Sanket’s birthday party

Mukul stopped at the entrance of the palatial home of his sister. The serial lights lit up the whole lane and were very attractive. Festive buntings lined the way while soft instrumental music was being played in the background. The party was in full swing with hundreds of guests greeting each other merrily. Food and drink were aplenty and smacked of high society. Mukul felt out of place but he could not refrain from attending the first birthday party of his nephew. His sister, Mukta had called him the previous day to say that his nephew, Sanket was turning one the next day. He was unsure whether she had called to invite him or merely to inform him. Nevertheless, being the only mama of Sanket, he decided to attend the party.

He sat on the string cot musing. His mind traveled just three years back. Having graduated from a prestigious agricultural university, he was very efficiently managing the vast farmlands left behind by his father. Mukta was in the hostel of a city college pursuing her B.A course. She was in her final year and would soon be back home. Mukul was already on the lookout for a suitable groom for her, but she had already found herself a match.

Bhupender was the manager of a bank where Mukta was maintaining her account. Mukta first met him on a rainy day when autos and taxis were off the road. She was organizing a cultural fest in the college and had stayed back to finalize some arrangements. Since the hostel was just a kilometer away, she let her friends go. Once the job was done, she picked up her bag and left for the hostel. As she reached the college gates, it started raining. She ran to the bus shelter to shield herself from the rain. She was waiting for an auto or taxi for quite some time. She was also surprised to note that there was no movement on the road which would otherwise have been quite busy. She had been waiting for more than an hour and it was nearing 9.30 and she had to reach the hostel within half an hour. Just then a car slowed and stopped near her. 

She saw the car window rolled down and a familiar face smiling at her. He told her that there was an altercation between an auto driver and a bus driver and that all the taxis, rickshaws, and buses were on a lightning strike and it was futile to wait there. He offered to drop her in the hostel on his way home. Mukta had no option and so agreed. Bhupender however knew her as his bank's customer and a valuable one at that. A few days after Mukta had opened her account in his branch, a sum of Rs.10 lacs was transferred to her account by RTGS which Bhupender had to authorize. He was surprised that a college student's account was credited with this sum. He called Mukta to inform her of the credit. Later whenever Mukta visited the branch, he would meet her and slowly got to know all about her. Mukta too was impressed by him and carried a good opinion of him. 

Within a few minutes, they had reached the hostel and she got down profusely thanking him. Gradually they met more frequently and started liking each other. Soon they realized that they were made for each other. Mukta waited for her exams to get over so that she could tell her brother and introduce them to each other. 

When she returned home, she spoke to her brother about Bhupender and was happy when he readily agreed to proceed further. He was relieved that she had taken a burden off his shoulders. The very next day, he set off to meet Bhupender's parents to finalize the wedding. Bhupender's father was an investment advisor and was quite well-to-do. At first, he was reluctant to have a farmer's sister as his daughter-in-law, but when he came to know the credit worthiness of Mukul, he relented. Bhupender's mother took an immediate liking to the soft-spoken Mukta and the wedding was fixed a fortnight hence.

Mukul arranged a lavish wedding and saw to it that all the guests were very well looked after. They all left saying that they had never seen such meticulous arrangements at any wedding so far. Mukul also gave them costly gifts and a variety of sweets which impressed even Bhupender's father.

The newly married couple spent their honeymoon overseas and when they returned, settled down into a happy and peaceful new life. Mukul was very happy to see her radiant face whenever he visited her. A year rolled by and after a few months, Mukta shared the good news that she was a mother-to-be. Both Mukul and Bhupender were beside themselves with joy. Both of them took great care of her and would not allow her to exert at all. Bhupender insisted that Mukul should come and stay with them so that when he went on official trips, he could look after her.

At first, Mukul was a little hesitant but then saw reason and agreed. He left the farmlands in charge of a reliable caretaker and shifted to Mukta's house. As an uncle-to-be, he was excited and took the greatest care of Mukta and kept her happy and cheerful, fulfilling each and every whim of hers. When a baby boy was born, it was the turn of Bhupender's family to celebrate the event. As a mama. Mukul transferred more than half the share of his property in the names of Mukta and Bhupender.

Once the baby was born, Mukul was keen on getting back to his farm life. The city had lost its charm during the past year and he felt that life here was superficial and meaningless. No one cared for the other. 

So, he came back to his favorite farms. As luck would have it, the day he reached his village, the rains started. It poured and poured incessantly for over a week that the nearby river which had been dry for more than a year, was in spate and flooded all the neighboring farmlands. Mukul saw nature's fury for the very first time in his life. He was shattered. He had gifted away the prime property to his sister and this part was elevated and had not suffered the wrath of the floods, whereas all his lands were under water. He had lost his all and that too overnight!

Mukta too came to know of the floods and called up Mukul. She sympathized with him for his loss but was soon quick to enquire about her property and asked that the yield from her lands be sent to her at the earliest. Mukul was taken by surprise. He never expected this from his own sister. She had forgotten all that he had done for her and how well he had taken care of her and did not even bother to offer him any help. 

On his part, he did not take it to heart but sent the proceeds of the yield on her farms at once. Never did she even suggest that he could keep some of it to himself as he was in need of it. That hurt Mukul a lot. He recollected the good old times they both spent together and it pained him all the more.

When the waters had receded, he decided to sell his land and start a new business. As can be expected, when he needed funds very badly, he had to settle for a very low price as there were very few buyers. After the sale deed had been executed, he came to know that the buyer was none other than Bhupender's cousin.

Having sold all his property, he found himself in a small shack and started to live there. With the money he got, he bought two trucks and took them to the transport business. All went well for a few months and Mukul thought that happy days were here again, but once more, Dame Luck did not favor him. This time, one of the trucks fully laden with ceramic tiles capsized. Before he could recover from this loss, police reached his house to take him to the station for questioning.

His client who had declared that he was loading jaggery powder in the truck had smuggled brown sugar in the consignment. Receiving a tip-off, the truck was seized and Mukul was taken into custody. Mukul was crestfallen. Not only did he lose everything, but also his sister showed no concern for his plight. With whatever money was left with him, Mukul engaged a lawyer to plead his case and somehow got himself freed.

It was in such circumstances that Mukta called. He knew that he would be looked down upon by her in-laws but could not resist attending the function to bless his nephew. He did not have much money to buy a grand present for Sanket, but on the way to his sister's house, he stopped to get a toy which he got gift-wrapped.

When he reached her house, he felt he was a misfit there. He decided to wait outside the gate till the cake was cut and then quietly go in to wish his nephew. Soon enough, everyone was asked to assemble for the cake-cutting. After the cake was cut, one by one the guests started to greet the boy and hand over their gifts. Some were big and some were small, but there was no doubt that each of them was very expensive. 

Mukul shied away and stood in a corner watching everything. As the guests started wishing the child, Sanket started to cry. The cry soon developed into a scream and nobody could quieten him. Some guests opened their gifts to distract him with the toys and musical instruments but nothing had any effect on Sanket. On the contrary, his wailing made him breathless and it was obvious that the child would soon faint. Mukul could not control himself any longer. He pushed his way into the crowd and grabbed the child from his sister's hands and sang the lullaby he used to sing for Mukta when she was a kid. He also opened his gift and started pushing and pulling a toy butterfly fixed to a plastic stick that jingled at each movement. 

All of a sudden there was silence and Sanket started laughing at the moving butterfly. What all the expensive gifts could not achieve, this frivolous toy and lullaby had comforted the child.

"Bhaiyya" came Mukta's voice. "Please forgive me. I am ashamed of myself. I forgot all that you have done for me and behaved in the most wicked manner. Please, please forgive me", she pleaded.

Mukul gave the happy child back to her and left the party.