The Visitor

"Atithi Deb O Bhaba"-Treat a visitor as the incarnation of God..an axiom which is going down the annals of Indian Philosophy and Culture for several thousands of years...irrespective of the nature of visitors...benevolent & kindhearted or shrewd & injurious or a foe in the guise of a friend or an intruder with some ulterior motive.

As a religious minded Hindu house wife, she was also treating her visitors likewise, albeit,in consonance with her capacity and means. But her watchful eyes had spotted the wrong one..one which was trying to sneak into her house to steal..to rob her of her most valuable possession and so with firm determination she stood on-guard. There after it became a war of wits along with a deep hatred for each other. He was trying to make an in road but she was foiling all the attempts. She was using all the weapons in her quiver to thwart the move and, one after another, she continued to repulse his efforts of intrusion. It also became a concern for the visitor. Never before, in any other place, his advances had been so meticulously spotted and thwarted.Very much like the valliant Knight, returning from The Crusade in "Seventh Seal" of Bergman, she was making the moves of her chess-men in this battle of mental and action game. Ironically, in an identical analogy, the cunning visitor deceived her, surreptitiously grasped the idea of her next intended move, her next line of defence. The simple house wife, although witty and intelligent was not cunning and was not apt in any foul game. So, after finding all her are defences at the desired places, she retired for the day.

The cocks started crowing in the morning, heralding the advent of another day. She woke with sleepy eyes, in fact she had over slept a little. Immediately She started checking with her possessions, starting with the most precious one. She went to the bed of her ailing husband, felt his body and found the warmth has left him, the warmth stolen, stolen by that shrewd cunning visitor....the all-powerful Queen Piece of Her chess-board, the sparkling vermilion at the parting of her hair could not help her. She has been check-mated. Battered, defeated, dazed she slid to the ground.Tears started rolling down her eyes and through her frosty eyes she blankly looked at calender,hanging on the wall.She felt that the invisible visitor had been flexing His muscles, mocking at her and dragged Her eyes to the date when she had lost her valiant fight against the all pervading power of Death.

It was the dawn of 3rd February,1977.