” Eat your dinner on time, don’t fight and sleep by latest 10 o’clock “, Anita instructed Aman and Ayan her boys before heading out of the house.
At the main door she waved bye to her brother Aniket who was engrossed in his phone.
Anita was the perpetually exhausted working mother of twin boys who worked in an IT firm , her husband was working as a civil engineer in the Maharashtra government and was posted in a rural area. Once a month he took few days leave to visit his family.
Managing her work, house and the responsibility of ten years old holy terrors had taken a toll on her health but she still didn’t want to stop working as she felt useless sitting at home.
She needed some Me time she thought but she hardly got any, her only social gatherings were kids birthday parties.
Her baby brother Aniket got his job in her city after completing his MBA which was a welcome change for her. During weekends Aniket would visit her and pamper the boys with love and presents.
He often cajoled her to get a social life and would babysit the twins when she attended few of her office social gatherings .
But in the last couple of months Anita noticed some changes in Aniket. Her otherwise chirpy and chatty brother had become quiet.
When he did not visit her for two consecutive weekends Anita was worried and called him.
” Hey busy bee, not getting time for your sister?” , she inquired. ” Aman and Ayan are missing their best friend and partner in crime, do come this Sunday, I’ll prepare biryani for you.” Though Aniket assured her that he would visit, his voice she thought lacked the enthusiasm he showed while referring his nephews.
On Sunday when Anita opened the door she was shocked to see Aniket, his face lacked the youthful glow, dark circles surrounded his eyes and his eyes seemed hollow and lifeless.
When she asked her what happened, he sobbed bitterly in her lap, ” She left me Di, my Riya left me, for just another guy..what was my mistake.” He narrated the story in between sobs.
It broke Anita’s heart to see her baby brother in this state, she consoled him and fed him his favourite biryani.
He promised to visit them every Sunday and Anita could see changes in him when he came over for the weekends. A few months later there was a social gathering in her company and she decided she needed that one evening to rejuvenate after her consent work and home juggle .
She asked Aniket if he could come over on Saturday evening and stay the night with them and he readily agreed.
As he came over that evening he seemed unusually quiet and distant . As she waved him bye he absentmindedly smiled at her while eyes still on his phone.
Riya had posted her wedding date on the office WhatsApp group, she was getting married next month. The guy she had met only few months ago. What did she find in him that she left Aniket just after meeting him, he contemplated.
Aman and Ayan were calling him but Aniket couldn’t take his eyes off the “Save the date” and the smiling image of Riya, so blissfully happy with someone else.
” Come on Mama”, they called again. This time he reluctantly joined the video game they were playing but he couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t take the smiling image of Riya out of his mind. His car hit the pavement several times and all he could see was the GAME OVER written on the screen.
Even with the air conditioner on he could feel his hands clammy and perspiration lining his forehead.
“Let’s have dinner, I am famished and mamma has prepared pasta “, Aman announced. At the dinner table Aman noticed Aniket was jittery and hardly touched his food. He could even see redness in his eyes as he emerged from the washroom after dinner.
As they sat watching TV after dinner Aman could see his favourite person looking anxious and restless .
Aniket’s thoughts still wandered to Riya, wishing he hadn’t met her. But her smiling face and deep eyes haunted him.
By 10:30 they were in bed and Aman could hear the rhythmic snoring of his twin beside him. As sleep evaded him he took out the book he was reading in the afternoon, The Great Expectations.
He must have felt asleep while reading when he was woken by the incessant chimming of the door bell. As he rushed to open the door, Mama must have felt asleep too he thought to himself.
As he opened the door, his mother looked agitated ” Why weren’t you opening the door?, I was standing since last ten minutes”.
” Sorry I fell asleep, Mama must have felt asleep too”, he replied sleepily.
” How was your party?” , he asked as she was entering her room.
One hand on the door knob, as she creaked the door open she gave a ear piercing shriek and fell on the floor.
Aman rushed to help her perplexed and what he saw was the vision that would be etched in his memory forever as the most traumatizing sight. He would cease to be the ever so enthusiastic happy go lucky kid, he would cease to enjoy a game night at home and he would cease to experience the love he had experienced as a nephew. For there inside her mother’s bedroom he saw his favourite person, his Mama, hanging from the ceiling fan using his mother’s saree.
