My brother and I have an amazing relationship since childhood. I was one year and four months old when he was born and it is the best day of my life till now. I guess my parents gave me the best gift ever. I was over protective about him always. He was my best friend in the hiding, away from every other person’s understanding. We were two different poles. He was mischievous , I was studious. But our parents never treated us any different. They made us share 1 chocolate bar, to chips, to a walkie-talkie, 1st game boy and with every thing that we shared came lots of fighting yet loving each other. Lots of blackmails but lots of cheering up when the other was sad. We have cherished a lot of memories together and I couldn’t ask for anything more than him.
Growing up, we came across each others first crushes and first loves, revealing lot of secrets and leading to more blackmailing. Yet we loved each other. I guess fighting with each other was our way to show our love for each other. Still he has always been the my best person in life and hence became the receiver of lots of pampering from my end. Saving my pocket money the whole year to buy him one special gift he wanted. It used to be a task to put a smile on his face, a smile which was extremely priceless and precious. Each and every birthday of his was packed with surprises. He used to tell me, he would pester me all my life for extra pocket money and I would only retort by calling him a “Nalayak” (Loosely translated: Useless)
But we had a time in our lives when we grew up apart. It was sometime during his college years, when we both were surrounded with bad company add to it a dumb girlfriend he had. Somewhere in the commotion I lost my best friend . It was sad but he was still my brother and at the end of the day, he was stuck with me for eternity. And we still had amazing moments in our life to look forward to!.
When I got my first injury initially 4.5 years back, nobody could understand what was happening to me, not even me. My parents and my brother were even more clueless. They were just trying there best taking me from one doctor to another. My brother was in hostel back then and he used to visit us on vacations. I still remember, one day when he had accidentally sat on my foot which made my pain bad for a week (Initial flare ups were confusing and painful) and we had fought very badly. I was accusing him for my pain and he was yelling back at me that how come my accidental sitting on your foot make it so bad. In a heated moment he ended up passing very hurtful comments as a result of which we stopped talking to each other. Those had been the worst 4 months of my life, but then came the apology and we forgave each other and let it be. He was still a kid totally clueless, but he was starting to understand.
He gave me the biggest surprise of my life on my 25th Birthday. My CRPS had started to spread by then, and I was hospitalized on emergency basis in Bangalore just a few days before my birthday. My parents were in my hometown along with my brother. My brother had been planning a surprise for my birthday for which he flying down to Bangalore. But sadly, his surprise was now looking uncertain due to my hospitalization. He landed in Bangalore and came straight to the hospital with the luggage. I was asked to get an MRI done for my brain and I am claustrophobic, so I couldn’t stay still inside. He sat inside the MRI room wearing some noise cancellation headphones (which didn’t cancel any noise), assuring me every now and then that he was there for me. Anyone who has got an MRI done ever would be aware of those high pitched noises in the there. He made it a point to meet every single doctor I was consulting , though he had less or almost zero understanding about anything happening with me.
He booked us in a hotel for an overnight stay, made arrangements for a party in the hotel’s restaurant and invited all my friends to it. He even made sure I bought a birthday dress before the party started. I still remember how he not only hosted the whole party , making my friends comfortable but also made sure that all I did was to dance and enjoy myself. He had got a lot of gifts for me and for a moment I felt like I own an entertainment store for myself because my gifts comprised of comics and action figures. When he paid the bill for the whole party, I couldn’t help but think how this little annoying brother of mine who used to ask me for extra pocket money every month had suddenly grown up over night. I surely turned 25 that year but he was the one who grew up.
He was back to my best friend in the hiding. He still pampers me every month. Surprises me with gifts, acts as my driver when I have to go somewhere, makes sure that I am doing fine and that I always have some laughter in my life. I guess the day he was born, will always stay the best day of my life forever and ever. I couldn’t get a brother better than him. RAKHSHABANDAN is the day when a sister ties a rakhi to his brother asking for her protection. My brother is my protector for life and I am so proud of him.
P.S. – We still fight, argue and get angry at each other because that’s the way to show our love for each other. Life will get boring without a little spice in it.
Like I said always I love you 😘