(Mumbai, 2010)
( Basu Mansion)
(Lavishly decorated dining hall)
As it is eight past ten in
the morning, four maids are engaged in making preparations for the breakfast
while a person clad in elegant night robes is sitting on the chair of the head
of the house, the only chair with which the rows on both the sides of the table
commences. He is engrossed in reading
the newspaper. His concentration breaks when a sweet, melodious voice asks him :
" Kya aaj Mr. Subhankar Basu ko office jane ki jaldi nehi hain jo itne aaram se
akhbar mein dubein hue hain?" To this Mr.Basu folds up the
newspaper and looks up and with a cheerful smile turns around only 2 see his
wife standing beside him. Subhankar: " Ab isme humari
kya galti hain Mrs. Aparna Basu, aapko jo ekbaar dekh le wo toh kahin aur jane
ka naam bhi nehi lega." Aparna (blushing): " Aap bhi
na, na log dekhte na jagah, bas suru ho jaate hain." (And glances sideway to
the maids) Subhankar, feigning
astonishment,: " Arey par maine
kya kiya?" Aparna: "Ab isse jyada aur
kuch karne ki jaroorat nehi, chaliye naasta kijiye." Subhankar smiles, sensing his
wife's awkwardness and deciding not to drag the matter further, replies: " Wo
toh hum kar hi lenge lekin yeh Abhishek kahan reh gaya, wo toh kabhie…" He is cut in between with a
young man coming downstairs: "Good Morning Papa, sorry main thora late ho gaya. Actually kal aapne
jo file mujhe diya tha uspar kaam karte hue thora der ho gaya. But the good news is that my
presentation is ready. I'm all set for the meeting today." He comes downstairs and first
takes his mother's blessings by touching her feet and then goes to take his
father's blessings who puts his hand on his son's head and says with utmost
pride: "I always knew u r the one whom I can trust upon to complete the
presentation at such a short notice. I'm proud of u my son." Abhishek: " Thanx Papa." Aparna: " Wo toh hain. Humara
Abhishek hain hi itna zimmedar. Lekin bas ab aur kaam ki baat koi nehi karega.
Pehle breakfast kar lo fir dono baap beta kaam mein dub jaana." Subhankar glances
meaningfully at Abhishek and replies: "As you wish your highness." And all the three of them
laugh heartily. All of a sudden Subhankar notices that the chair on his left is
still vacant. Realizing now the absence of the naughtiest and the most beloved
member of his family, he turns to Aparna. Subhankar: " Toh Aparnaji
kahan hain apka ladla? Abhi tak soke nehi utha na? uff din ba din bigarta ja
raha hain yeh ladka aur yeh sab apke aur apke bare bete ke laad pyar ka natija
hain. Pata nehi kab sudhrega yeh ladka. Humesha apni hi mann marji ka karta
rehta hain." Aparna : "Arey toh kya hua
agar wo thori der jyada so gaya
toh. Aur mana ki wo thora shararti hain par bacche shararat nehi karenge toh
aur kaun karega bhala. (Then in an almost threatening voice) Dekhiye aap bilkul
use nehi datenge, abhi uthati hu main usko." And she leaves. Subhankar, making sure that
Aparna is at a safe distance and cannot overhear him, says to Abhisek, who is
grinning as he is quite accustomed to this fight between his mom n dad
regarding his younger brother always resulting in the defeat of his dad,:
"Dekha tumne Abhi, ye larka kuch bhi kare iski ma ko kuch najar hi nehi aata.
Aparna ki laad pyar ne bigar ke rakha hua hain is larke ko. Aur kya kaha tumhari maa
ne shararat bacche karte hain hain na! Wo humesha baccha hi rahega agar isi
tarah uski maa uski dhaal bankar khari rahegi toh.' Abhishek smiles and replies : 'Papa aap toh jante hi hain wo aisa hi
hain aur humesha se aisa hi tha, bahut jiddi aur utna hi shararti. Agar wo kuch decide kar le toh use koi nehi rok sakta.
Par papa aap fikar kyun karte hain, main hoon na, uska bara bhai, use is duniya
ke har dhup se bachane ke liye. Papa mere rehte koi pareshani use chu bhi nehi
sakti.' Subhankar shakes his head
with a smile and says: "Wah kya baat hain, aise ma aur bara bhai ke hote hue
yeh larka bara hoga bhi toh kaise. Na iski maa ko iski galtiyan dikhti hain aur
fir uska bara bhai to hain hi uske sari shararton ko chupane ke liye." Abhishek smiles cheerfully as
he knows that though his father pretends to become angry with his naughty,
younger son but he loves him the most and though he doesn't make a display of
it, his father cherishes a liking for the naughty and chirpy nature of his
younger son. Aparna climbs upstairs and reaches the landing of the
first floor from where starts a beautifully decorated corridor which ends at
the door of a room. Aparna, after covering the
distance with quick steps and reaching the room right at the end of the
corridor, pushes the door a little and finds it unlocked as usual. Smiling to
herself, she now pushes it open and enters the room. She has tripped over
something and is about to topple down but she prevents herself from losing her
balance, clutching the wall beside her for support. When she looks down she
finds the floor is littered with a lot of both necessary and unnecessary
things, ranging from a pen to a designer wear, and everything is scattered here
and there. As this has been an usual sight to her for as long as 15 yrs now and
as she is quite used to the untidy and careless nature of her son, she, instead
of being shocked, smiles to herself and mutters: "Agar iske papa ne kamre ko is
halat mein dekh liya hota toh subah subah ek aur mahabharat suru ho jaata." She starts picking up those
scattered things and arranging them in order. After almost completing the task,
she glances at the figure lying on the bed, covered in blanket, and then
reaching the windows, she opens them wide, letting the sunbeams to enter the
room. Now she reaches the bed and sits beside her son. Putting her hand
affectionately over her son, she shakes him slightly and says in her sweet,
melodious voice: "Get up baby, its time to get up now. Mera raja beta, chalo
abhi uth jao. Subah ho gayi." To this the figure stirs a
little and then a yawn followed by a sleepy reply comes from underneath the
blanket: "ummm sone do na mom. Bas 5 min aur." Aparna smiles and says: "Agar
maine tumko 5
min ke bharose chor diya toh wo 5 min 5 hrs mein badal jayenge. Chalo baby ab
uth jao, my sweet baby, get up now. (Then she smiles to herself) Thik hain mat
utho, maine
jo tumhari favourite custard banayi hain wo main Abhi ko de dungi." These words of Aparna
produced the desired effect as she has anticipated and a very handsome couple
of eyes emerge from beneath the blanket. And a charming voice flooding
with enthusiasm speaks: "Sach!!" His mother replied with a
sweet smile: "Much. Par agar tum jadi nehi uthe toh wo toh gayi tumhare haathon
se." And with this she gets up from the bed and is about to walk away when a
hand grips her wrist tight and a voice still from underneath the blanket says:
"Oh common mom! You know it very well, jo Aditya ko chahiye hota hain wo toh sirf
use hi milta hain, kisi aur ko kabhie nehi." With these words he pulled
off the blanket and jumps out of the bed and without turning to his mother
rushes to the bathroom and calls back "Mom you just get my custard ready, I'll
be there in five minutes." Aparna (smiling to herself):
"Now his 5 min will actually be 5 min. All thanks to the custard." She leaves
with a broad grin of satisfaction as well as with a heart full of the pride of
winning a battle. Well, of course, waking Aditya up from his ever deep slumber
is no less toilsome than a formidable battle. When Aparna climbs downstairs
and reaches the dining hall, Abhishek and Subhankar are having some discussions
on some important project but they immediately fell silent as they have seen
her entering the hall because she doesn't like any discussion of business in
her home at least. However, Aparna does sense something and is about to enquire
when Subhankar, sensing that both he and Abhishek are going to be in great
danger, immediately changes the topic to divert her mind. Subhankar: "Toh kahan hain
aapka ladla? Uth gaya
ya kumbhkaran abhi tak so hi raha hain?" Aparna smiles sweetly: "Haan
baba uth gaya
aur 5 min mein taiyar hokar neeche bhi aa jayega. Chain se sone bhi nehi dete
aap mere bacche ko." Subhankar, with a great
surprise: "Chain se sone nehi deta? Main?? Ab
aur kitna sona hain is larke ko? Hey bhagwan mere raksha karo in dono maa bete
se." Both Aparna and Abhishek
burst out laughing witnessing Subhankar's hilarious expression of the great
surprise and the mock frown. Their attention is diverted
by a voice which came all of a sudden from the stairs. "Arey hasi majak! wo bhi Adi
ke bina! Yeh
kaisi baat hui bhai.'' All three of them turn
towards the stairs almost at the same time and find a very handsome, charming
boy sitting on the railing of the stairs with his face wearing his million
dollar smile.