Kaun Apna Kaun Paraya

Part 1

"Oh...God! Who is this?" Rohan clasped a pillow to his ear to prevent the noise from disturbing his sleep. That hardly helped muffle the soft sounds.

"Yaar...aadhi raat ko kaun hai ye....!" irritated, Rohan turned to the other side of the bed. His as-it-is light sleep was broken. He rubbed his eyes and paid attention to the source of the sound. It was the sound of sobbing, muffled by the pillow and it was coming from the boy lying next to him.

"Sameer....?" Rohan thought, a little concerned now. "Why is he crying? Missing his Nanu?" he thought again and propped himself on his elbow.

"Sameer...?" he spoke softly, and placed a comforting hand on his arm. The sobbing immediately stopped, and with a swift motion, he saw Sameer's hand slide inside the pillow.

"Sameer! Kya hua hai? Sab theek hai? Batao mujhe!" Rohan was worried about his step-brother now. It had been two days that he was here, but Sameer hardly spoke, hardly ate, and never smiled. It was as if all his happiness had been sucked out from him. And then he was repeatedly trying to call someone, maybe his friends in Ahemdabad, but then dadi was strict there. She had scolded him for wasting time over the phone, rather than paying attention to studies or focusing on how to lead a disciplined life. To add to that, Dadi had even locked the landline now.

Till now Rohan had been brought up to believe by his father and grandmother, that Sameer had been a troublesome, ill-mannered boy since childhood. And it was to drill some discipline into him that they had decided to send him to a hostel in Nainital when he was five years old. Rohan vaguely remembered meeting him once before and that was when mom had bought him over with her, post her marriage with dad. And after he left for hostel, mom never spoke about Sameer, though Rohan was sure, she kept thinking about him.

Jerking his mind onto the situation at hand, Rohan went closer to Sameer and asked him, "kya hua hai Sameer...tum mujhe bata sakte ho...bolo...baat karne se dil halka hota hai!"

Rohan didn't know he had aggravated the fire already simmering inside Sameer's heart. Sameer turned to face him, his eyes two big blurbs of water, his cheeks stained with tears, his face a picture of lamenting, "tum meri madad kar sakte ho? Le ke aa sakte ho mere Nanu ko wapis? Kar sakte ho meri zindagi wapis pehle jaisi? De sakte ho meri maa ko mujhe wapis?" Sameer managed to utter, choking through the tears.

"Sameer...ye bhi tumhara hi ghar hai...ab hum bhi family hain!" responded Rohan, in an attempt to console him.

Sameer wiped the tears from his eyes, and said, "I'm sorry...maine tumhari neend firse disturb kar di...main bahar chala jata hun...vaise bhi meri jagah is ghar ek kone me hi to hai!"

With this, Sameer got up from the bed and left the room, with Rohan staring after him. Sameer was clutching something in his hand, he noticed, maybe a photo album? Rohan couldn't understand why Sameer did not appreciate the friendliness that he, Deepu and mom were trying to show to him. Yeah, dad and dadi could be a bit strict, but then wasn't it for Sameer's own good? Sameer hardly even spoke to his mom- his own biological mother! How could a child not want to speak to his mother, or cry his heart out in front of her, Rohan couldn't gauge.

He thought for a moment and then pushed the blanket away and crept out of the room, in search of Sameer. He wasn't going to get any sleep anyways. He tip-toed out to the drawing room and saw Sameer going over that photo-album in a corner, with tears gushing from his eyes as he turned each page of the album. Rohan stood there watching him from a distance. Sameer had not even registered his presence. And then Rohan saw him staring at one picture fixatedly. A wishful smile came onto his lips as he grazed his hand over the picture fondly. A flicker of determination crossed Sameer's face. He snapped the album shut and his hand went into his pockets, searching from something. When he was satisfied, Sameer looked up and around. Rohan immediately hid himself in the dark, behind a pillar.