The Sacred Bond [Arshi]

1: His (Un)Acceptance

He sat on the chair his mother told him to sit on and looked on as his Bhai and a girl, whom his mother told him to call her as Bhabhi, doing Pooja to the fire as the priest sat beside them chanting something with rhyming words which he found interesting. No, he could not understand what it is the priest is speaking, but he found it somehow enchanting.

"Maa, what is the priest chanting about?" he asked his mother who has just come to check on him whether he needed anything or if he is hungry so that she can feed him. As much as she may be busy in the work of her elder son's wedding, but can she ever forget her tukda? No, never.

"The priest is chanting mantras. They are called mantras. It's your brother's wedding, right? So, he's chanting them for the occasion." His mother enlightened her intelligent baccha. Question bank, that is what her nickname for him who is always questioning anything and everything.

"Oh!" he muttered as if understood. "What language are they in? Hindi jaisa hain, par wo Hindi nehi hain. Kyunki wo mujhe samjh nehi aa raha!" he pouted cutely. Amrita, his mother, pinched his cheeks at his cuteness. He said those words with such conviction as if he knew the whole Hindi language himself. (Its sounds like Hindi, but it isn't. Because I cannot understand them.)

"It's in a language called Sanskrit, beta." She said adoringly.

"Maa, bete phir se shuru hogaye?" came a heavy voice from Amrita's behind grabbing the boy as well as Amrita's attention. (Mother, son started your banter again?)

"Arey Shyam ke papa, aap? Is there any work incomplete?" she questioned worriedly straightening up. She doesn't want anything to go wrong in their son's wedding. Maybe the only wedding she may see? (Oh, Shyam's father, you?)

"Uffo Amrita, there's nothing to worry. I haven't seen you around, so I've come searching. And as expected I found you answering this question bank son of yours." He joked moving his hand in his son's hair affectionately. He is the youngest and the second son of the family, their Chotte, apple of their eyes.

"Papa, you and Maa also did the same things that Bhaiyya and that girl is doing?" he said pointing to his brother and 'The Girl' sitting in the decorated dais doing as per Priest's instructions.

"Yes, Chotte, we did the same things." Harsh answered.

"Oh! Toh mein kab karunga wo sab? Aur kiske saath?" he asked again. (Oh! Then will I do all these? And with whom?)

"Oh, my question bank," Kailash said exasperated already. Taking his son in his arms and sitting him on his lap, he started answering his questions. "For you to do these "things" will take some more time Chotte." Not that he completely answered this question another few are shot his way.

"How much more time and with whom?" he asked again. It's not going to be easy, Kailash helplessly shook his head.

~

"BHAII, BHAII..." Shyam almost fell from the chair he's seated on hearing his little brother's shout.

"Arnav, what is this? Come slow and do not shout. I told you that's bad manners, didn't I?" He reprimanded. It is not about loving his brother. He has seen their parents always pampering him for whatever he does. Not that Shyam was any less pampered. When he was the only child, he was an apple of his parent's eyes. Neither now does he feel jealous seeing Arnav getting so much love from his parents. He knows Arnav is the youngest, and the one who should be in the receiving end of the most love. It's just that he took up the responsibility to show his brother what's right and what's wrong when his parents forgot to do so.