The Difference

“Go…. Go… Gone…”

Suddenly the mobile slipped out of the hands of Sarita Devi, while attending a phone call.

"My mobile….. Aha…." She shouted helplessly. Poor lady. Unable to hold the mobile properly.

"What happened?" Daughter in law Liza came out of the bedroom to enquire and found the handset lying on the floor, totally dismantled. Helplessly her mother in law was lamenting over the incident.

Since long she was using the handset given earlier by her son on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday.

Liza tried to assemble the scattered parts and got relieved to know that the handset still was in running condition. Only the cabinet was broken. Within no times she assured her mother in law that the handset would be alright with a cover on it. While coming from the office she would get the cover from the nearby market.

The old lady was eagerly waiting for the mobile. But she found Liza was returning empty-handed every day. She had to go back to her native place after a few days. Last month she arrived here to spend some good days with her son and daughter in law. Now the day of her departure was coming nearer. Being impatient, she enquired about the mobile cover. Now what Liza would answer?

Actually, she was not visualizing the embarrassment in getting the cover from the market. After all she is a software engineer and her husband is a Deputy General Manager in a reputed Multi National Corporation. It would be the most awkward situation to ask a shopkeeper for a mobile cover of such an old set. If her identity would be disclosed at any moment of time, during the purpose, what would be her image, before onlookers?

Liza was trying to avoid the matter with some imaginative pretext. Meanwhile Sushil (her hubby) came in. finding both the ladies in an unusual posture, he asked jokingly, “Itna sannata kyon hai Bhaaaai (What's the matter of your silence)?”

"Mom has asked me to get a mobile cover for her broken set. But I found it impossible to get the cover of that very old mobile. Better we will purchase a new mobile for her."

"No… No… Not required." The old lady protested. "What’s the use of spending so much money unnecessarily?Purchase of new mobile is not urgent for me. Who I will talk to over phone? Only Rosy (her daughter) is calling me frequently. Otherwise who else?"

"Why? I am not calling you?" Liza countered.

"Oh! Yes… Yes… But…."

Could not tell, “You used to calling me only on weekend. Hardly four times a month. But Rosy used to call me at least four times a day.”