H is for... House Politics

Mrs. and Mr. Vinod Agarwal had three children. The third child was a son, born because the first two weren’t. Incidentally, Mr. Agarwal’s younger brother also produced a son in the same month. They rented the colony garden to throw a lavish party for the entire neighbourhood to honour the arrival of their two miracles – Ashu and Abhi. We were a bit surprised because Mrs. Agarwal and Lata aunty, the second daughter-in-law of the house, never saw eye to eye. ‘Marwari hain, to save money ofcourse,’ I had heard mom tell Rekha aunty.

When Ashu was ten months old, Mrs. Agarwal decided she wanted to go to a kitty party hosted in a bungalow which was 100 metres away. She asked me, her 12-year-old, friendly, next door neighbour if I could stay in her room for an hour because who asks the adult sister-in-law in the next room. I was usually more at the Agarwal house than my own, savouring their bhujias more than my mother’s sukhe alu, so this was not extraordinary.

It was a surprisingly pleasant summer day and I was totally engrossed in my books from the library. I hogged on to dal, chawal and a whole of mango, hoping nothing will spill on the pages. Between spoonsful of deliciousness, I told my mom I’ll be baby-sitting. Her expressions were less than agreeable, but when it came to Agarwal house, she didn’t bother much. I was just a family member there as I was here!

I let myself into their house and started climbing the stairs. The ground floor belonged to Mr. Agarwal’s parents who were constantly watching every move of mine.

‘The girls are downstairs,’ Dadima said in her shrill voice. ‘They are sleeping.’

‘I am going to meet Aunty,’ I replied turning back and literally ran lest she started questioning me like Karamchand.

Mrs. Agarwal was dressed up in her finest blue saree. With matching bangles and a platform sandal that I hadn’t seen since Ashu’s party, she looked happy to be stepping out after months.

‘I will be back in an hour. Just feed him this milk if he cries,’ she said handing me the bottle. ‘You won’t get time to read your book; he is a handful!’ she added.

Now Julian was about to solve a great mystery. He, Geroge and Timmy were all set and so was I. As soon as she left, I knocked on Lata aunty’s door. I told her Ashu was alone in the next room and I could take Abhi too and they could play together. ‘Did you ask Bhabhi?’ she asked.

‘No, but she will not know.’

Ashu and Abhi had never played together. Apparently, Lata aunty was loved by the entire family only because, according to Mrs. Agarwal, her firstborn was a son. Even though Mrs. Agarwal was the elder one, she never felt she was given much importance. There are bound to be differences, I had heard mom saying.

I flipped through the last pages of my Famous Five while Ashu and Abhi managed to play with each other and the bucketful of toys for more than 45 minutes. Meanwhile, Lata aunty served tea to her in-laws’ downstairs, took a quick 15-minute nap and brought me a piece of samosa.

‘It’s time. I need to take Abhi back in my room.’ she said picking up the little munchkin and started walking out.

Ashu tried to crawl behind them but I picked him up. He let out a whimper and so I grabbed his bottle and started to feed him. Just then Mrs. Agarwal came in hurriedly and inquired ‘Did he bother you?’

‘Not at all, he was his sweetest self,’ I said while handing Ashu to her. I kissed him goodbye and walked out of the room with the finished book in my hand.

I closed the door behind me and peeked into the next room. Lata aunty gave me the warmest smile and a flying kiss and I wondered if Ashu and Abhi will be playing together anytime soon.

________________________________________

This story is a part of AtoZ challenge by Blogchatter. For the 2020 challenge, I'll be writing some travel stories and some stories that originate in my life but find a way into this blog through fiction. I am new at penning fiction, so please be kind!