I vaguely remember this incident. My mother was pregnant. It was some festival and I went to a fair with my father. My mom wanted us to bring a picture of Bal Gopal instead I made my father buy a picture of a cute baby brother. I gave it to mom and told “I got bhai”. That was the first face I gave to the word brother.
The only day in my reminiscence so lucid is the day my brother was born - 6th January 1989. That day it was drizzling since morning. There was a total blackout in Punjab since the two assassins of Indira Gandhi were being executed. All shops were closed and there was barely any soul seen in the streets.
I was at a family friend’s house. Baba entered and told me that I will be getting to meet my baby brother today. I was ecstatic. That day baba’s scooter stopped working abruptly so we took a rickshaw for hospital. I can still feel the smell of wet earth and dank rickshaw cover. We reached hospital and we went to see ma. She was wearing a blue gown. Ma was anxiously waiting for me to reach hospital. She was very critical and she did not want to leave for operation without meeting me. I remember her telling me "Tinny, ma loves you and take care of yourself. Study well.” I don’t think at that time I really comprehended the gravity of the situation. I was blissfully lost in the thought that today is the day I will get my playmate, my companion.
After ma went into OT, I was taken to my father’s colleague’s house. His parents use to work in that hospital so their flat was inside hospital premises. I was sitting down on floor. My father’s colleague’s mother offered me cookies, paratha and especially requested me to sit on a couch. It was a freezing January afternoon in Ludhiana. I just wanted to be left alone.
After hours of waiting I saw Mita aunty and Paul aunty coming. They said in a loud voice “You have a baby brother!”. That was not news to me. My sister instinct knew this from the day my parents informed me that I will have a sibling. I always knew it will be a brother.
I wanted to go and see him but they said I have to wait for some more time. That really exasperated me. After a while baba took me to meet my little brother. He was the cutest child I have ever seen. Tiny hands and feet, cutest face and head covered with beautiful black hair. Baba had bought a small jar of honey. Baba enlightened me with the information that the first person who will make him taste sweet is the person he will love the most. So I took little honey and put it in his mouth. In few seconds he did green toilet. I got scared. I asked baba “Did he not like me?”. As it turns out later, he did.
We have spend very few yrs together living in the same house. I left home for engineering when I was 18yrs and at that time he was only 9.5 yrs but it has never felt that we didn’t live long enough together. We were always a thought away. I love and care him the most and will always be. I can do anything to ensure a happy life for him. I wish I could take all his sorrows and miseries and just fill his life with happiness.
He has entered into a new phase in his. He is in engineering college now. When he was a child he was my best buddy, my playmate. He has always been there for me, supporting me always in whatever I did. Now he is not just my kid brother but also a genuine friend and a confidant. As times passes our relationship will grow stronger and maturer. He is my strength, my pride. I hope he realizes someday that he has lot of potential and he needs to work really hard to reach where he deserves to be. I love you bhai and will always be there to watch your back.
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