Sibling Tale – Our Love and Hate, Sweet and Sour Relationship

I welcomed my baby brother, Rahul when I was around 2 years. We grew up together as best pals and even wicked enemies for life. I remember and miss the time when we would wait for our birthdays and made plans for it. Those may not be very fancy days but were surely the best days of our lives when we were together and celebrated not just our birthdays but also every day with each other. We found happiness in every small silly thing that we did together.

Fighting and then soon patching up, sharing secrets & then blackmailing each other for revealing them, fighting for the room, TV remote, last bite of our favorite meal, hiding the sandwich in the jeans pocket and showing it to the other once one finishes his/her share, singing the same song and teasing, giving funniest names & playing pranks with others was the best fun I ever had.

Every evening, our terrace was our favorite spot for playing pranks with neighbors and giving them funny names like hajari, khurpi, Anil Kapoor and what not (hope none of them read this). Till today, we mention those people by these names only and laugh our hearts out. The best part is nobody knows about our mischiefs to date. “Deceptive looks”, as we call it.

Once we packed the used empty pen refill in the new packet and kept it in the center of the road right in front of our home and waited for one of our neighbors to come and pick it. We knew who would come and notice it. And there he was…He came, saw, looked around and finally picked it up, as we anticipated. We were looking at everything hiding at a place, not visible to him. We laughed like crazy when he was agitated to find it was an empty refill and threw it. That empty refill filled our hearts with immense joy.

Another silly incidence was when one of our relatives visited us and commented on my brother’s notebook “ewww ye cheente jese handwriting kiski hai” and to date, we laugh recalling that. That relative forgot the incident but we didn’t. We discuss and mimic that aunt in front of her only and she too laughs with us, unaware we are talking about her only. Cheeky I know, but that’s how we are when together.

Despite all the mischiefs, both of us have a decent image in front of the family members. People often tell their kids, “learn from Rahul Parul (our nicknames), they are so inspiring”, and we look at each other, do a happy dance in our hearts and wonder what inspiration they will get from our duo.

As we grew up, we shared our crushes with each other and were partners in crime in making calls or fixing meetings. When we chose our life partners, we shared with each other first.

We have never been vocal about our feelings for each other but when we parted ways and I went to the hostel for higher studies and got busy in a new life, a call from my mother shook me up. ‘Call Rahul sometimes, he was crying today that didi yaad nhi karti’. It broke my heart and I immediately called him but he was as usual crazy on the call without any grudges.

We fight like anything but we can’t see each other in even minutest of pain. No matter how sad or tired or irritated I am, he knows how to cheer me up. He has the magic wand which takes all my worries away. Mere his presence does wonders. He can’t see anyone raising finger on me. Though he is younger to me, I always feel he is a much-matured person as his actions are so thoughtful.

He not only fights with me but also is the biggest enemy of my best friend. They fight like cats and dogs but never sandwich me in between. Honestly, I love their crazy and violent bond.

When we lost Papa two years back, he suddenly grew up overnight. The way he takes care of the little things amazes me and I feel so secure. He inherited a healthy sense of humor from Papa and creates magic in a few words. I see Papa’s reflection in him.

And now my heart swells with happiness seeing the camaraderie between my daughters and his son. I can see the same bond of friendship blossoming. They love and fight the same way as we did. They long to be with each other and the spark in their eyes when they meet is priceless to witness.

He is my first friend in life and I know I can share any stupid thing with him because only he can understand it and laugh on my jokes. My bond with him is priceless.

I would lie if I say I have just one sibling. I have three more brothers, my cousins, whom I love the same way as Rahul. Rahul is my baby and the rest three are my Big B’s.

The eldest one whom I call Badriya is a father figure to me. We share a bond of silence and respect. The way he takes care of everything in the family is commendable. He has not taken birth from the same womb but is the eldest of my siblings. My mother introduces him as her “Bada Beta” to everyone and he addresses her as his “Chhoti Maa”. Whenever Mummy breaks down remembering Papa, he is the one who comforts her the most. He is the biggest blessing in our family and not just I but of us look up to him for anything or everything.

Another Big B, Ashish Bhaiya whom I call Mota Bhai is settled in the US and it has been almost a decade since we met. He taught me how to spell the words and other basics of the English language. He always asked me to stop scribbling all my notebook’s last page and focus on the studies. I still remember the pic clicked on my first day of school when I went with him and my parents. Once he forgot to wish me on my bday, the next day he messaged, “Jisko godi me khilaya usi ko wish karna bhi bhool gaya”. And we both cried. On my wedding day, he was elated to see me as a Dulhan and I could see the tears of happiness in his eyes.

And now my youngest brother, Vineet Bhaiya who is my chai partner. People say we resemble a lot but he always teases me saying he looks better than me. We fight on this topic to date every time we meet. I share the strongest bond with him as we don’t have much age difference. We discuss our problems, careers, kids, family, life and everything under the sun. He is my go-to person for anything.

As I was the only unmarried daughter in the family, I was the most pampered one. Papa and my Uncles (Taujis) always favored me. Be it while playing cricket and getting multiple chances to bat, or winning any discussion, etc. Rahul and Vineet Bhaiya envied me and always used to say ‘We are waiting for your wedding day, will call the dhol wala after your bidaai and then will do our freedom dance’.

But Rahul was the one to hug me tight and wipe my tears during the feras and bidaai when I was crying like a baby. And Vineet Bhaiya deliberately disappeared from the bidaai scene but I saw him crying. They cried with me and I tease them always now saying, “tum log kyu roye fir”. And they say, “We were trying ki tum na ro else makeup kharab ho jata to jijaji aur baki sab log dar jaate“. They always manage to make me laugh no matter how sad I am.

All five of us live in different cities/countries, we wait for get-togethers and relive those moments. I miss those days of playing chuppan-chhupai, chain chain, antakshari, eating kulfi from the roadside vendor and endless gossips when there were power cuts and we used to rush to our terrace. Today, we remember and miss those days dearly. We share our silly dreams and talks till date and laugh till our jaw aches.

I may not express my love to them but my brothers are the pillars of my life and I bank upon them totally. Though we don’t talk or meet daily, our bond and warmth in our relationship remain the same. Thanks to the technology that connects all of us and we get to see and talk whenever we wish to. I am glad I participated in this Sibling Talk Sibling Stories blog train and got a chance to pen down and express my love for my brothers.