I am home-sick!

Intellectual anomaly ridden with a false promise, not the fabricated one, but the unintended one; when mom used to be off home for the social protests of various sorts and promise to bring whatever you would ask and all you would get is a packet of maggi noodles and a sister equally anxious to eat it raw rather than frying it over a newly bought non-sticky frying pan, which Chachi would call fry-baan and would use to fry fraas-beans! An elder brother who was also a big brother, would probably sneak out a chance to beat the heck out of you over the dimmest mistakes in the mechanics problem from Nootan’s Physics; however, occasionally allowing you to read from his prized possession of 197 Raj comics- ranging from Dhruva to Nagraj to Doga. Dad would come home, often smelling of what he said- ‘I just had good time with friends’, would put his right hand in the shirt-pocket and I would grab all those toffees and sometimes fruits, like the best thing in the world. STD calls of a brother who people said you have to become like one day, but you only are just a look-alike not the think-alike person. You try to imitate his style of writing, his sense of dressing and gawp at his INR 600 Bata shoes as if trying to find your own image, only end up being his farthest close friends.

Looking back at those wondrous years or months or days, uneasiness crawls all the way into your brain, like little moths fiddling around your ear-flying over the lamppost under which you are working.
Mom’s protest suddenly became so political that they get on you nerve and sometimes you almost hate them. Dad’s ‘friend’ smell now comes from you whenever three or more of your friends meet in a Delhi or an Ahmedabad or a Chandigarh or even a Kota! Sister’s anxiety of eating that maggi packet raw turned into a marriage after which you find time hardly to talk to her for more than five minutes. The big brother shares the best of his times with you whenever you go to his place, you eat everything that comes into your mind like you would read every of his comics that would come to your hands! STD calls of other brother has turned into ISD ones and the image of his Bata shoes finds no mention in your thoughts now. Chachi call the beans outside her garden, French beans and fries them on a non-sticky frying pan!

Anomaly in the mirror- times elapsed and images changed, intellectually!