Memories
“Tune exams dene hain script ke? Ya office wale hiring process mein mandate karte hain ki aapko Ironman aur Superman ki saari movies Sanskrit k 6th Class lesson k jaise ratey hone chaiye” Maaya asked, exasperated by seeing the same movie, Ironman 3 playing on HBO for probably the 13th time.
“Ab to mujhe bhi scene yaad ho gye hain jab ki main dhyaan se dekhti bhi nahi”
“Uffo! Yaar to aur kya dekhu main tu bata de. Itni achhi to movie hai, plus har sunday alag hoti hai” Vivaan pleaded.
Somehow, there were a few things around the house in which he ended up acting like a child and Maaya, his younger sister bossed around. Sunday binge watch was something they both quarreled over, like a weekly tradition of their own.
“Haan, weekend special k naam pe kabhi Ye, kabhi spiderman, kabhi Superman”
“Ae, thor Bhool gayi khoosat aurat” Vivaan chuckled, calling out Maaya on her freaky obsession with considering herself old-old.
“Aur last week maine Tangled, aur Lion King live action dekhi na chup karke” Vivaan did a puppy face as his sister stood at him, faking a terribly bad attempt at her angry face.
“Thik hai, I’ll get some snacks. Aloo gajar ki sabzi banayi thi, uske toast banaane jari hun, Khaane hain to abhi kehde. Mere mein se mat mangio”.
This was a few months ago, before Vivaan moved out for a work assignment abroad, leaving Maaya and their parents behind. It was a new journey for them all.
Maaya was making toasts and thinking about these old silly memories as an ad for the weekend binge watch Iron man series came up and she smiled.
“Kyun bhayi? Aaj ad se dikkat nahi ho rai. Na movie se. Waise to tum dono meri jaan khaaye rakhte the, Mummy isko bolo kuchh aur chala le. Mummy last weekend iski pasand chali thi isko samjha lo meri baari hai”, Their mom asked Maaya, taking a dig at her for all the times the two siblings would fight like babies and drag her into it even as grown up.
“Haan to, baar baar thodi dekhni hai maine ye movies. Aapke bete ko shauk chadha rehta tha”
Maaya said complacently. But mother knows all.
“Haan mere bete ko hi dekhni hoti thi, tere bhai ko thodi. Tu konsa yaad karti hai” Mother pouted.
“Okay maa, you got me on that one. I do miss our fights.” But how do you understand that?”
“Kyunki main itni badi hi nahi aayi thi na duniya mei. I wasn’t always mamma. I too was a little sister with two brothers to bicker with, your uncles were nothing like they are now.” Maa was in nostalgia thinking of her childhood. Which honestly was kind of hard to process. All through my life, she’s been HER, my mother!. It does feel weird thinking that she was also once a young girl, with teasing brothers and strict parents, my nanu is a sweetheart. Dealing with fights for remote and turn on the swings and getting into fights even just like Bhaiyya and I do. These stories sounded so surreal, like she were talking about someone else. Mama was so loving, I cannot imagine him being a troublemaker stealing sweets and tamarind candy from Nani Maa's cupboard.
“Tere nana bhot sakht mizaaj the, jab wo mere papa the. Ab tere nanu ban ke to na jaane kya jadu hua hai unpe. He is not even half the man I knew him to be as my father. He's a big softy now.”, mother scoffed and then eased, almost as if amused at her own words.
“Well nanu loves me" Maaya beamed. " and I can't believe he could be Hitler level strict, I might verify the allegations next time we go nanu house” Maaya smiled at Mothe, making a fake expression of being suspicious of her mother's words.
“Haan haan.” Mother held Maaya’s face in her hand dotingly.
“Bhot ho gyi mere bachpan ki. I know you're missing your fights with Bhaiyya. Ab itna hi miss kar rahi ho toh phone bhi karlo. Phone pe to bas ladna yaad aata hai mere dono bandaro ko”.
“Noi. Main ni kar ri. Aur waise bhi abhi aapka laadla utha nahi hoga” Maaya chuckled.
“Haan, but beta just remember. These little fights, and tiny moments are what become memories. Some day when you grow old, probably have little monkeys of your own like mine, you would look back to these silly memories. They are priceless” Mother kissed Maaya on her forehead with love.
“Alexa play Memories by Maroon5” Maaya said out loud.
*Playing Memories by Marron Five* A robotic voice came up in the background.
Both mother and daughter enjoyed the music and their toast with some chai. Each looking out the open window, reminiscing little moment of joy and cherishing the wonderful time they were getting to spend right now understanding a different aspect of their being. Both finding a weird solidarity in recognizing the sisterhood they had experienced and how they connected on understanding the bond of siblings rivalry.
As for Vivaan, he did get a message from his sister, checking in with him if by now he knew the movies by heart. She believed even the actors and director must have forgotten the work they did, but not her brother who refreshed his memory every other weekend. Funny memory to keep.
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