Roby and the God He Loved

It was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.

Roby woke up early to a beautiful morning despite being slightly late to sleep the previous night.

The morning was beautiful because the first worldly thing he came to be aware of was a call from Puja.

The phone rang and he knew it was her, the only person to remember him so early in the day. He was already half awake when Puja gave the missed call at 5:05 am. She actually kept it ringing long enough for him to take the call but he didn’t because he knew she was giving a missed call. Also, he wasn’t awake enough for a proper talk; he might have been able to mumble something but that would not have been legible to her ear. So he refrained from an instant call back. Roby imagined that she might be out on morning walk, maybe to Krishna Ray Mandir to see Janmashtami celebration there, and wanted him to accompany her. But he finally got up at 6:13 and called her up. Puja was on her way to Bhabta to keep her grandmother, who was at her place on a week’s visit, and with some urgent work.

Roby practiced some yoga routine and went for bath. He had planned to wash some clothes this morning but noticed he had not bought the washing powder. So he skipped it and had his bath. It was time for daily morning worship. But then there was problem. He was in a dilemma whether to put Krishna and Radha back on the altar. He had told Them a month ago that he would put Them back on the altar on Janmashtami, because it would be Krishna’s birthday and the birthday boy must not be lying at a corner on the floor in dust. But he was hesitant; he still held grudge against Him for the kind of betrayal that was meted out to him, the reason why he had thrown them down from the altar. Roby thought that Puja was the kind of girl exactly suited for him and there could not be anyone more suitable; and they met, he fell in love, got the affection back from her; yet she could not be his for she was already someone else’s. It was a kind of betrayal not from Puja but from his beloved God and friend, Krishna, after the kind of trust he had put on Him: he’d rather not have met her at all. Well, it was Krishna’s birthday after all, however bad He might be; so Roby finally put Him with his love, Radha, back on the altar.

All I wanted form you was Love: Love, that soulful and does not come from Cupid; Love, that can stay with me; Love, that I can call mine.

In a way, Roby’s lovelife was like Theirs — Krishna and Radha, the only romantic couple, who are worshipped though not only are they not married to each other but have separate matrimonial bonds. It’s an extramarital affair to the naked eye but is the source of power to the world and the world has never witnessed a better love story. They are idols and ideal. Radha, though married to Aayaan Ghosh, belonged heart and soul to Krishna.

And where am I?

On the other hand, Puja didn’t belong to him! But well, it might be put the other way round: Roby was Radha and Puja was Krishna. Just like Radha waited lifelong on the banks of the Yamuna for Krishna to return to Vrindavan while He was busy running his kingdom of Dwarka with His three queens Rukmini, Satyabhama and Jambavati, Roby would long to be with Puja while she would be happily married to another guy.

Here’s the twist. Krishna and Radha still form a celestial union. Even though Radha suffered in the physical realm, she had Him. But Roby was never to have Puja — not in this life, not in any other life, not in any other realm — because Puja was a devoted lover and partner to her guy.