Your brother is your first best friend, one relationship that you know will stand the test of time. You may not be sharing a home any more, now that you both are all grown up and life took you to different places for study, work, or marriage. You don’t get to meet every day anymore. Perhaps, you don’t even have the time to talk every day. But whenever you do, you take off from exactly where you left off. You obviously share a host of well-kept secrets with him, all of which remain tightly under wraps even to this day. Because those two share a special bond that is like no other.
On Raksha Bandhan (11th August), let’s jog your memories with 5 such secrets that you share with your original partner in crime.
1. Eating Junk Food When Your Parents Aren’t Around
Oh, you were one of those kids whose parents didn’t allow digging your teeth deep into those oh-so-delectable although unhygienic street food lined up outside school? But you had it anyway once in a while, if not everyday. Thanks to your ever-so-indulgent brother who would volunteer to get some chillar sher ke mooh se (AKA from your Dad), so that you can have what you want. Even if that meant footing his foot in the line of fire in the form of endless admonishments that he knew he would be subjected to. But, for you, he would gladly face it all. Repeatedly. Just for you.
2. Playing Hookie & Bunking School
It was perhaps your charmingly wicked brother who deliberately put the idea in your head. Or, expressed his utter surprise on knowing that you’re yet to bunk classes despite being in high school. And that egged you on and gave you the himmat to actually turn the idea into reality. With that, you got your first taste of freedom – the freedom that you would get to experience more of in your many years of early adulthood. When you look back, you actually realise what all you would have missed out on had your brother not put that impish idea into your head at the opportune moment.
3. Forging Your Parents’ Signature
Oh no, a red mark on your report card! And you need to get your parent’s signature on it! Your friends must have tried cheering you up saying pyaar ka rang laal hai, but you knew that your parents wouldn’t interpret that red ink as your teacher’s love for you. So, the first time you see red on your exam paper, your world turns upside down. You perhaps lose your hunger and tears come trickling down out of the fear of the consequences. You nurture thoughts of hiding it somewhere out of Mom’s reach or, better still, dispose of it in the sewerage water that trickles past your home.
But, again, enters the imp into the scene, wipes off your tears, and lights up your dimaag ki batti. He copies Dad’s signature without a speck of an error, so much so that even Dad wouldn’t question the authenticity of it. When you had brainstormed together, you must have even hit upon the idea of using a blade to carefully wipe off your marks clean and mention a number as per your whim.
4. The Fake “Group Study” Sessions
We all know what we were up to in the name of “joint study”. And the excuse gradually increased with time, having discovered its myriad advantages of it. But Moms always know! So, she starts raising her eyebrow and throws a volley of questions at you about your whereabouts, what you actually study, why you need to wear the bestest of clothes, choicest of deos, and layers of makeup just to go and study together. “Beta, itna ban thak ke kahan ja rahi ho” – she would often catch you unawares with questions like this. But your bro has your back and has his excuses ready to cover up for you. “Mummy, jaane do na, kya itna shak kar raho ho”, he would say. It’s an open secret that you aren’t really going for what you said you would, but Mummy Dear & Daddy Cool couldn’t really do much about it.
5. Coming Home Drunk
If you have an elder brother, it’s most likely that he shared his gyaan of alcohol names with you. And in case your brother is younger than you, you probably discovered the names together. Whatever be the case, once you took to drinking it, there was no looking back. You started going out with friends for just a drink or two, and that number inevitably ended up beyond what you can keep a count of. And then what? After hours of partying, you return home tottering, completely unaware of the time. And then you find that your parents had already gone to sleep and the house had fallen silent. More importantly, the main door had already been locked! So, you conveniently called your partner-in-crime to open the door for you and so he did, saving your soul from the endless kich kich from you know who.
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