and the soon to be launched Another Chance
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