“Oh. I find sarees are uncomfortable especially while traveling,” Sadhana replied at once although she was surprised to hear her brother make a comment about her attire. Ramani has never been the sort of the guy who makes any mention about women’s attire. She presumed it could be a very natural reaction from her brother after seeing her in an outfit that was almost unknown in a town like where they belonged to. She wrapped her child with the blanket as the wind was blowing very hard. She could see through the corner of her eyes that her brother turned occasionally to have a glance at her. He smiled at her every time their eyes met and she kept reciprocating.
Ramani, the eldest of nine children in the family was in his early forties. In sharp contrast to their father who remained irresponsible to the core, Ramani had taken up the huge responsibility of the family on his young shoulders even while he was in college. He had managed to find out some part-time jobs with which he was substantially supporting the family monetarily. Their father who worked as a Village Development Officer, retired almost five years ago and since then Ramani has been the head of the family in every sense. He had forgone higher education although he topped the ranks at college; he had even forgone marriage. Of course, it had become a bit too late for him to even think about marriage after he had struggled to ensure a steady life to all his brothers and sisters. Ramani was always held in high esteem by one and all amongst the friends and relatives and rightfully so. He had never shown even a hint of selfishness all these years.
The rickshaw eventually entered the village and Sadhana began watching the streets like a kid. There were no signs of urbanization as the village looked as it was decades ago. She remembered those days when she learned bicycling on the same street where the rickshaw was riding at that moment. The annual festival in the big temple of the village always remained a great feature with thousands of pilgrims thronging in from various parts of the state. Sadhana’s heart began to beat faster as she could see their house in the distance. She could see her father standing out as if he was awaiting her arrival eagerly. The moment the rickshaw stopped, she hurriedly picked up her child, got out of the rickshaw impatiently and rushed towards her father.
She watched her father’s eyes glitter in joy after seeing the child. After a few customary exchange of greetings, she got into the house, jumping two steps at one go like a little school girl. It has always been an emotional moment whenever she met her mother since her marriage. She knew that her mother had undergone a knee replacement surgery and it wasn’t easy to conceal her shock looking at her mother who seemed to have weakened since she met her last. The child woke up soon and the grand parents soon became preoccupied with the little visitor.
Sadhana realized that Ramani had gone upstairs immediately after reaching home. The upstairs almost belonged to Ramani for more than a decade now. Ramani had a nice collection of books in various subjects and had a hi-tech music system, perhaps the only one in the entire village. She knew that he used to read till late night listening to ghazals, bhajans and light romantic songs. He apparently found relief upstairs and hence other family members preferred not to disturb his solitude.