CHAPTER SEVEN:
THE MESSED UP FAMILY!
As Khokon da stepped inside the bedroom, my brother was elated and it was pretty evident from his wide grin. He called out his name and kept chuckling – “Hi Hi Hi Hi….”.
It was a tad disturbing, considering the fact that he had trouble recognising his own mother, only a few minutes back. Khokon da lightened the situation and with a very warm smile, managed to comfort both my brother and his deeply concerned wife, who persistently asked him;
– “Chanchal da, do you think he will be normal again?”
– “Of course he will, I am sure he is just play acting”
To which, my brother’s response was once again;
– “Hi Hi Hi Hi….”
After a while, my brother turned serious and made Khokon da pledge, that if anything was to happen to him, Khokon da would make sure that all my brother’s assets were duly handed over to my Boudi, and that his parents and his brother are also well looked after. This was his final wish. He didn’t elaborate much on how the latter would be done, and Khokon da didn’t probe further, but wisely accepted this responsibility and agreed to fulfil his final wish. My brother seemed to have his peace of mind, as he closed his eyes and chuckled;
– “Hi Hi Hi Hi….”
At this point, there was some chatter in the stairway, and I was immediately alarmed that my mother must have woken up again. But as I walked to the stairway, I found two new entrants there, Munni di, who happened to be Khokon da’s sister, and Tapan da, her husband. Apparently, they were also woken up when I knocked on their window and out of sheer concern, they had also decided to come down and witness the situation for themselves.
As the two new people peered through the mosquito net to observe my brother, he opened his eyes, and caught a glimpse of Tapan da, a big, burly gentleman with a noticeable crown of curly hair on his head.
With his newfound trademark style, he pointed his finger at Tapan da;
– “Hi Hi Hi Hi…. I am now lying in a paddy field. There is green paddy everywhere ….. And that is a ‘Kaktarua’ (Scarecrow)!
Tapan da and Munni di looked at each other, and both of them pretended to smile, but their embarrassment was hard to conceal.
I was feeling a bit embarrassed myself, especially for waking up these three people form their respective beds at this hour, but there was little doubt that Khokon da’s presence had somehow made the situation less tense, more comical, and immensely more entertaining. Munni di and Tapan da left soon after, probably regretting their decision to show up, in the first place. Khokon da stayed for a while longer, and he miraculously managed to get my brother agree to try and get some sleep. We switched off the lights and walked outside the bedroom, where the two of us stood for a while, to make sure everything was in order.
After ten minutes of relative calm, and little or no activity from my brother, we decided that the premises were now secure, and I thanked Khokon da profusely, before seeing him off at the main door. I walked up the stairs and once next to the bedroom door, I listened silently for a minute but there was no evidence of any trouble. My Dada and Boudi would be very tired by now, and the fatigue must have taken its toll. I went downstairs and did the same with the window to my mother’s bedroom and there wasn’t any noise either.
So finally, I heaved a sigh of relief and walked up to my own small room at the attic, and lay down on my own bed. It was exactly 4:08 am and I set an alarm for 7 am, since I remembered that I was expecting a student at eight in the morning. I felt very uneasy at first, but I succumbed to the physical fatigue and soon descended into a deep slumber. This incredibly eventful night had eventually come to an end!
I woke up at the piercing noise of the alarm clock and for a while, felt completely dazed. My head was heavy with a splitting head ache and my brain refused to work during the early minutes. But I composed myself quickly and descended down the stairs. I peeked at my brother’s bedroom, the stage for most of the show the previous night, and found him sound asleep. I looked up at the heavens, as a mark of gratitude, and scurried downstairs.
My mother and my sister-in-law were both awake and active, like any other normal day, and were already busy with their daily chores. They were both busy in the kitchen, preparing breakfast and helping each other out. While I was served my breakfast, I observed them closely and silently for a while, to see if the previous night had left any lasting impact on either of them.
It had, indeed!
Both my mother and my sister-in-law were a bit embarrassed from what had happened the night before. My Boudi was clearly worried, that her Mother-in-law had seen her in her vulnerable moment, and would form a negative opinion about her, not the best thing for a newly wed daughter-in-law. My mother, on the other hand, also felt embarrassed for pretty much the same reason, and hoped she didn’t lose her face to her son’s newly married wife.
But each of them devised a completely different method to try and make things seem normal. My Boudi spoke very little, even less than what she usually did, as she didn’t want to expose herself to the risk of saying something inappropriate. Her avoiding a casual conversation, was remarkably noticeable to me. My mother, in contrast, had decided that the only way to act normal, was to speak the way she usually did, and this made her actually speak way more than usual, often repetitive, and it was also something which seemed too brazen not to notice.
My lady student came at 8 am sharp and I finished my breakfast, before starting to teach her some problems in Algebra. In about twenty minutes, I realised that my brain was not in the best condition to teach, as my mind kept drifting away into nowhere. I started solving a problem meticulously, but by the time I reached the third step, I had completely forgotten what the original problem was. After a few attempts, I gave up and explained to the student, that I was not feeling too well, and I suggest that today’s lesson be called off. I promised her that I would take an additional lesson to cover for this, within the next two days. She seemed relieved, and left without complaining. As I waved her off at the gate, I saw my father, tired and pale, walking towards us on his way back from work.
I greeted my father the way I believed I would do on any other day, and walked back into the house. My mother came quickly and greeted him;
– “How was the night? Are you too tired?”
– “The usual, everything good here?”
– “Yes, yes… all good. Wash your hands and let me serve you some breakfast. You must be very tired”
My father changed into his indoor clothes, freshened himself up, and sat on the breakfast table, as I sat on the couch browsing through the daily newspaper. My mother served him some freshly fried luchi (puri, deep fried bread) with some potato dish.
– “You look tired, did you manage to get any sleep during the night?” – my mother continued.
– “Not really, but I wasn’t running around all night either.”
– “I mean, you should take a nap when the workload is relatively less…”
My father looked up from his plate, stared at her face for a moment, and asked;
– “Are you okay?”
– “Yes, of course I am okay. You just look tired.”
– “Well, maybe because I was on duty during the night and didn’t sleep, that’s expected, no? Where is Debu (my brother)?”
– “Debu is still sleeping”
– “What? Isn’t today his marriage registration day? Why is he not awake yet?”
My mother hesitated a bit, and then looked at me with helpless eyes. I assured my father that I will go upstairs and wake him up. The appointment with the Registrar of Marriages was only at 11 am.
As my father was finishing his breakfast, I didn’t waste any time, but went up and tried to wake my brother, whose first expression, as he rubbed his eyes and let out a wide yawn, was the dreaded;
– “Hi Hi Hi Hi….”
– “Dada, wake up now. You have an appointment with the Registrar, today your marriage is supposed to get registered.”
– “Hi Hi Hi Hi….what a joke! I am not married yet!”
My father had walked up the stairs and had entered the room at this point. As he positioned himself behind me, my brother suddenly blinked a few times at my father, and then pointed his finger;
– “Bhai.. look behind you. There is a very dark man standing!”
My father was confused for a moment, but collected himself quickly and turned towards me;
– “What did you give him?”
– “What? Me? What do you mean?”
– “In this family, you are the only spoilt brat. Any misadventure has to have something to do with you. Now, what did you feed him?”
I looked down at the floor, and then softly explained that it was Maha Shivratri, and someone prepared some Siddhi, and I had given just a little to my Dada and Boudi to taste. He nodded his head disapprovingly, and just then, the door opened wide, as my Boudi’s mother (my brother’s mother-in-law) stepped in, along with my mother. She greeted my father and then looked across at my brother and said;
– “Debu, wake up! Time to go to the registrar’s office. Get up now.”
My brother stared at her for a moment, rubbed his eyes to get a clearer view, and then blurted out;
– “Why are you so skinny? No one feeds you?”
I hid my face in embarrassment, my father let out a sigh and turned to my mother, who quickly tried to handle the situation;
– “It’s okay, it’s okay. He had some Siddhi and is still a bit high. Bobby (my Boudi) is fine though, in fact we are both absolutely fine…”
– “We? Don’t tell me, you…”
My mother lowered her head in shame, and then pointed at me;
– “It was all his idea! I swear, I just had a little. Never again!”
My father slapped his own forehead with disbelief, and then walked out of the door, while murmuring;
– “This family is completely messed up!”
