It was the 28th of November, around 10 in the morning.I was in the movie theatre when Bhai calls me up..
B: Didi .... sobar naam announce kore dilo (Didi...They announced all the names)
I was waiting with bated breath, he was talking about the final selection results of Tata Consultancy Services, the first company for their campus placement, and he was sounding very low.
Me: OK... good...
I was literally struggling to get those words out, just to say something. My wordlessness sounded dumb, but I was trying not to give out any kind of expressions. "Break ke Baad" had already taken a back seat.
B: TCS pagol howe geche... (TCS has gone mad..)
He still did not sound good.
Me: Keno? (Why?)
B: Because AMAR MOTON KEO NIYE NIYECHE!!!! ( Because they have selected people like ME AS WELL!)
And then he burst out laughing!!
I have no words to explain the potpourri of emotions I was feeling at that particular moment. All I could tell him was how proud I was of him and congratulate him a thousand times. I was so happy, I felt stifled being inside a movie hall,not being able to shout out loud. He put the phone down to inform the parents and I entered into my land of nostalgia....
Was it just a few year ago when I took his hands to lead him and his classmates from the assembly ground to his classroom? He was in Nursery in Delhi Public School and I was the Cultural Secretary ( From the senior most class, Std IV, in the Junior building). It was his first day in the school.
Then the day when Baba got distracted for a moment and Bhai chose to finger the whirling fan of the scooter's motor. No prize for guessing, his index finger was never the same.
We had put up a swing in our drawing-dining room partition, specially for Bhai. Well, his antics on it gave him quite a few stitches and a cut mark on his chin. As if just to prove we were siblings, one fine day I fell off the bed in my sleep and got a mark of my own at the exact same place on my chin!At least we reduced chances of getting lost at the "Kumbh ka mela"!!
And then those days when he would come to the senior block to check out my lunch box and if my food looked better, we switched :).
It was all coming back to me... the way we used to fight, I was a brutal sister to have :( ! He used to find innovative ways to irritate me till my patience ceased and every day Mumma got to witness a new episode of Mahabharata, live at home!
He was always the better one in person, a child at heart. He would give me his things to use, even when I was stingy about sharing my stuff. Unlike me, he is a bit of an extrovert, and certainly much better at maintaining contacts. While he has never really been extravagant, I was still his ATM as far as mobile top-ups were concerned :) . Despite being too lazy to cultivate it, he is really good in literature. I think he gets it from Baba and his patience from Mumma.
At times I feel he has faced more hardships than me , be it a severe bout of chronic allergies complicated by incorrect medicines, just before his Std. XII boards, or the advents of typhoid, jaundice and so on in front of his major school and college examinations. I am so glad that he ploughed through all that and more.
He is my baby and I have seen him grow into a wonderful person. I love his excitement when he narrates all his stored up stories if we don't get a chance to speak for some time. He was my confidante when I told him I was in love and my spy at home in case my parents start groom-searching. He was always supportive of my decisions, even when he did not totally agree with some of them. Our best moments are probably the ones we spend managing mischiefs together, and then laughing our hearts out ,falling off beds and getting neighbours to complain in the process (yes sometimes we are THAT loud :D) !
It was funny how he was absolutely not able to come in terms with the fact the I was getting married, same as me! And yet, he was there, comforting me and joking, to ease away my tensions as I sat on the pidi ( small stool), ready to see my groom for the first time that day. It hurt to let go of his hand the next day, on my journey to the new home...
And now he will be entering the next phase of his life. He will get the first taste of the corporate world or will check out the alluring academic world of Management studies.
Bhai is a wonderful person and I know he has big things in store for him. I wish him the best in his life and whatever be his choice, I hope he gets everything he dreams of!
Congratulations and celebrations!!! :)
