Little Things

TEN DAYS LATER:

“Shubh, careful. Walk slowly. Hold my hand”, said Agastya, as his baby brother was an extremely mischievous kid, and he was sure, if not told repeatedly, he would somehow hurt himself again. The youngest one laughed and said, “Relax bhaiyaa, I am completely fine. Thora toh chalne dijiye, gir nhi jaunga mai! ( let me walk a little, I won’t fall down). Lakshya walked up to his brothers, smiling, “It’s okay Agastya, koshish karne de ise. Hum hai na sambhalne ke liye! ( let him try. We are there to manage). Sighing, the eldest brother nodded his head in understanding. It’s just that, he couldn’t see his brothers and sister in pain. He simply gave them a worried look.

Dadi had been watching the trio attentively, with little Purvi in her arms. Just as she was about to enter their room, Prinku called softly, “ Bhaiyaa….bhai…..bo(bro)” immediately, the trio turned towards the direction of the sound and looked at her, with their eyes as huge and round as saucers. This was the first time the little had called them like this, her speech having developed a little later than kids around her age. Also, they noticed, she had fixed names for all three of them. They stared at the little girl, with a mixture of emotions. Surprise, astonishment, happiness…and what not!

“Oye khoteyo! What are you thinking? Come take your little princess!” Dadi broke the three out of their reverie. That’s when they quickly went to her, and Agastya was the first one to take his little sister in his arms. Seeing him, Purvi reached out to touch his face and said in a babyish voice, “Bhaiyaa…bhaiyaa…” making him smile with tears in his eyes. He was reminded of the time, three and a half years ago, when Shubh had called him “bhaiyaa” for the first time. He had been so overwhelmed, that he had ran around the whole house, with his baby brother in his arms, laughing. When Lakshya had started speaking, Agastya himself was very small. But he remembered distinctly, how he had fallen down from a chair and seeing no one around, little Lakshya had crawled up to him, and called him “Bhai”, then tried to help him out. He had cried more than Agastya that day, and had held his hand tightly, all day long. His brothers and sister have always loved him a lot, just like he loved them with all his heart.

Dadi smiled seeing her beloved grandkids as the two brothers took turns to hold their sister, while Shubh cooed at her all the time. He was still too small to hold a child(…not to forget he is a kid himself). She had always been worried for them because their parents were most of the time busy with their respective work. She was the one who taught Agastya to iron his shirt and Lakshya to brush his bouncy hair. About Shubh, well, he had only one thing to say every time Dadi asked him to start learning how to do things on his own: “Mai abhi bachha hi toh hu na dadi…Sikh jaunga baad me(I’m still a kid, grandma…I’ll learn later on)”

Dadi chuckled thinking of his adorable antics.

Later that evening, when the three were watching cartoons on TV, Avinash and Janvi came back from their 3-day long trip to Europe. They had got the kids a lot of gifts, and a few for Kalyani as well. The couple had gone to Kalyani’s room and handed her the gifts, which included a pair of branded bags and a lovely jewellery box that had intricate designs made of gold all over it, among other things. The box had caught Janvi’s eye while she was returning to their hotel from the meeting, and the first person she could think of to gift it was her mummyji(mother-in-law).

Needless to say, Kalyani had been touched by their love for her. She had always been happy about how her daughters-in-law were like daughters to her, and how both of them considered her their own mother. There were times when Kalyani sided with Janvi and Medha if her sons were wrong. According to her, all of them were her children and as a mother, it was both her right and duty to rectify their mistakes and even rebuke them if needed.

At night, Medha called home. She was working with a rescue team in Chennai, rescuing the people due to the flood. Even after having to work in such risky conditions all day long, she would call up every day to check on her family. When she called, Janvi received it. The moment she heard Medha's voice, she couldn’t help but ask in a voice filled with worry, “Medha, tu thik toh hai na? Din bhar bas kaam hi karti hai ya thora aram bhi karti hai?(Are you alright? Do you keep on working all day long or do you even take some rest?)” Pinky laughed gleefully and replied, “Arey Jiji I am completely fine. Tussi tension na lo.”

A/N: Jiji is a way of calling your elder sister/ sister in law {when her husband and your husband are brothers} The second line is in Punjabi meaning “please don’t worry”

Later that night, Jagruti decided to call Shubh up on Aditi's insistence. Shubh was grudgingly watching Mr. Bean as he had been denied his favourite chips by his mother dearest. He picked up the call and went on full-complain mode, “Jaggu didi you know mumma didn’t let me eat chips! This is not right I am a kid so I should not be denied from eating chips! I am so sad that I am not even able to laugh at Mr. Bean!” Jagruti laughed hearing his plea and then explained to him how anything junk was not good for his health when he was recovering from an injury. She then passed on the phone to her sister who inquired about her friend’s health and asked when was he coming back to school. To her delight, Shubh planned on going to school from the next day onwards. The two friends then wished each other good night and went off to sleep.