The Afternoon Killing : Part One

They returned from school, and banged on the rusty gate. The school closed early today due to the death of a teacher. They were happy about it. They were able to eat the freshly prepared jalebees at the sweet shop on the Lahoriyan Street and came back singing songs and shouting ‘holiday, holiday!’ all the way. Bhagwati and Bhanu, the twins reached home. Suddenly their smiles disappeared.

Bela chachee was at home and she opened the gate. She was surprised to see them back so soon. She angrily enquired why they were back so soon.

“Did both of you run away from school?”

“No! One teacher died. He was hit yesterday by a sugarcane truck. Principal Sir declared a holiday” Bhagwati replied. Bhanu did not reply and just walked inside. He did not like his chachee at all.

“Both of you ….wash quickly and sit down to study” Chachee thundered and continued “I will ask your father to go to school tomorrow and enquire for the real reason. I am sure you must have done something and have been thrown out of the school”.

Bhagwati and Bhanu quietly changed and sat down to study. The joy of a surprise holiday was short and the atmosphere was finally morose.

Bhanu and Bhagwati’s parents, Banshidhar Bisht and Bhaghirathi, were teachers in a distant government inter college. The younger brother of their father, Bhuvan and his wife Bela, lived with them. Bhuvan worked in the local bulb-making factory. Bela was a home maker. The younger sister of their mother, Ritu whose husband was a soldier, also lived with them. Her husband came home only twice a year for about a month each. Since Ritu and her husband did not have any kids of their own, both of them adored Bhanu and Bhagwati a lot. They loved the days when the soldier would come home. Ritu had earlier always lived with her husband, in the place of his posting. But two years ago he was posted to Kashmir and Ritu was uncomfortable with the thought of living there. She decided to live with her sister and found a job in a local nursery school as a teacher.

The three families have been living together for last two years. Bela was the only homemaker in the household. Bhanu and Bhawati woke up at 5 in the morning. Bela would give them milk and make them study for an hour before preparing them for school and then sending them away. Their parents would leave the house a little earlier than them since their school was in a different town 30 kms away. Their uncle Buvan had fortnightly shifts and he would sometimes stay back and sometimes leave at the same time as others. Their aunt, Ritu, also left home before them. By 7 they were left with Bela alone. She used to pack their lunches and prepare them for school and then finally accompany them to their school. She stayed back at home and finished all the usual household work.

After their school was over, she would go to school and bring the kids home. After feeding them lunch she helped the kids with their homework. She was very particular about their studies. She herself was forced to leave her education unfinished due to an early marriage. She was determined to see to it that the kids get the best education and made every possible effort on her part. After studying for two hours they got a break when their parents and other members of the household came back at 5 in the evening.

The evenings were full of excitement, fun and frolic. Their father took them to market on his bike. Bhanu loved the air flowing through his hair and he would often sing loudly. After having some chaat at one of the stalls in Muneem Lane, they would come back by 7, after which they watched television. They generally slept by 10 p.m. after dinner.

Bhanu never liked Bela though. He always saw her as a tough disciplinarian. His own mother seldom scolded him. She used to spend evenings with him and indulged him a lot, very like is father in those few hours. He never liked being woken up early in the morning and then made to drink the glass of hot milk. The early morning study sessions under the watchful eyes of Bela were resented by both the twins. As their parents got ready for their work, they labored with the books. Then like and old-time army instructor she would get them ready. Shouting instructions, tugging them, packing their lunches, setting their school bags and then finally she would take them to school. Her sharp eyes restricted Bhanu’s freedom. She never allowed him to play with neighborhood kids. She never let him read comics, bring friends to home and tried to restrict his television watching timings to evenings only. She was a tough disciplinarian and was too concerned about his studies. Bhanu hated her a lot.

As the IPL fever built up, Bhanu’s classmates decided to organize their own league. Their class had two sections and each section was divided into two teams each. The four teams would play a couple of matches with each other. The eventual winners will be given a treat at one of the stalls in the Muneem Lane. After fixing the match schedule, duly taking into account the half-yearly examinations, they came down to more logistical issues. Someone has to arrange for the bat, ball, stumps pads and other equipment required for the matches. More importantly, it has to be sneaked into the school grounds so that they can play during their hour long recess. Their smelly old physical education teacher would not let them play cricket otherwise. After a lot of deliberation, everyone was given the responsibility of sneaking one item each. Bhanu was expected to bring the much hallowed red cricket ball.

After he came home he deliberated about how to first purchase the ball. Short of money he had only one option, to ask his father. But for that he will have to do something to please him. As he thought about it, he remembered his dad was worried about his maths skills one day. So, it would be a good way to make him happy by showing him some progress. He quickly fished out his dog-eared maths book and sat down solving the problems.

His father came back by 5, and was really happy to see a notebook full of math problems, all fully solved. Bhanu proudly claimed that he finished more than 100 problems today. He hugged him proudly. Bhanu knew that he will get the cricket ball today.

In the evening, when they were in the main market and just about to enter the Muneem Lane for their daily chaat session, Bhanu pointed out to the Mohan Sports Shop and said that he wanted a cricket ball. His father duly obliged. He came back home happily, with his shining red possession in his hands.