The wedding was a simple affair with only some of Paritosh’ colleagues in attendance. But he had splurged on Rupali and her brothers. While Rupali could barely keep track of the dresses and jewelry that had been bought for her, her brothers, apart from new clothes and watches, received a new bicycle, laptop and mobile phone each. Rupali grew tearful at their bewilderment and excitement. She hugged them and pleaded, “Never let him down, guys. Even Ma and Baba would not have spoiled you so.”

“Should we return some of it, Didi?” Sugata asked anxiously.

“No silly. That would hurt him. Just–”

“Don’t worry, Didi,” Soumitra assured her, “We can never let you down. So we will never let him down.”

Rupali was at first anxious, then relieved, that Maya also attended their wedding, although she stayed only for a short while. Paritosh assured her that Maya was fine. A little sad, perhaps, but fine.

She entered Paritosh’ house happy and excited after the wedding, content in the knowledge that she could call it her own home now. But once alone with him, she was surprised to find that he didn’t act amorous at all. Instead, his attention was focused on a bunch of papers that he was laying out on the bed.

“What are these?” she asked, impatient.

“Give me one more minute and I will explain,” he replied.

At last he turned to her and said, “I need you to sign some papers. I will explain what they are about.”

First were the set of papers he had shown her earlier, about setting money aside for Soumitra and Sugata. He had waited until the wedding to sign them because there were significant tax advantages in transferring assets to relatives. The next set involved transfer of some other assets and properties in Rupali’s name. She had reconciled herself to his idea of creating a separate fund for her brothers. But this outright transfer of assets to her made her hesitant.

“Why do you think you have to do this, Dr. Khanna?” she asked, “You know that I trust you, don’t you?”

“I do. And I ask you sign these for my sake, not yours. I need you to know that you are truly an equal in this relationship.”

“And I know that–”

“Please. Think of this as a wedding gift, if nothing else?”

She shook her head, then started signing the papers without even glancing at its content.

“Read them, at least,” he objected.

“I can sign off my life to you right now, Dr. Khanna. I don’t need to read the papers you have prepared.”

After signing all the papers, she looked up at him and asked, “Anything else?”

“Yes,” he replied, then silently gathered the papers and put them in a drawer. After that he spoke again, “There is another matter. Very important.”

“What?”

“The matter of,” he sat beside her and held her by arms, “How you address you husband.”

She frowned in confusion.

“He has a name, you know. And he likes to be addressed by that,” he added, grinning.

She broke into a smile and shook her head.

“Dr. Khanna, Sir and Prof. Khanna are banned words for you now, wifey.”

“I will try,” she muttered.

“Say it. Now!”

She leaned on him and whispered into his chest, “Paritosh!”

—

“You’re not preparing for the test at all,” Paritosh stopped on hearing Soumitra’s anguished voice. He was angry at his brother, it seemed.

“I am too sleepy now, Piku. I will revise in the morning.”

“Didi has not been checking up on you these days. So you’ve become too careless. Class tenth is important, Pintu. You can’t study for board exams just the night before.”

“Arre. I will study, yaar. Just not today. I am so tired after the match.”

Paritosh moved on, thoughtful. He hadn’t wanted to bother Rupali, although he had noticed the issue for a while. A few days ago, Soumitra had come to him to take his permission to join a new tuition where the fees were higher. Before that they needed money for school picnic. Apparently every time they went to Rupali for something, she would tell them to ask Paritosh. As much as Paritosh tried to be their friend and make them comfortable, they couldn’t feel so.

He found Rupali in Meenal’s room and sat there for a while. Meenal’s progress in last few months had been tremendous and her communication had improved much. She talked in complete sentences now and was more forthcoming about her needs. She would ask for food when hungry and would go to bathroom on her own when she needed to relieve herself.

“You used to cook special breakfast for the twins on Saturdays earlier, right?” Paritosh asked Rupali.

“Sometimes. They like luchi-aaloo. That essentially poori and potato-gravy.”

“You never cooked it here, did you?”

She smiled at him, “You wouldn’t even look at such heavy breakfast.”

“Well, tomorrow is Saturday. Perhaps you could cook luchi-aaloo. I wouldn’t mind heavy breakfast on Saturday.”

“Okay,” she agreed but wondered why he was suddenly interested in breakfast menu.

“And how is their studies going? Soumitra and Sugata’s?”

“Fine. I guess…” she grew nervous now and was sure that something was going on in Paritosh’ mind.

“What is it, Paritosh?”

He shook his head and seeing her nervous look assured her, “Don’t worry. But can we go to our room for a while?”

She nodded. Paritosh told Meenal where the two of them would be and then she was happy to be left alone with her drawing book.

Despite his assurance, Rupali was worried and scared when they reached their bedroom. “I have messed up something, haven’t I?” she said, “I haven’t been paying attention to them. What has gone wrong? Has something happened to them?”

“Calm down, Rupali. Please. Don’t let your imaginations run wild. Nothing has gone wrong.”

She took a deep breath and waited for him to continue.

“You are taking a much-deserved break from the responsibilities you were too young to handle. But there was something both of us overlooked. I can attend to all their reasonable needs, Rupali, but you are the only guardian they have ever known. That is a place it will take me a long time to take. We can’t leave a vacuum until then. They are at an age where they need a guardian. Perhaps Soumitra less so than Sugata. But even he looks up to you in a way he can’t do with me.”

Rupali bowed her head as the effect of her preoccupation with her own happiness on her brothers sank in. She had been sending them to Paritosh for every little thing. She hadn’t realized that more than money for their necessities, they must have been seeking her advice and approval.

“Come on, now, Rupali,” Paritosh took her in his arms on seeing her condition, “You are stronger than that. No harm has been done and you don’t have to worry about your responsibilities. You always have me to pass them on to. You just need to continue being their big sister, that you are at your heart.”

“Thank you,” she said, holding him tight, “I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life.”

He broke the hug and smiled at her, “And I couldn’t have been happier to be anything for anybody else. Do you want to talk to them now?”

She nodded.

“Then wipe your tears, wash your face and go to them. I just heard Soumitra lamenting that Sugata has been ignoring his studies. I will be with Meenal.”

She did as he asked and before leaving turned to him, “I will cook luchi-aaloo tomorrow. But you don’t need to eat it. I’ll make something lighter for you.”

“But I want to eat it. It has been talked about quite often and has now acquired a mythical status for me.”

“Eat at your own peril then,” she grinned, “Because there will also be chicken for lunch.”

He laughed as she capered off.

– The End –