The elder brother entered the house, followed by a fairy-like girl wearing a new sari! Standing in front of the father, the brother said, “Dad, this is your wife.”
I thought that the father could not hear anything because of a heavy thunderclap nearby. He was looking at the brother in shock. The brother said to the sister-in-law, “Give my greetings to the father.”
Suddenly regaining consciousness, the father stood up. No, no, I don’t have to greet him. When you were able to take a decision like marriage on your own, you didn’t need the father! You can live the rest of your life without the father.
“Father, won’t you accept Rina?”
“Ah! It doesn’t matter if I agree or disagree, right?”
“Father, why are you so strict! Rina has no one except me, father!”
“It’s not Rina, there was no one except you. You had others besides Rina, didn’t you?”
As the father went inside, he looked at me and said, “When they left, you closed the gate.”
The brother remained silent for a while, then said, “Come on, Rina.”
I really wanted to go to my sister-in-law. But my sister-in-law looked at me and turned her face away and left.
That evening, there was a small field next to our house and I saw my father sitting there crying! I could see my father crying profusely from a distance! The sight of a grown man crying was very awkward to watch!
I had never seen my father cry the day my mother died! But today my father is crying! My brother got married, which is such happy news, but why is my father crying?
When my mother died, I was in class six and my brother was in college. A few days after my mother died, my elder aunt came to our house and tried to pressure my father to get married in various ways. I could hear her from the next room saying, “Listen Rezaul, you are not very old, Raihan and Razzak have grown up. What is your problem with getting married?”
My father could not answer properly. He would just say, “My elder aunt, what are you saying about all this! What will happen to their two brothers if I get married?”
“Hey donkey! What will happen to them? Are they so young that if you get married they will be ruined? Will the stepmother come and torture them?”
Father did not say anything. Aunty would leave the house in anger. Even after telling her many times, when father did not listen to Aunty, Aunty stopped coming to our house.
Father was quite happy with our two brothers. I never saw father sad. He would cook for us with his own hands. Shortkhat was cooked on office days. On holidays, he would cook beef pola with great pleasure. Brother also likes to eat meat pola.
Our days started to pass, brother has just joined the job after passing out, I have joined the university. In the meantime, brother got married.
Brother now lives in a separate house. Me and father live together. With the money received from father’s retirement allowance and some investments, we live well.
I sometimes go to brother’s house. Sister-in-law is very kind and loves me very much. She wants to know about father. He says with great sadness, “It’s okay for Dad to be angry.” But Bhaiya is arrogant and doesn’t go to Dad. He asks me about Dad.
When Dad cooks beef, I take it for Bhaiya. Bhaiya eats it and talks about Dad, making him feel bad. Dad asks me, “Did you communicate with the donkey?”
I keep quiet.
“Khabardar, I will not communicate with her.”
I was surprised to see that every time my father cooks meat, he overcooks it! He doesn’t understand that I take it for my brother and doesn’t say anything. He also tells me not to meet my brother!
He gets very angry when I bring any food from my brother’s house. He opens the fridge late at night and tests it without my knowledge!
During Eid, I saw my father bring a saree for my sister-in-law. He told me that he will fold the saree and come back. It’s not the girl’s fault!
When my brother bought a Punjabi for my father, my father got very angry at me for bringing the Punjabi. I noticed that my father didn’t buy any new Punjabi. The day before Eid, I washed and ironed one of my father’s old Punjabi, seeing no way out. On the morning of Eid, my father started making a lot of noise because he couldn’t find a single Punjabi! I was watching silently, my father knew that he was the first one to have his Punjabi in the war. After a while, he pretended to be very angry and said, “All of you are donkeys! One of you has gone, the house has become a big donkey! You should wash your father’s Punjabi, right?” He said that he had nothing to do and felt compelled to wear his brother’s Punjabi and left!
From a distance, I noticed my father’s friend saying, “There is no calculation, do you understand? Who would spend so much money to buy a Punjabi? All of you are a bunch of donkeys!”
“What are you saying! You will buy a Punjabi for your father at a cheap price, I understand?”
The day my brother had a son. My sister was taken to the hospital, my father would not go. I had to go to the hospital. My brother and I were talking and I saw my father looking around and entering the hospital. My sister had quietly come to see her and her grandson! My brother saw her from a distance. He did not go forward. My father saw his grandson and left.
My father often goes to my brother’s house when my brother is not at home. My sister comes after meeting her and her grandson. He does not tell me anything either! When I go to meet my sister, my sister tells everything and laughs!
Late at night, my father suddenly called me and hugged me and said, “Raihan, get a car, dad.”
I quickly left. It was very difficult to find a car at this time of night. I searched a lot and got a car. Dad himself got into the car. Dad was lying with his head on my lap. I was chasing the driver. Dad said, “Don’t tell that idiot.”
I was worried and didn’t pay attention to my brother. I gave my brother a message. I couldn’t call in front of my father.
When I reached the hospital, my father was rushed to the ICU. I called my brother and somehow told him about my father.
My brother came running in front of me, got angry, came in front of me and slapped me. “Donkey! Why are you being made to study? Why did you call me so late? Why? Why didn’t you call me right away?”
After all these years, the two of us came face to face! I saw my father crying from a distance that day. Today I see my brother. My brother is crying, not in secret, but in front of me, “Dad, you didn’t give me a chance!”
