However he tried, his background, his family, religion and good breeding haunted him day and night.Vinod Pandey promising young lawyer and a most eligible bachelor, in J.B.Nagar area in Bombay, had never wanted what the destiny had offered him to be. He had come to Bombay when he was eighteen years old, an extraordinary student with a Bachelor's degree in Law and legislation from Allahabad University. Though his parents had sent him to his uncle's, who was a reputed advocate in central Bombay, Vinod had other plans in his young mind. He had striven hard to persuade his parents to send him to Bombay.
When he came out from Bombay Central station, a gust of sea breeze caressed his long curly hair. He took a deep breath, and hailed an auto rickshaw to stop. It was his friend Hamid's house he decided to go to.Hamid used to live in college hostel in Allahabad in their college days.Vinod and Hamid had developed a very intimate friendship between them.Inspite of Hamid's stay of two years in Allahbad, Vinod had never dared to invite Hamid to Vinod's house, for he knew what consequences would have been there had he ever done so, for Hamid was a Muslim and he a Hindu boy. Vinod's devout Hindu father, Mr.Badri Prasad Pandey, would never tolerate to see a Muslim boy in his house. Many a time Vinod had been reprimanded by his father for not mending his ways. He was a so called modern boy, who would never take his father seriously. But all this had been ten years before.
Reaching Bombay, he had succeeded to get a job through Hamid's father, and they had compelled Vinod to stay with them until they arranged a separate room for him. Vinod began to work with M/s P.K.Legal Consultants in Bombay. The start of rupees nine hundred was more than he had expected. He began to study LLM course, and in the following three years he successfully passed the exams.
After about a month's stay with Hamid's family, Hamid's father, through his influence upon the local tough boys, managed to get a room on rent for Vinod. It was a family of four, Mr.Juman, his wife Rasheeda, and their two young daughters Neha and Rehana.Vinod was given the room adjacent to the main door. The door to his room faced the narrow street across which there was a small tea shop, with two long wooden benches in front. Although the young local boys gathered there in the evenings, pretending to have come for tea, while chatting in a group in high-pitched voices, accompanied by frequent slaps on one another's backs, their furtive eyes never escaped Vinod's judgment that they wanted to get a fortunate glimpse of either Neha, or Rehana, who would often come to the window for nothing.
After the hectic routine in the office, Vinod would patiently cover the distance of about two kilometers from Church gate to Bombay Central. His feet would move in a rhythmic manner, never faltering of slowing to make him look at what went around. At about 5:30 pm, Neha would bring a cup of tea for him and he would thank her, without ever daring to meet her stare. He used to pay them for his fooding.In any other circumstances, after LLM with a handsome salary; he would have definitely shifted to a better place, his personal apartment. But that offering of thanks to Neha in the evenings empowered him to stop thinking about changing the place.
It had been three years with Mr.Juman's family. Hamid would visit him on Saturday and Sundays. Once Vinod had been to Allahabad to be confronted by his angry father, who by that time, had been informed by his cousin from Bombay that Vinod was staying with a Muslim family. Vinod spent three days with parents and younger brother, and came back to Bombay.
There was turmoil in his mind, what wrong he had committed if he had decided to stay with a Muslim family. His rebellious mind was set to take a very fatal step.
For a long time he had restrained himself. He saw his life partner in twenty years old Neha.
It was the day of 'Id', holy festival of Muslims, and the whole family was in joyous spirit. Vinod had also tried to extend his good wishes to the family, in the form of a packet of sweets. By this time the local tough boys had become his friends. To share their feelings, he would also put on a new suit on that auspicious day. Though anti-Muslim feelings and the poison which his colleagues oozed out disturbed him, he remained silent. Vinod wanted to be the person who could make at least between two different people.
