The Case of a Curious Couple

While it was raining heavily and I was struggling to hold onto the plastic that covers the side of the auto rickshaw a newly wed couple came and boarded the same. Both of them looking every bit the ideal cast for the Bangoma-Bangomi couple that fairy tales have so vividly etched into our minds from our childhood days, they were panting with the exertion that the sudden downpour had inflicted upon them. The wife took the side seat at the rear and the husband the seat besides the driver in the front. What ensued was a fascinating conversation between them that I couldn't help laughing out to. Here is the transcript, albeit in Bengali, and intentionally kept untranslated to keep the essence unaltered :


Wife : (reasonably drenched) Acchha tomar pishi amake tar bou-er theke niye ekta notun saree porte debe to ?


Husband : (emphatically) Ekdom na!


Wife : tomar ki confidence!


Husband : boroncho boltey paare, ei durjoger diney naa aslei to hoto.


Wife : tomaari to pishi. bolbei to! (mischievous smile on her lips)


(after a deliberative pause) tomaake ei punjabitaay puro bangla cinema-r dushtu jomidaar-er moto laagchhey.


Husband: (to the auto-driver without paying heed to the aforesaid pseudo-compliment) achha amaderke nemey kotota haat-tey hobe ?


Autowallah: ei dhorun 4-5 minute.


Wife : ami kintu oto haat-tey paarbo na. ekta rickshaw koro. ( she was right considering the sheer workload that she would have to undertake on a walking expedition)


Autowallah: (with a sigh of understandable relief as the couple unboarded) koto dhoroner lok hoy sottyi.