A Heart of Stone with a Coat of Gold

Cry of the Deaf

Bhaiyya - Elder Brother

Didi - Elder Sister

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Anu reached the hospital at noon. Her younger sister, Reema stood in a corner, her eyes red and swollen. "Didi," she said and hugged her. Anu patted her back and went to check on her mother. She talked to the doctor and her condition was serious. She was dying.

When she entered the room, her mother opened her eyes and stared at her. "Anu," she mumbled. Anu merely nodded. "I'm sorry." Tears rolled down the old woman's cheeks.

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One year ago

Anu returned after meeting Nikhil. Thoughts of the next weekend made her stomach warm with butterflies. That and her future which was looking bright. Her results had come out a few days before. She had scored good in the entrance exams and was eligible for Masters in business studies at some of the finest institutes of the country.

Anu sat at the table with her mobile, scrolling through the list of colleges and the fees. They didn't have a computer and it was difficult to do it on the small screen. Still, she took a notepad and started noting down.

 Her forehead was creased with lines of worry. They were all too costly. Meanwhile, her brother, Ishan Bhaiyya came back from work. He worked as a clerk in a government office. Their father had died a few years earlier when Anu had been only 14 years old. He had been an accountant in the same office. The office offered a job to a family member and her brother took it.  He was only 18 years old then. 

Anu knew Ishan Bhaiyya wanted to study further. He had good grades. But someone had to earn for the family. Hence, he took all the burden on himself.

"What happened?" He asked as he wiped his forehead with a towel, keeping his earpiece on the table. Ishan was hard on hearing in one ear since childhood.

 She noticed the fatigue on her brother's face. He was only 24. But he looked so much older in that instant.

"I am looking at the fees. It's too much. Even the loans would not be easy to get." She told him. Ishan could sense the disappointment on her face.

"You have got a great score in the entrance exams Anu. Do not worry. I work, don't I?. Banks will give it if we take a joint loan on my name. I have talked to some people" He smiled and patted her head. 

"Really would you take it for me?" Anu perked up. That could work. She could see it.

"Of course. You will study and soon become a manager in a big company. Then I can live the rest of my life off your money" He laughed as he said. Anu joined him. 

He was right. Although she knew Ishan Bhaiyya was joking, she desperately wanted to ease some of the burdens on her brother's shoulders. And then Reema wouldn't have to go through with the troubles, she had to face.

"Haven't we spent enough on her, already?" Her mother shouted from the kitchen. And then her rant started. About money being short. About girls not being supposed to work. They only had to marry and leave their homes. 

Ishan Bhaiyya's face went red with anger. "Mom, how many times do we need to discuss the same thing again again? Anu and Reema will study. And I'm earning, am I not? Is it not enough?"

"Not so much that we can afford a car." Her tone changed slightly. She was trying to appease her son  "Why don't you marry, Ishan? Preeti Aunty has a girl in her neighbourhood.  They're offering a car in dowry" Her mom urged greedily.

"Mom, I have said hundreds of times. The girls need to study first" He shouted and banged his fist on the table. "Whatever I do, it is not enough for all of you." He even shot Anu an angry look. "What are you listening to standing here. Go and study. Quit wasting your time. Don't you have your final exams in a few days? Or even you want to say that I'm not earning enough for your studies. God, sometimes I wish I would just die." He shouted and stormed out of the house.

"Now you have made him angry." Her mother shouted at Anu.

Anu stood there stunned. Ishan fought a lot with her mother, over Anu and Reema's education. But he rarely vented his anger on his sisters. They were the light of his life. "You are going to achieve what I couldn't" He had once told Anu.

 She guessed that even though he pretended that her loan was not a big deal, it was. He was worried how he would be able to pay the instalments till the time she was studying. And on top, her mother's taunts had done the trick. She was not angry with her brother, but it made her sad. She knew all the responsibility was killing him. She could see it.

Suddenly her eyes caught something. The earpiece was still lying on the table. "Mom, Bhaiyya forgot his earpiece," She told her. 

"Then, go and give it to him, you stupid girl. All the studying and you have still got no brains. By God, the boy is completely deaf in one ear. Run and give it to him" She told her.

Just then her phone rang. It was the police. Ishan's wish had come true. 

A speeding car had hit him. He didn't listen to the horn.

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The present

"I killed him. I killed my boy that day. " She wailed. "I am sorry. For everything" She pleaded.

Anu went numb as she remembered the day. She looked at the wretched woman. Anu had no words of comfort for her. 

"You didn't kill him that day, Mom.  You killed him a long time ago."She said as left the room, leaving the woman crying and banging her hands on the bedside.

She went to the washroom and washed her face. She noticed her eyes. It reminded her of someone. But who?

Then it clicked. Her eyes had no shine to them. Just like Neel's.

 And in that instant, for a fleeting moment, she could understand him.

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