The Legacy
Ananya Das
The doorbell chimed at 2 am in the night. Shobhana woke up with a start and sat up on her bed
in panic. ‘Who could it be at this time of the night?’ she thought. Her heart was hammering against her
ribs, an after effect of being rudely awakened from her sleep. It was November and the air had a distinct
chill to it. Removing the light throw covering her body Shobhana climbed down from her bed.
Gathering her long hair into a bun she shivered a little. ‘Who could it be?’ she thought again. Surely not
Buku, he was safely tucked in his warm hotel bed in Philadelphia. He had called her about four hours
ago from there and told her that. Slowly she made her way to the living room and bumped on to a stool
before she could even make it to the light switch.
Ouch, that really hurt! It was all Buku’s fault! He had this terrible habit of rearranging the
furniture all over the house! She never could be sure of where anything was anymore! If she tried to
protest he would laugh it off and say, “Ma, variety is the spice of life!”
She rubbed her sore knee and finally made it to the light switch. The mellow yellow light spilled
all over the room. Buku had fought with her over these lights as well. Shobhana preferred the white
daylight kind of lights, the kind they had in her home in India. Long, cylindrical fluorescent tube lights
had brightened their rooms there during her growing up days. Buku however hated those. He insisted
that they were too harsh and cruel! The not too bright yellow was soothing and infinitely more
romantic!
Shobhana had counter attacked him on that theory of his, “And what exactly do you know of
romance? Your grandmother and I have been trying hard to get you married for what seems like
forever! We received photographs of such lovely girls. Sometimes I think you want to remain single just
to spite us! And now you are trying to tell me about romance?”
Buku had smiled mysteriously at that and said, “Don’t worry Ma, you will eventually win and I
will get married. I doubt you will let me remain single for long! Now you are pressurizing me to get
married and after I tie the knot you will fight with my wife!”
“If I promise not to fight with her will you agree to get married?”
“Everyone gets married Ma, I will too! Just give me some time to get used to the idea!”
“Should I pursue the matter with the parents of the beautiful girl from the last batch of photos?
She is really pretty and these things tend to take time. Even after we get everything settled you would
have to apply for vacation with your firm for the trip to India.”
The piercing sound of the pealing doorbell broke the stillness of the night into a thousand
pieces! What an incredibly loud noise! Shobhana always thought she would tell Buku to change the
door bell to something a little softer and more melodious but it was one of those things that she kept
forgetting. She peered through the magic eye. Two men who looked like cops were standing outside the
door. Someone had recently broken into a parked car belonging to the Wilsons and stolen the radio.
Maybe they had come to investigate about the incident, but even that would be a little odd that this time
of the night! She put on the safety catch and opened the door partially. One couldn’t be careful enough
these days.
“State Police ma’am. Sorry to bother you at this time of the night.”
“How do I know you are from the State Police? Do you have IDs?”
The two officers took out their IDs and badges and handed them over to her without a word.
Shobhana looked at them carefully, no chances of these being fakes!
She lifted the safety chain and let the two men into her house.
“What exactly do you want from me at this time of the night?”
“Are you Shobhana Sen? Arijit Sen’s mother?”
“Yes, I am, but why are you asking that?” a sliver of fear slithered down her spine.
“Mrs. Sen we are extremely sorry to inform you that your son Arijit met with an accident on the
Interstate Highway 76. He passed away before we could take him to the hospital.”