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      “Ma, Tapan-da pulled me by my ear.”

      “Hush, don’t lie. Why should he do so?”

      “I don’t know. I was standing in the garden lawn; he went there to say, ‘Ma is calling’ and twisted my ear for no reason.”

      “That’s impossible. Okay, I’ll talk to him.” My mother concentrated on massaging my father’s calf muscle to feet.

Ma was not ready to pay attention to what I complained about, rather desperate to maintain the service uninterrupted from her domestic help. My father was very particular in getting his demands met at once, no matter whoever fulfills those – wife, servant or daughter. Baba expected complete submission from his dependents. 

To meet her husband’s erratic and sudden demands along with other household obligations including taking care of her two daughters my mom was ready to compromise to any extent with her domestic help. 

Baba was reading newspaper while receiving a massage and directing his wife the proper way for his pain relief. 

Tapan entered the bedroom to ask the menu for the dinner. Baba ordered him to prepare another cup of tea. 

Ma said, “Half cup. It’s nearly dinner time.” Then she was busy in instructing for the dinner and made sure that roti be served hot to her husband.

I was impatient when my Ma would raise the issue regarding my complaint, but she seemed to have completely forgotten what I had just put forward.

I had to interrupt, “Ma, Tapan-da pulled my ear...”

“I never did it.” Tapan opposed.

“Yes, you did.” I protested.

“O, Tutul, don’t take it seriously. Perhaps he didn’t mean it. Did you, Tapan?”

My mother took her servant’s side to take me both in surprise and anger.

I insisted, “Don’t lie. You did it for the second time. The other day, I wanted to make a chapatti, but you didn’t allow and drove me out from the kitchen pulling my ear.”

“So, you often irritate him. He didn’t do anything wrong.” My father gave his verdict.

“Besides, Tapan is like your elder brother. So don’t react. Now it’s too late to have tea for another round, better to prepare for dinner.” Ma added.

My father yelled in disgust.

Few days later, my sister and I caught my mother privately for sharing something which couldn’t be revealed in front of Baba. “Tapan-da opened his pants and asked Mitul to touch his…”

My mother chuckled and said, “Don’t tell all this nonsense to your baba. He’ll be very angry. Why did you look at, at ...?”

I screamed, “But you must do something Ma...”

“I work from dawn till midnight. Where shall I get another servant if I fire him? If you don’t enjoy him doing so simply avoid.”

Thankfully this time she didn’t utter, “Tapan is like your elder brother. So don’t react.”