Courageous Sister

That's why she is a brave sister... today she is a role model for her.

After waking up in the morning, I had just picked up my mobile phone when it occurred to me that I had not received any message from Aditi for a long time. Otherwise, the first good morning message decorated with flowers and leaves would come from him.

I had noticed this two-three days ago also, but due to my busy schedule and the fever I had after taking the Covid injection, I was rarely able to come online. The body had become so weak that leave alone doing any work, I just felt like lying down all the time.

I thought I should reply to everyone whose messages I have received, then once I leave the bed, where will I get time before ten to eleven o'clock?

First, I messaged Aditi, "Hi, how are you? Where are you?" After some time, the answer came - Hi, Aditi is no more in this world. I am Aditya replying to your message from his mobile. How? When? Many questions arose at once.

I was thinking of taunting her and lovingly scolding her that these days she is so busy that she doesn't even remember me, and now I am hearing that she is no more in this world. I felt completely sad. I couldn't understand what to do. First of all, my condition was bad due to fever and headache, and on top of that, my mother-in-law was also not there; otherwise, I would have lightened my mood a bit by talking to her. Little Anshu wanted to sit in my lap every now and then.

Rakesh and I would somehow try to keep him busy by giving him toys and showing him cartoons. This epidemic had almost snatched away the childhood of the children.

During tea, when I told my husband about Aditi's absence, he did not utter a word even for a moment. I felt like calling Aditya again, but should I tell him? Aditi was Aditya's love marriage. Aditya used to study with me, but with time, I started liking the mild-mannered Aditi more.

Aditi, from a middle-class family of Chhattisgarh, was a little different from her family. Her father had a grocery shop. Aditi was very good at studies since childhood and was also hardworking. The aim of her life was to stand on her own feet after getting an education. When she was selected for the post of Area Manager of Samsung in Raipur, she would have never thought that her fate was going to change in the future.

When Aditya, a boy from the Thakur family of Uttar Pradesh, fell in love with the sweet-spoken Aditi while working together in the office, both of them came to know about it when Aditya started getting relations with many famous families, and he was thinking of finding someone in place of Aditi but couldn't find it.

He thought that now in the next meeting he will express his feelings to Aditi. Yes, what happened that caste and community are not equivalent. Both families will have to face opposition.

But this did not come to fruition because suddenly his father's health deteriorated, and he died of a heart attack. Now Aditi also had to take the responsibility of taking care of her younger sister.

In such a situation, when Aditi came back to Bilaspur after losing her father, she was not able to understand in whose hands should she hand over her life. The younger sister Neeti was then in the tenth standard. In a way, the responsibility of taking care of him had now fallen on Aditi. His mother was already gone, and his elder sister was left with her in-laws after marriage.

In such a situation, when Aditya proposed marriage to her, Aditi had only one condition that her younger sister Neeti would live with him.

Firstly, it was an inter-caste marriage, there was no trace of dowry on it, then there was an additional responsibility of Niti; this marriage faced a lot of opposition from Aditya's family. Therefore, the marriage took place in a simple ceremony in the presence of a few friends without any relatives.

In those days, I also came to Raipur after marriage and came to know about Aditya. Within a couple of meetings, I started liking Aditi a lot. Often, seeing both of us chatting together, Aditya would start singing in a dramatic style, "Friend is no more friend, love is no more love," then everyone would laugh. My husband Rakesh, who has a serious nature, may not have joined in our banter, but he would definitely sit with us. Perhaps everyone liked the company of reticent Aditi.

When Aditi came to meet me to congratulate me on the birth of Anshu, I jokingly said, "Now you also bring a little one." I said it jokingly, but what is this...? Aditi suddenly started crying. I am speechless... What did I say?

After some time, Aditi calmed down and said, in fact, right now she can't even think about having a child, his sister Neeti living with him. Aditya's family members did not like him from the beginning. Aditya also no longer liked Niti's living, and Aditi's spending on her.

That's why Aditi could not even think about her child right now. She said that Neeti's internship would be completed after two years. She will start bearing her expenses, then if Aditi brings her own child, she will be able to raise it well.

That day I understood that Aditi was going through a lot after marriage. Now what will happen to Neeti after Aditi leaves? Who will bear her expenses? These questions started running in my mind like a storm. As soon as Rakesh got busy in the office zoom meeting in his room, I called Neeti. Right now he was also on duty in the hospital. That's why she was on duty. I calculated that By now, it had been almost sixteen days since Aditi had gone to God; hence Neeti must have joined Raipur Medical College.

I couldn't go right now. So, with the intention of having the entire conversation over the phone, I called Neeti again in the evening, and at first, she started crying a lot. While crying, Neeti told that Aditya does not like her much, and she did not like Aditi spending her salary on Neeti. That's why despite living in the same city, Aditi had kept her real sister in the hostel.

"And now sister's mother-in-law has started insisting on brother-in-law's remarriage."

Niti said all this in one breath. I had never thought that Aditya could change so quickly. However, my husband Rakesh refused. My mind was also in a dilemma whether it would be right to interfere in someone's personal matters or not? Finally... I listened to my heart and gathered courage and called Aditya. Told him that maybe you are thinking of second marriage after Aditi's departure, so now I want to take the responsibility of Neeti. Because now she is my sister.

I was very surprised when Aditya agreed very easily. By the way, he was still harboring a grudge against Aditi that... Aditi had followed the policy of the first heir (first nominee) of her movable and immovable property almost everywhere.

And I was amazed at the extent to which money and the greed for money change a person. The fight ahead is not very easy for me, for Niti. But I have maintained my courage that these days of the pandemic will pass, I will become completely healthy, and then I will bring Neeti home for a few days. Barely nineteen years old girl lost her parents! So it was already lost. Now even her sister was no longer her only support.

In such a situation, I was able to feel her breakdown very well. I wanted to somehow maintain Niti's morale through my words. Gradually, Neeti has started calling me every evening after coming from the hospital. She has started sharing her feelings with her sister Aditi, some of them with me also. Perhaps she has accepted me as her elder sister. And for me, she is like a doll, like Anshu, like Neeti.

I feel the immense ocean of love stirring within me for Niti too. True, relationships that are woven with the threads of love and trust do not require any external ostentation or show off. My courage is firm that by fulfilling the incomplete responsibility of my friend Aditi, I will equally fulfill the duty of both a friend and a human being, and Neeti has also got a new spirit and new courage to make her career better. After all, Aditi Di also wanted her to become a successful doctor.

(End )

Dear friends, I agree that the circumstances are not at all favorable right now, but we will have to come out of this phase by supporting each other and maintaining courage. What is your opinion?

Please tell in the comments and follow me if you like my efforts.

Thank you.