Memories in March 2010

Delhi-based Arati Mishra believes her worst day happened when her U.S.-based husband Suresh left, but that belief is swept aside by graver news: her Kolkata-based son, Siddhartha, has died in a traffic accident. She travels to Kolkata with a heavy mix of grief and disbelief, and on arrival she is greeted at the airport by Sahana Chowdhury, who accompanies her to the crematorium. The somber procession and the quiet rituals that follow set the tone for the days ahead, as Arati begins to navigate a city that suddenly feels both intimate and unfamiliar.

After the cremation, she is taken to the guesthouse where Siddhartha used to live, and there she learns the harsh details: Siddhartha had been at a party, had consumed a substantial amount of alcohol, and had insisted on driving, culminating in a fatal crash. The next day, Arati accompanies Sahana to Siddhartha’s workplace, where she meets some of the staff and signs several documents. Yet a wave of distress washes over her when she is told that she cannot take Siddhartha’s belongings, a reminder of the bureaucratic barriers that surround such sudden loss. She becomes increasingly upset, blaming the office workers for allowing her son to drive under the influence and for what she perceives as a lack of control over his life in his final days.

As Arati wrestles with gaping unanswered questions, she is confronted with the revelation that Siddhartha led a secret life that she had not known about. This shocks her to the core, and she finds herself facing more unsettling truths than she anticipated. In her confusion and anger, she points a finger at Arunabh / Ornob, suggesting he may have influenced her son in ways that led to his untimely death. Yet as the pieces begin to fall into place, Arati is forced to confront a deeper, more painful realization: Siddhartha’s love for him existed alongside, perhaps even fueled by, the choices he had made. The story unfolds with a careful balance of grief, revelation, and a muted acknowledgment of love that challenges Arati’s assumptions about family, loyalty, and the costs of keeping secrets.