It all started about a year ago when Ma began
those Aerobics classes at the local Gym run by
Aunt Gulshan. Eight months into Ma's fitness fad,
Naina, the second instructor, left Kolkata to join
her husband on his ship, and Aunt Gulshan bullied
Ma into substituting for Naina. Her decision came
as a shock to the three of us.
Until then, Ma was a normal Ma. You know, the
type who woke us in the morning, hurried us for
school, got our tiffins ready and so on. Now she
had to be at the Gym from 9 to 12 in the morning
and from 4 to 7 in the evening. She had to workout
along with each batch of exercisers. It was
strenuous work. Sometimes she overslept in the
morning—which meant that all of us did too—and
then there was a mad rush to get out of the house
on time.
Ma had to prepare the lunch and dinner before
she left and she no longer had time to lay out our
school uniforms or polish our shoes if we forgot to do that the night before. Torn shirts, crushed
collars, no tie—for the first month it seemed that
my kid sister, Sumita and I were getting hauled up
by the Dress Captains almost every day.
Tiffin became a packet of chips or a jam bun.
Once in a way, as a special treat, we got a toasted
sandwich. That, when we were used to parathas
and sabzi, noodles or fried rice, or even a piece of
fried chicken!
Papa did not know what had hit him. He came
home on more than one occasion to find Sumi and
me fighting like two starving predators over the
last bit of cheese in the fridge. The bread was often
mouldy. Obviously someone had forgotten to put
it in the fridge—and the same someone had not
bought fresh bread.
It took us two or three months to get ourselves
into functioning order. Ma was cool. "Time you
learnt to darn your clothes," she said to me, as
she handed over a needle and thread.
I moved away dolefully, muttering to myself that
I wished I had a Ma who was always at home, like
my friend Bishu's. Bishu did not have to darn his
clothes, that was for sure!
"And Shekhar," Ma added, "you are fourteen
now and old enough to take on some responsibility
around the house. See that you buy the bread daily
and if it gets over faster than expected, fill up the
bread box again."
In time, Sumi and I got accustomed to doing our bit and so did...