Sisters

They are special to me, hence a category !

Past to Present – 1

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Beloved Punished Child

Dear readers, May not till now I am able to feel how my Ma is ! Today even if I can’t give a touchy massage to her tired feet before sleep, I shall be trying to recollect some episodes from her life through my pen. Each episode may not be the exactly same, but they are collective recalls.

It was a May month’s hot Saturday afternoon. We didn’t go to school because the sun was too strong in those days. I, Didi and Bon ( Pinky) were playing outside house in the soil. Deep may be just a little kid that time. While playing we must be conscious that, we were told to finish bath early and complete the tasks given to each of us before Ma comes from school!

Ma came by 1:30 PM. But while coming in the house, I could see that her face was hot because of sun rays. But she looked more serious that time. In play, we didn’t have the consciousness of half of day already passed ! We were surprised to see Ma coming. None of us did take even bath till that time. So we ran towards bathroom – blaming each other. We thought we will escape the situation. But as expected, she was asking the reasons of not completing bath from each of us and she was searching for some thing. She got it for our bad luck – a thin but strong stick. Starting from me to Didi and Pinky just started the beatings on legs. We were crying in chorus. “We wouldn’t do wrong”… “We shall take bath” and such things we were promising.

After she did enough of her emotional outburst to her satisfaction, she fell down on bed and started crying aloud herself more than we all together cried. Hairs dispersed and her school bag lying on bed aside and cloths unarranged. Uninterrupted was the source of energy crying helplessly. The pillow on bed was full of tears.

Seeing her repenting, we forgot the lines of sticks on our legs. As there was no elder at home at the time, no one could console her too. We were standing near to bed. After she stopped sobering, Didi gathered courage to call her. Though with fear, she called slowly – “Ma…Ma….”. After few minutes she moved and got up taking her anchal on her shoulders.

We were taking the bath silently like most disciplined children on earth and she was preparing the lunch for us. Leading a role of single working mother (Baba’s postings had been mostly outside town) with dedication towards profession, climbing own career stairs, expectations from children and need of house going in perfection ! She has been not just a she or I can say another perfect she, struggling hard to build the generation.  Obviously there may be more reasons for her such emotional outbreak, but the primary reason was she didn’t expect us to be playing in soil till that time.

Its worth to reveal here that, afterwards I did hide the stick in our cowshed 🙂 .

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Though this is not an analogy in anyway, but now when I see something goes unexpected with me, I want to punish my children creations ‘with words’. As these children don’t have life like us (just words made of pixels), I thought to delete them few a times, but they remained intact to me as a beloved punished child seeing them grow for ‘someday’.

Her Marriage – The Final Question

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She is my beloved younger sister -Pinky. On 20th feb., she left our home to start her rest of life’s journey towards unknown horizon.

At the last moment before she was about to leave, I was determined that I along with hers control myself. Since childhood, whenever I see her face with tears, she looks like just another kid. Before marriage, few times I used to make her laugh telling that “I shall carry two buckets to fill up your tears, if you cry at the time of bidai”. Hearing this, she used to smile and didn’t tell anything to me. I knew how she can be kept at ease.

The moment was to arrive. As the hour of bidai ( departure) was coming near, the gift’s lorry was being packed, knowingly, I kept busy myself with other works and tried to remain for least time with her. Just before bidai, we have a aashirwadi (blessings) ritual, when elders bless the couple near to puja place. And someone called me to do aashirwadi for them. As I was doing final blessing for the couple, her eyes filled up – she already started weeping. Like past many times, I wiped off the continuous flowing pearl drops. Controlling myself, I tried to check her emotions too. I told her the joke, I used to say her often. “Hey, shall I carry again two buckets?” – holding her beautifully decorated cheeks with my palms.

“You have been consoling me since childhood; still today you shall do so? Brother, who else like you could console me after now?” – She was out of control and started crying.

I was speechless. Holding her neck close, that day I didn’t have words to solace her more.

How could, I say that the life partner, I have finalized for her, shall be like me? Though I am sure about her husband and his family, I left the answer to the Almighty.

We were searching for the answer in our tears….

Mridu and I

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Today in the morning, when someone opened the main gate and my sister Pinki went there exclaiming “Babu”. My face gleamed with joy. So a Dennis the menace arrived here. And this Dennis is my Mridu, my nephew (Didi’s only son). They came by the morning train which today reached in time. Now he is two and half years old and enough honest to recall me. This time he came here after 3 months. And he can speak some kind of Bhongali language, which seems to be a mixture of Bhojpuri and Bengali. His parents reside at Ara (Bihar). He has learnt more Bhojpuri from the neighbour’s kids than Bengali. We were just laughing at his activities and language. He found out all of his toys at our home which he used to play with, during his stay here for 10 months. He was in our care when didi was at BHU. Now today his toy tube-well (hand-pump) has non-ending supply of water to serve everyone in the home. So everyone took more than 10 glasses of water (air) from his tube-well. For me I could not count the number of glasses. Being a cold season I was inside the quilt to play hide and seek with him.
So if you tell I am childish some time, I honestly accept it. And his childish plays and pious attitude reminds me something. I think if Mridu will grow, will he remain same kid for me or matured one to talk in a reserved manner? Will he play with me in the same way? This kind of thinking strengthens my attitude towards my elders for whom I used to be the same kid. So if I expect Mridu to be same innocent for me after 20 years, don’t my elders expect same for me? So I am still childish with my grandma, who is luckily at our home these days. I am mamma’s boy, it’s only because I am still a Mridu for them. The elders in front of whom, I learnt to creep and due to their upbringing only I am here with their blessings. I accept the missing innocence in myself but I am still a Mridu.

Bride Wanted – A classified

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It’s quite exhilarating and awaited words for thousands of parents and guardians (Of course prospect brides too) which appear on Sunday issues of newspaper. I am among the thousands. I read Hindi, English and Bengali paper every Sunday. Once I read it, I decide not to read it next Sunday. Oh! My decision fails next Sunday. Not the topic but the content in it repels me. Some words seem to hurt me, May I am new to these things!

Starting with caste and creed, and showing the status of the Groom (who tells that one should not ask the salary of man?) .Then comes some common words, if not common for each ad but most popular one. I must clarify here that as a reverse effect these words also appear in Groom wanted section too.

B’ful /Beautiful/Very beautiful: So first the upper appearance matters! What do we think of the beautiful mind behind each face? Do only beautiful faces contain beautiful(thoughtful) minds? Or one need not be concerned about the mind at all?

Extremely fair/ Very fair / Fair: Does fairer skin means that one will be adjustable to the family or society? Does it mean that one will get the fair behavior after marriage? Does it mean that the generation will improve in colour? Ok! I wish they should write it. At least the cosmetic companies will be benefited along with you .Since the companies can make the prospect bride fairer in few weeks or 5 rupees.

Slim: Analogous to above terms this term needs clarification to me. Do they want model type configuration? Do they mean that the prospect wife should look smart in jeans while sitting behind the bike as well as gorgeous in Benarasi sari in family functions? Or do they want just a physically fit bride?

Homely: So one is going to bring a bride in “his home”. And he is a busy executive. He has aged parents at home. Someone is needed to look after the parents who spent sleepless night for changing the nappies when the Mr. Executive was an infant! And after all who will take care of home, children, etc.?

I don’t want to hurt any one who will be a bride of someone and who have all the above qualities (Our stereotype society call it !) and probable more qualities addition to it.
I just want to ask that, are these the primary symbols of womanhood and its existence. Does these words does not underestimate a woman. Like selling or buying property, are using these words a necessity for human too?

Why don’t see any advertisement like?…

“Wanted a human, a companion, whose brains I can read. With whom I can share the joys and pains, laughter and tears to complete the important part of the journey.”

Certainly more things needed to be added as per your convenience. And is this not enough?