Echoes of the Past

Lalit Mohan

Lalit Mohan Mitra had a good name as a general physician, and after his first wife died, he got married again. From his first wife, he had three sons and two daughters. Lalit Mohan was earning enough to look after his big family. His second wife died in childbirth. She died giving birth to her seventh child. The youngest son was only two years old when his mother died.

The second son, from his first wife, Jagat Mohan, who was now working for a private company, had taken hold of the family. Lalit Mohan used to look after his patients, but now, due to his age, the hours are less.

Chotu

Here is the youngest brother, who was looked after by his sisters, but they too had to go to school. There were a few servants working, but Chotu was mostly neglected. Slowly, Chotu grew up to be four and started going to school, but he had always been fearful of his brother, Jagat. For small mistakes, he used to beat Chotu mercilessly. Most of his elder sisters were married and had left home. Jagat was like a terror at home, and though his sisters, who were unmarried, felt the pain, none had the courage to say anything to Jagat.

Slowly, things were going out of control, and one day after college, the sisters found their 10-year-old brother standing outside with a torn shirt and wiping the salty liquid with his hand. Anita went in and asked the cook, 'Brojo da, what happened? Brojo was scared to open his mouth, but now Anita had a fire in her eyes. When she found the truth, she waited for Jagat to come home, and then she wanted an explanation for beating up Chotu repeatedly, who had lost his mother when he was two.

Jagat was taken aback, as no one had the courage to speak like this. Now that readers see what Jagat has to say, ‘Even I do not have a mother’, Anita was wild with anger and said, 'Dada, you are 27 and you shamelessly compare with Chotu?’

That day, it was like a celebration at home. Lalit Mohan, who was now an old man, had tears in his eyes, and tears of joy, and praised Anita for being brave to face her brother.

Things were not always the same, and at the end of that year, Anita got married, and slowly, within a year, Chotu's two more sisters got married, leaving him alone. Many years ago, the only way of communicating was through letters. The little boy used to keep all his letters written by his sisters in his book. One day, when it was raining and he opened the book, the wind blew fiercely, and all the pages got torn and scattered on the ground. Somehow he managed a few and held them tightly.

Time flies, and after his 12th exams, he sat for the railway exams for a clerical job with the help of an Uncle. A few months later, he joined the railroad and left home. Later, he got married, but he carried the fear with him. Often, he would have bad dreams and get up in the night. In all his tenure, he was only once promoted, and somehow he could never be happy.

He always lacked confidence and had low self-esteem. Readers, how innocent people become victims of wrongs done to them. How their lives are shamelessly ruined. An example is, ‘Chotu’.