Saturday, May 24, 2008

My innocent brother...

Hi friends! I'm back with another new post on this Saturday. It's always very nice to think about our childhood. Those are the days that everyone likes to go back to. I think, there is hardly any person that doesn't like his days as a cute little child with lots of enthusiasm, energy and innocence.

From the times when I was a little boy, I have been considered to be a very good boy who doesn't even know how to be naughty. My brother was exactly opposite. He was considered to be bad. This is correct in almost all the cases. I am going to tell you an incident which is an exception to the above assumptions.

We were very little. I think I was 6 years old and my brother was 4. We used to have small shop which is the only one in our village of around 100 houses. My parents and grandparents would be busy with it and we had to study at hour home alone even at nights. In those good old days, we didn't have electric current in our village, not even the street lights. (We got the power supply to our village when I was 10 years old). We used to sit in the dim lights of lanterns that run with kerosene. Their lighting was very low that doesn't even throw the darkness to a few feet of distance. As we were children, we had heard lots of stories about ghosts and devils from our friends and elders. Hence, when we were kept alone at home at nights on the pretext of study, we used to afraid a lot about those monsters. So, we hardly blink our eyes. We wouldn't even talk to each other. In fact, we wouldn't study at all. Only, few children used to study in our village. My parents insisted us to study well and to be in a good position in life. Hence, they always used to ask us to sit and study. But, we used to find some times and ways to skip our study sessions and play with our friends.

We had a small area of land far from our village. My parents and grand parents used to cultivate that too. It was mid December and the time to get the paddy to our home. All others of my family were already there. My father also had to go there. We were waiting for him to leave so that we can play. But, he dropped a bomb shell saying that he wasn't going anywhere and watch us from outside. He did so for a while and he left. But, we were so innocent as of our age and studied (??) with our heads bowed down. After some time we realized that nobody was watching us. But, we had the fear deep in our heart that my parents may come at anytime. Hence, we didn't move. As the time passed, we got bored and started playing with the chalk piece. I started throwing it up in the air and catching it. My brother also started it soon. Then, we had a bet to throw it higher and catch. This was continued until, I threw it higher but could not catch. As a result, it was broken. We were afraid a lot about my father. He used to be very strict and very often we would be punished for simple mistakes. The thought of punishment threatened us more than the punishment itself.

My father returned soon after that. My brother ran to him and complained about it as soon as he came. But, I claimed that, it wasn't me but, my brother had broken the chalk. My past clean record saved me and my father very soon believed that my brother was the culprit.

He started to get the truth (??) out of him by threating. He said finally, "Ok, I'll leave if you say the truth, I'll lock you in the house and burn it otherwise". My brother started crying instantly. He was asking 'Will you really burn me?". My father said, 'Yes', firmly. Then my brother repeated, "Will you really burn me with this new dress?". I think, my father must be controlling very hard not to laugh. He said "YES". Then my brother said, "Ok then, It was me who had broken the chalk piece", he added "I'm saying the truth, so, leave me as you said".

Actually, he loves that new dress. Because, he wants to be a doctor and it looks like a doctor's apron. My father left my brother as he promised after a taking a class on the need to be honest. I sighed and felt relief then. I pretended like I ignored the pricking looks of my growling brother.

This is one of the few incident I always remember and laugh a lot. I posed my innocent brother as the culprit. :). And, It's time to confess. Sorry Ravi...

2 comments:

K Vinay Kumar said...

grt narration.. man u can make wonders i think.. keep posting..

the way you have started and narrated the story is superb.. keep up..

Harry said...

I was talking about my innocent kid brother. Time changes everything. My brother is no exception. The tenderness has gone it seems. I'm waiting patiently to see him again as lovable as he was.

Ravi, I hope you can understand what I mean. Your life is still in your hands. When every day is a new beginning of the rest of the life, I hope, you'll start it afresh. Wish you good luck. God bless you.