Membership fee

                              The class was over , a gaggle of girls emerged , happy , chattering , laughing uproariously without any apparent reason . A flock of jabbering , brightly coloured macaws , out into the forest. 

The heads turned , Chandru looked up from his broom , gloomily . When Chandru swept , he sang , or rather , shouted , bawdy bhojpuri songs . They gave him a high , and brought a manic gleam to his "tharra"-sodden eyes . Chandru was never known to work quietly . 

Someone must have died , in his family . The thought echoed in the girls' minds silently , and the group of macaws fell silent . 

The door to the girls' common room opened into the staff room . The girls' slunk through a space between teachers' tables and the wall . Today , that space was jammed . 

D Yadav was the College Students' Union leader . He , and four of his cronies stood in the girls' path ,  an impenetrable china wall . 

Without preamble , a crony Yadav (all had same surnames , boys of same caste flocked together , like birds) , thrust a sheaf of membership forms into the first girls' hands . 

"What is this ?" Sandhya croaked . Asking the obvious.

 " Union ke forum baadu." Chandru replied , without looking up from his broom . He always spoke out of turn , and was used to being scuffed on the head , by the college big wigs like DY.

This time , another Yadav from DY's flock did the honours , adding -"apni aukaat mein reh be ."

Moumita sniffed , heads turned , the sky darkened .

Moumita came from a firebrand commie family . She had no patience with right wing unions . Before DY could move away , Moumita snatched a form from Sandhya, and deliberately tore it up , slowly , noisily, crumpled the pieces , and  threw it in the path of Chandru's frozen broom . Bengali drama, called "Jatra". Unnecessary , provocative . 

DY's ears turned red . The forest held its breath . Then he loped away , his cronies followed suit . 

The last guy to vacate was Bhondu . A Yadav of doubtful pedigree. He spoke bengali , but hung around with Yadavs. Moumita , the Bengal Tigress , leapt and caught him by his shirt . "Tui" (You) She hissed , with vehemence . The word meant "Et tu brute"

He looked back apologetically . Other Yadavs waited , at the door. If he was a bridge , he was likely to be bombed , "The bridge over river kwai" , caught between two ideologies. 

Moumita sniffed and let him go . The forest breathed again . Macaws fluttered , Chandru hummed. 

                                               &&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later , at the tution class in the evening , Bhondu entered and announced that all girls have already been made members of the Union .

Moumita sprang forward . How dare he ? Who forged her signature ? She never wanted to be any member of any  Union . Who did he think he was ? Husk filled dunderheaded idiot . She can never pay that kind of price .  There was no stopping Moumita. She would have torn Bhondu to shreds , had the tution teacher not arrived . 

Bhondu slunk away , tail between legs, in tears. 

Later , he is said to have asked Sandhya" What price is she carrying on about ? I just paid one rupee per head . " 

                                              &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&