Rathin Bhattacharjee

Children Stories

4  

Rathin Bhattacharjee

Children Stories

Sis Sends Me A Rakhi After Donkey's Years

Sis Sends Me A Rakhi After Donkey's Years

5 mins
436



I called Sis from my new work place at night. The school had decided earlier in the day to celebrate the Raksha Bandhan Festival in the seventh period on that day itself, keeping in mind the worrying issue of the syllabus coverage for the forthcoming Half-Yearly Exams. 

" My students tied a lot of rakhis on my wrist today. While they were doing that, I was getting very nostalgic thinking of you all the time. How you never let go of a Rakhi Day without tying a rakhi on my wrist ….. "

Sis listened quietly to my emotional outburst from the other end before uttering," Did you enjoy your students tying the rakhis? Good then. Did you offer them some sweets as well?"

She couldn't see it but I was shaking my head at my end. 

"No," I replied before adding, "I didn't have the money. But I will once I get my salary."

Sis has always been like that. Older by some two and half years, she always has been my shield. I still remember that day in Class-IV, Sis had got admitted to another local school by then. Timid, shy by nature, I felt lost being left to fend for myself on my own in Sarada Sishu Vidyavan. That was the worst day of my life. Just before the school got over, I made my pants messy in the bathroom. The Masi, who took care of us, was a very pugnacious, middle-aged lady. I was scared of her, thinking about her reaction when she found me out in the bathroom. She did soon and gave me a free harangue from her incorrigible tongue. 

I started crying silently, not knowing what to do. As I stood in a corner, lost, scared and helpless, I saw Sis approaching. She must have been informed by someone from school. Though she was just two and half older than me, Sis did a masterly job that day. As she had studied in the same school in the previous year and was everyone's favourite, the Masi stopped giving a free flow to her tongue the moment she saw Sis.

That was the earliest recollection of my Sis turning out to be an angel, a Messiah for me. Later, as we grew up, every time I felt that I was in any kind of danger, everytime I felt threatened and insecure, I didn't hesitate to share my problems with her. 

I still remember how she quarreled with a distant sister-in-law when I told Sis about how unfairly she (the sister-in-law) had treated me. Sis didn't wait to hear her (the sister-in-law's) version of the incident. She had so much faith in my, in my honesty. 

As she started heading towards the sister-in-law's room, I became panicky and started uttering a prayer. I knew that Sis wouldn't hesitate to give that sister-in-law a piece of her mind. And she did while I stood behind her with my head bent low. 

#############################

My bro-in-law summed it up very eloquently when he reached me to the Bus stand in order to get back home one night. I had paid a visit to their house at Karbala Tank Lane as usual. The in-laws of my Sis were very nice people and I was treated to a sumptuous dinner. It was almost 10 at night when I took my leave from them. 

My bro-in-law, one of the nicest humans I have had the good fortune of coming across in this life, was accompanying me to the Bus Stand. He must have been extremely fatigued as he was a bank employee and stayed back in his branch till quite late. 

From his branch in Dalhousie, he had to go to his Gift Shop in the posh New Market just opposite Globe Cinema. So, he couldn't be home before 9 or 9.15 at night. Despite his apparent exhaustion, he was his usual cordial self that night. To be honest, I never found him forgetting his duties. He even had some choicest dishes delivered from outside. 

As we hit the road, he offered me a stick of Filter Will's. I was puffing out the smoke after he had helped me light the cigarette, when he told me something a bit harshly for the first time. Things hadn't been going smoothly in his life. He was being made a scapegoat by my own people. He was a human after all. He caught me off guard by saying, "You have always USED your Sis, Bappa."

I was stunned for he had never used that tone while talking to me before. Besides, he wasn't being far from the truth while accusing me. Realising that my bro-in-law had so much going on in his life, all I could tell him was, " I know what you are hinting at. But am to be blamed if Sis picked up a quarrel with every Tom, Dick and Harry on my behalf everytime I shared some problems with her?"

My bro-in-law, a gem of a human that he was, had by then, recovered himself somehow and didn't say anything more as we found a 33 coming our way. 

That was the kind of love Sis had for me. She became a motherly figure once my Ma passed away. After my marriage, there were a lot of problems between her and my wife as a result. But, that I reckon, is another story. The thing was Sis thought the world about me like most other sisters of our generation. To her, her youngest brother, was the most innocent, simple, adorable and the best brother anyone could have. She never failed to put the 'tika' on my forehead every Bhatree Dwitiya day (Brother's Day). Nor did she ever fail to tie the rakhi around my wrist if I was home. 

And the best thing about Sis was her selfless nature. Though she never failed to tie the rakhi along with sweets, she never expected anything in return. In fact, she once told me that she stopped tying the rakhi to her brothers when her husband (the bro-in-law I loved more than I loved some of my own brothers), remarked jokingly to her that she used to pay us a visit on the Raksha Bandhan Day to fatten her wallet! 

Those days were some of the best days of my life and aren't likely to come back again. 

As I was going through my WhatsApp notifications the next day, I found the picture of a lovely rakhi in Sister's with the message :

"Please put it on today."

I replied, "I will. Stay blessed. Lucky to have a Sister like you."


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