Life : The Leveler (Part-II)

(Continuation of Part-I) 

(3) : The Widening Gulf Between the Brothers

"Ashish, the youngest son of Gangadas, was both smart and modern in his outlook, inspired greatly as he was by the brother closest to him, that is, Jash." Grandfather, after dinner, started from where he had left on the previous night. 

"He was pursuing his Master's from Calcutta University when he surprised his elder brother a lot one day by telling him about his crush, Rita, the girl next door. Born in a rich family, she was being home tutored. Tall, slim with long hair cascading down her back, she was an exceptionally good-looking girl. From the day Ashish met her, he found her doe-like eyes hypnotic and irresistible. He fell flat for the girl the first time he talked to her. 

Soon, he would let his eyes feast on the lovely lass either on his way back from university or while playing cricket with his friends in the nearby field on the weekends. That Saturday, his friend had hit the ball high in the air and the ball descended on the roof of Rita's house. 

Ashish, in spite of being soft spoken and shy by nature, was the first to run to the house. The gatekeeper, Ramu, was willing to allow only one of the boys to go up. Ashish was the one in front, so he ran up the ancient stairs of the house. He was getting fed up being unable to find the ball anywhere on the roof when Rita came out. 

"What are you looking for? " She asked him as Ashish got startled by the sudden appearance of the beautiful girl he had always seen from a distance. Up close, she looked even more beautiful. 

"Our ball landed on your roof while we were playing cricket. But I can't find the ball anywhere. Can you please help me find it? "

"I surely will but what do I get in return? "

The teasing tone in which she asked the question took Ashish completely by surprise. "What can I offer a rich girl like you? I am still a college student and don't even …..." Ashish was cut short by the girl with a glint in her eyes. 

"You're quite tall. Can I borrow your height? " She asked him with the liberty and exuberance of youth, making Ashish break into a smile. 

That's how their friendship began. Soon, the two began to run into one another at different places coincidentally.

The first time they went to the cinema hidingly was the day when they came out of the hall, holding hands. There was a problem though. The girl, Rita, belonged to a different caste and they both knew that no matter what, Gangadas, a staunch Hindu brahmin, would never accept a girl belonging to a different caste as his daughter-in-law. 

To cut a long story short, Ashish approached his elder brother, Jash, at Rita's suggestion. When Jash heard about the love affair, he looked uncertain for a while, doubtful about how his father would react to the news. Even then, he promised to help the love-lorns in whatever manner he could. 

Gangadas, by the way, was livid when Jash broached the subject. 

"How can you bring this up to me? How did you think I would react? I know the girl's backgrounds. But I can't accept her as my daughter-in-law."

"Why, baba? The girl is from a good family. She is intelligent, charming and friendly. So, what is wrong with her getting married to Ashu?"

"I don't need to justify myself to you, do I? When I said " No", I meant it."

That afternoon, Jash left his father's room in an extremely agitated state. When three weeks later, Ashish got married to Rita in a simple ceremony at Kalighat, at the Temple of Goddess Kali, Jash, who had a hand in the marriage, was the only witness from his family. 

Things took a turn for the worse when news of the secret marriage got leaked to Gangadas. He decided to cut off all connections with his youngest son and disown him. It was Jash again who came to Ashish's rescue. After a lot of verbal duets, the father and the son decided to accept the erring couple back into their folds provided Ashish with his bride, shifted up to the only room on the second floor.

Ashish though, for some inexplicable reason, came to believe that his elder brother Jash was responsible for the news of their secret marriage having been leaked to his father earlier than necessary, and the unfair manner in which his newly-wedded bride was dealt with. He could never forgive Jash for what was apparently no fault of his (Jash's) own. 

After the demise of their father, Ashish started leaning towards Harish more. 

"I'm going to have a tube-well dug in my corner of the house. I've already talked to Rita's people about my intention, and the plumbers will come and start working on it within a day or two."

Jash heard his youngest brother talking to the other brother, Harish, one day. Soon, a washroom was constructed around the tube-well and Ashish did not bother to tell Jash anything about all this.

A few months later, Ashish took Girish, the son of Harish, on a trip to Puri, a sea resort in the borders. When Jash heard two of his offspring discussing the Puri trip, he was dumbfounded. The kids were right. 'Ashish Kaka (uncle) could have at least invited one of them to the trip.'

The final straw was when one evening, Parbati, the youngest daughter of late Gangadas, informed her elder brother how Ashish had grumbled about Jash and his supposedly autocratic behavior. 

"Chhorda (brother), why do your sons always come forward like street urchins to pick up a verbal duet with Ashu (the nickname of Ashish) over trivial issues?" Parbati asked her brother. "Ashu told me," she continued, "he could have easily taught a lesson or two to the wild boys had they not been your sons."

Jash was too stunned again to respond to his sister's misconception about his children. 

Anyway, relations between the brothers were not the same anymore till Ashu's untimely death at his daughter's residence in New Town.

The second of the persons, who wanted Jash out of the ancestral house, too breathed his last away from the house. 

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(4) : In Life, One Reaps The Fruits of One's Karma.

"Ashish spent the last years at his daughter's place at New Town. He died away from home much before his time! And surprise of surprises, the nephew who wanted Jash out, Mahesh had half of his tongue cut off when he was diagnosed with cancerous cells spreading over his tongue and around the inside of his mouth. 

Having fallen down on the road while out on a morning stroll, Mahesh was rushed to the nearby hospital. He suffered a massive stroke on the way to the Apollo Nursing Home. The doctor took a look at the inert body and declared him 'brought dead'. 

That's why I say that Life is a great leveler, Didibhai. In this Life, one reaps the fruits of one's karma. So, be mindful of how you deal with others, dear Trisha. Be always inquisitive, informed, and never ever be ungrateful to the people who love you dearly. Do you understand?"

Stretching my hands forward around his neck, I replied, 

"Oh, how I loved the story! So Jash's story, Grandpa, is your story, right? Jash is, in fact, none other than you. Right?"

"Hmn ...you are a smart one, Didibhai. How did you get to that?" Grandpa, bemused, asked me. 

"Because Jash was the character I liked most in the story and Dad always says that there can be no human better than you in this world."

Both grandpa and I broke out in a rapturous laughter. 

The end