Cucumber City

That day changed her life.
Literally.
She was the youngest in the family, but not a pampered, spoilt brat. Probably, the only one who used to pamper her was her brother. But that day made alterations in them all. The ‘little sister’ figure that she adorned was suddenly snatched away. The ‘big brother’ figure of her brother crumpled into non-existence. She, used to always being pampered by her brother, suddenly found life demanding her to switch roles. He became the ‘kid’ and she became the ‘one he looked up to’.

She would turn just 20 the following month. But the days that followed the D-day turned her into lot more than just 20. For a carefree person who never took life seriously, she was faced with a reality called ‘death’. For someone who gave little space in her life for emotions, she was caught up in a whirlpool of her brother’s emotions, not to mention her own. For someone who thought friends were the best centres of fun & love, she was buried under an avalanche of guilt—that she never tried to find out her parents' love, that she never bothered to give them much. For someone who never cared about the importance of relationships, she shuddered under its magnitude on each human being.

Taking care of a 23-year-old who behaves like a 5-year-old is no joke. It’s demanding, it’s tough and it’s a big responsibility. The earlier ‘she’ would have moved aside for her mother in such a situation. But she took it in her own hands to care for him like her baby. She had a tough time figuring out the waves, rather the disturbing tides, which his memory loss had gifted him. She followed him everywhere to keep him out of trouble, she told him things that he could and couldn’t do, she coaxed him into having the foods that he pushed away and she made sure he wouldn’t know about the one who’d left them all, until the time was apt. She fought tears all day to avoid questions that might arise from his curious mind, but at night she sang lullabies for him and wept into her pillow.

An arts student in her final year graduate program, she sat day and night to teach him engineering papers, so that he may clear them all (and for that, she had to get a grasp of it first!). She went with him to his college and stood outside his exam room to give him the confidence he lacked due to his memory failure. For a person who used to sleep when the clock strikes 10, the nights began to remain ‘young’ even at the strike of 12! As the day finally arrived and he began asking about his past, she struggled to find strength in her voice while explaining that fateful night’s happenings. When he took in every word she said without any sorts of dithering, she sat amazed at how much he believed in her.

In return for her 3-4 months of total turmoil, she got a brother who now loved her all the more; a brother who saw the world through her eyes; a brother who would do absolutely anything for her; a brother who believed his life was a blessing so that he may love her; a brother who lamented that he never loved her this way before! She rejoiced. She was thankful that she was younger to him, because she felt he loved her like one may love a baby! She realised the value of ‘life’ in the light of the reality called ‘death’. She weaved in her father, mother, brother and herself into an envelope called “love”. Everyday she finds herself on a big heap of love all the time. Thankful to The Almighty for giving her a lovely family, she is still in doubt…even to this very day…

She thought it had been the most horrid day of her 20 years of existence…but was it?
In a sense it was; in a sense it was not, and it never shall be. This could be the perfect example for the phrase ‘every coin has two sides’!
On that day, she lost a very dear person. Someone as close to her as her brother. Someone whom she loved a lot. Someone who was totally endearing. In that sense, the day was the most horrid.
On that day, she got back someone who had been susceptible to the same fate as the above mentioned. Someone whom she loved a lot. Someone who loved her a lot. Someone who was actually her brother…………………… in that sense, would that day ever be a horrid one?