CHAPTER 1

It was a lazy summer afternoon. The park right in front of the house was full of cows dogs and similar such creatures who had found a shady spot in some or the other corner of the park and were now taking their afternoon nap, blissfully unaware of the toll that the mid summer heat was taking on the humans. The grass which is a vibrant shade of green in winters and spring was a burnt golden now because of excessive exposure to the sun and at many places it wasn’t there, making visible the dry parched earth beneath it. It was a perfectly still airless day. The trees, the flowers and leaves on them and the birds hidden behind the branches, all seemed reluctant to move or make a noise, too comfortable in their shady summer slumber.

Inside the house Amma was resting on the bare floor, relishing the comparative cool it provided and cursing the ceiling fan every now and then for being so ineffective in this heat. But what could the poor ceiling fan do, it was old and was there in the house for as long as Nilanjan could remember. He looked up at the fan which was moving at the slowest possible speed so unwillingly as if saying I am as old as Amma and I don’t have any strength left now.
Nilanjan was seven years old and more often than not he did not understand why his grandmother grumbled so much about the heat and the summers. For him summers meant a two month long break from school and non stop playing with his friends in the neighborhood and his favorite Anshuman dadda. But this year dadda was busy and could not play with him much. Nilanjan was in third standard but dadda was in tenth and was appearing in the board exams this year so he did not have summer vacations. Dadda would go to school everyday even before Nilanjan was awake and would return only in the afternoon. This made him really sad and he often tried to force dadda to stay at home like him so that they could play videogames and hide and seek so many other games but Ma would not listen of it. And even after dadda came back from school he had no time to play because he had homework to do and prepare for tests, which made Nilanjan think if even he would have to work so hard once he grew up.

Everyday once Amma was asleep and Nilanjan could hear her snoring he would quietly try and sneak out of the house so that he could play in the park but he rarely succeeded. The large iron-gate made so much noise when he tried to open it that it woke up not only Amma but Rani the housemaid and sometimes even the neighbors as well, and then he would be dragged back into the house by Amma. She would scold Nilanjan for being such a brat and then would start of with her usual dialogues about how old she is and her old creaking bones need to rest but no one this world lets her do that and now she has to run after this spoilt child every afternoon in the heat. And then she would try and explain it to him that it is not good to go out in the harsh sun and play in peak afternoon hours and he might fall sick because of that.
Hearing his grandmother say the same things over and over again Nilanjan felt mortified. His face would have a sullen expression and everyday he would go sit on the swing in the porch and doze off, only to be woken up by dadda an hour later.

“Neelu, wake up. Why cant you sleep inside the house where it is cooler”. Is what dadda would say and Nilanjan once fully awake would jump on dadda’s back, who would then carry Nilanjan inside the house.
They both would have lunch together which Ma made everyday before leaving for the office. Amma would ask dadda to change while she warmed the lunch and then all of them would have it together sitting at exactly the same spot where Amma was grumbling some time back. After lunch Nilanjan would want to play with him but Amma wouldn’t hear of it saying “Ashu is tired Neelu, he is working very hard this year don’t bother him and let him rest a bit before his tutor comes and you also go back to your room and sleep”. But Neelu would not listen to it now because he knew that dadda is there to take his side and he would not let Amma scold him anymore. So once Amma was back to her usual place under the fan and once they could listen to her snoring, they would quietly go back to their room shut the door and play ludo till they could hear Ma’s car at the gate.
Looking at the clock on the wall Ashu said “it’s five and Ma is back Neelu lets hide this and get to studies”. Obediently Neelu hid the game and jumped on the bed pretending to be asleep. Ma came in and went straight to her room to change and came out after ten minutes. Ashu heard her footsteps and he knew she was coming their way. “Maaaaaa” cried Neelu as he sprang up from his bed and ran to hug his mother. Ma kissed him on the cheek and asked how his day was. “Like always Amma didn’t let me go out and play under the banyan tree” was Neelu’s reply. And then she asked Ashu about how his day was and he gave a detailed description of how his class teacher thought he is good at Math but may not do too well in History as he hasn’t scored very well. For a minute, Ma had a concerned look on her face but instantly she relaxed, gave Ashu a smile and said “Beta I know you are working very hard and I am not at all worried about your marks because you will score well so don’t burden yourself too much. Come both of you, let’s wake Amma up and have something to eat.” The idea of juice and Neelu’s favorite bread poha which nobody in this world but his Ma makes best, made his mouth water.
At this time what Neelu feared the most was Amma, as she would give a detailed description of how he had tried to escape in the afternoon. He was right, as soon as she woke up she was unstoppable. But Ma was very used to this ranting of hers and all she could do was give a half angry half amused glare to Neelu and say “will you stop troubling your grandmother now, she cant run after you all the time and you need to take care of yourself”. Neelu responded by a hung head and an ashamed expression.
The evening sessions in the drawing room were always fun and Ma was always cheerful. But today Ashu could feel a little strain in Ma’s expression. In spite of her laughing and cheerfulness she was a little worried and Ash could see a small frown forming at her brow whenever she was quiet. Ashu didn’t know the reason for Ma’s worry but he was sure there was something which bothered her.
At six Ashu’s tutor came and he got busy with his studies. Neelu knew that now he cannot disturb dadda as he was locked in his room with his tutor and Ma would not tolerate any kind of disturbance when dadda studied. So he went to Ma’s room. As he went in he observed that she was lying on the bed with her eyes open wide and a serious expression on her face. “Ma are you crying” he asked. “No sweety I m not” Ma said. “Then are you missing Papa” he again enquired. His innocent question brought a smile on her face and she couldnt resist hugging the little devil. “Your Pa will be coming here next week for ten days He has taken leaves form his office and we might go out somewhere” Ma replied. “Yipeeeee” was Neelu’s instant reaction but Ma asked him to keep it low as dadda was studying in the next room and also told him that they would only go out if he finishes his holiday homework for at least one subject. After listening to this his enthusiasm went down a little but didn’t die completely and he said “I will finish all my homework Ma promise”. “We will see that honey right now you let me rest for half an hour and then I will prepare dinner for you brats ok so go now” Ma said. Neelu was elated and went out of the room flying like a jet.
After he was gone Anju couldn’t stop wondering how much joy and happiness her two sons have brought into her life. Especially Neelu who was the apple of her eye and his naughty pranks which she found adorable were famous in the entire neighborhood. Nilanjan was a mix of Neel, her husband and Anjana, herself or Anju as she was fondly called by her husband. ...