Sibling Rivalry

Either, Amma actually loved both of us equally or she was good enough not to show any special love even if she had it. Whatever it was, we did not have much sibling rivalry. Come to think of it, it had nothing to do with love; it was her mode of punishments that imbibed in us a touch of socialism. It was a no holds barred tongue lashing most of the times, but when push came to shove she never shirked to take the stick to our bottoms.

I was at the receiving end more often than Antony for the simple reason that I was more “saintly”. I don’t want to bore you with all the mischief I did, but then one instance stands out. By the way, it was NOT MY FAULT!! It was all Amma’s doing. Appa had just bought new furniture and cushions and Amma being an expert at sewing started stitching the cushion covers. Long hours were spend before the sewing machine and finally one fine morning she completed the task, put on the cushion covers and patted herself on the back for a job well done.

Now, if she had just put the cushion cover on the cushions, all would have gone well but as fate would have it, she also put me and a scissor on top of the very same villainous cushions. Friends, Indians, countrymen, I ask you, is it not the gravest offense on the part of the parent to put a child and a scissor on the same cushion? It was a tough decision, but even in that tender age I was my mother’s true son and never shirked from doing what “I had to do”. I took the scissors and very carefully (and exactly like my mother) cut the eeny weeny threads that were so annoyingly holding the two parts of the cushion cover.

I felt like a liberator and if I knew about George Bush then, I would have likened myself to him. In my mind, I was liberating the Iraqi people and granting them democracy. But my mother (read Jihadi) was as usual playing spoil sport with my grandiose plans. Antony, the greatest spy and backstabber ever, was the first to notice what I was doing. He immediately called Amma’s attention to the liberation.
I’ve never seen Amma that angry before or after that incident. Minus the frothing at the mouth she looked really really mad. And the only reason she wasn’t frothing was that she was screaming at high pitch at me.

Suddenly she calmed herself (don’t kid yourself, it was the calm before the storm!)… and asked Antony to bring a really big stick. Normally, he would have bought something two inches thicker and longer than stated requirements. But, sensing her mood, he first brought in a very small one and secured a nasty pinch(?) (My memory fails me here, I tend to remember only those atrocities committed against me) for the same. I don’t want to go to the details but as Rowling puts it in one of her Harry Porter stories “So-and-so’s buttock was never the same again”.

Hey, I am wandering from the point, my point was the there was hardly any Sibling rivalry between me and my bro coz of my mother. But boy, those golden days are over! Look what she did yesterday (which incidentally was my birthday too). I was rudely woken up in the morning by Amma. I was supposed to supervise the cleaning paripadees going on at the house as part of my brother’s engagement. Hey! What happened to good old “Happy Birthday monae”?

Then came breakfast, wherein I was lectured thoroughly about stuff that was to be done… again no “Happy Birthday”. That’s when Shyam called up and wished me. I said thank you and Amma finally picked the cue. With a beaming face she said “Happy Birthday!” I didn’t feel too happy, but I smiled anyways and said “Thank you”. After all, I was not some 10 year old kid, breathlessly waiting for my presents.

While having lunch on that very same day, I noticed a packet of expensive chocolates that Amma had put in the freezer. Normally, I would have devoured them all, but then a voice in my head held me back, “Hey! you are 26!, show some maturity and concern for other people. Don’t be so selfish”. I restrained myself with great difficulty, thinking “during dinner I can share it with Amma and Appa, it would be a good birthday treat. Not the best, but then good enough for 26”. After all she has so thoughtfully kept these chocolates for me.

Dinner came and dinner went, but no mention was made of any chocolates. Finally, I swallowed my pride and asked for them…
I: Ammae, let’s have the chocolates in the fridge, let’s make it my “birthday treat”.
Amma: What!! Are you crazy, I have kept it for a better occasion like say, Antony’s engagement.
I(Dumbstruck): what! At least did you buy a cake, on the way back from office?
Amma: No, I was too busy.
I: You mean, I don’t even get to eat a single chocolate on my birthday? And no cake either!
Amma: Don’t be so childish, if you open that packet how will I give it to our guests during Antony’s engagement?

Sibling rivalry is born! 26 my foot! I decided to be childish and devilish….. Boy! Is she in for a surprise when she opens that packet! And this time, there gonna be no stick…. After all, I am 26 and “un beatable”