(Recap – In the last episode, I briefly narrated about the changes in behaviour of Jito and her soft bending for “Sam.” On the same, an another chap, who ventured to vend molded plastic furniture, too began to take interest in Bablee. It seemed, every one was interested in Bablee and that was a worried some situation for me. I tried to remove my doubts on this front, as much as I could, and finally it soothed me, nothing wrong was there to harm my interests.)
Before going ahead, I find it necessary to say something about the Muslim Barber, who happened to run his shop just after few shops of Bablee. About this man, Ranjit had mentioned that he too had a soft corner for Bablee. As far as, the young Muslim barber’s inclination for Bablee was concerned, this guy too was following the same pattern to allure her; as all rest of shopkeepers with married status were trying. Being a Muslim, he had one customary advantage, he was permitted by law to get married with four women at a time. Hence, he was in a cozy position. Although, it might be or in fact it was, the ‘fantasy’ of every ‘lover’ in the market to own Bablee as a second wife.
This Muslim chap had an interesting story in the past of his life. At present he was about thirty years of age. Being a barber, he was in a habit to be eloquent with every one. In fact, in India a barber is a creature who is expected to be talkative with his customers. This habit makes him socially mixed up with every one. This also helps a barber to glean information from various walks of life, no matter whether he is a Hindu or Muslim and eventually he turns up into a grandiloquent one. In appearance, this barber was short height and with extra- dark complexion skin, but blessed with a glow on the face. He had good looking features, always remained properly dressed and well trimmed in modern style. In all, he was of his own kind.
Likely to his person, he too had his own type of love story of past life. No doubt, at present his name was included in the list of paramours of Bablee, but just five years ago he too got ‘sucked in’ a ‘honey trap’ of its own type. Five years ago when he was only twenty- five years old young chap, he happened to fall as a prey into the “honey trap” of a widow, who was fifteen years older than him. She lived in the same Muslim locality, where this barber recently had taken a cubicle type room on rent to stay. As it often happens in the prime youth, the sexual hormonal secretion helps turning a man blind on the front of affairs with a woman.
The Muslim widow, though was fifteen years older than him, but looked not so old. She had maintained herself majestically. She happened to stay there alone. Barber was a new entrant in the locality. She at once began to work on her planning to trap him. Her experienced eyes noticed that boy is in prime youth and fond of living like a smart man. This obviously connoted the flirting nature of the young man. Besides, widow’s experiences candidly suggested her, this boy is dark complexioned and was not to be taken notice by some beautiful girl. On the other hand, widow was a good looking one.
Firstly, on petty pretexts, she initiated talking with barber, then this grew to intimacy. Now widow displayed her womanish qualities and played the emotional card. She lamented before him, ” I am an all alone woman. Once got married but now doomed to live in this world full of lustful vultures, where every man keeps a hawk eye to make me prey. I am so scared by the sight of these piercing, lustful glance, which ever show a malefic desire to mangle me.” The victim card widow played tactfully and eventually widow persuaded barber to become her man and a Nikah ( Muslim ceremonial wedding) got read and registered properly in the presence of local moulvi (Muslim Priest.)
Everything was going on smooth track. But just after three months of this marriage, a young man of about twenty -three years of age arrived to meet the widow and addressed her as “Ammijan” (Dear Mother.) Then, it got disclosed to the barber that this boy was the son of widow from her first marriage and this son now worked some where in some gulf country. So many other facts also surfaced up in a series. Widow, when got married for the first time, she was only fifteen years young girl, After two years of marriage she was blessed with a son. But there too arose some complications during the delivery of the child which unabled her never to conceive in the future. After some years, when she was in her thirty- two years of age, her husband passed away and since than, she was living a widowed life.
This was a situation for barber that put him into a dilemma. Just he had completed his twenty-five years of age and was running into his twenty six and got married to woman who had a son of twenty three years of age. Again, he was shocked to know that his begum was running in her forty year of age and unable to conceive in near future due to medical complications. His legal parental status was so weird, he was twenty-six years old and father of a son of twenty-three years. The difference of age between father and son was only of ‘three’ years.
The present soft bend of barber for Bablee was in the shadow of his past life incidents. I am sure, in all probabilities, he too was dreaming about Bablee as his second wife, who could beget him children. The list of this kind of “paramours” of Bablee is too lengthy and I can not cover them all, because I don’t forget, I was also one of them. ( End of Part- 14th. Cont’d ) Penned by — Vinay Pharasi —–
