I’m at the bus stop watching my kids alight from the bus.
Nikita walks up to me and says excitedly “Mama, meet my new sister” pointing to her side where I can see only empty space.
I’m puzzled and turn to look at Naina who is walking behind us at a snail’s pace with a very grumpy expression on her face.
Not again I think to myself wryly. They’ve made it like a fashion statement to fight in the school bus and come home with grouses.
“Mama, mama, look at us…..my new sister is waiting for you to say hello” says Nikita tugging at my arm insistently.
“Hello new sister” I say obediently and wink at Naina at the same time.
Naina marginally brightens up at my expression and joins us.
“My new sister is the best. She listens to me and likes everything I have to say. She doesn’t argue with me or fight over silly things. I’m going to have a great time with her” announces Nikita with a quick sideways look at Naina.
“What’s your new sister’s name???” I ask.
“Pakoda*” says Nikita grandly. “I have named her Pakoda and she’s going to be my bestest ever sister.”
I coughed to hide my laughter and even Naina couldn’t help but grin.
As we walked up the stairs Nikita was very dramatically showing off the neighbourhood to her imaginary companion.
“Pakoda, this is where we live, this is how we walk up the stairs, see this is our front door and this is my living room…….come on I’ll show you all my toys and we are going to have lots of fun together”.
For the next 1 hour she didn’t let up…….it was all Pakoda this and Pakoda that.
And inbetween she’ll look at Naina & me and say with the most innocent expression “Pakoda is the best sister I have ever had in my life. She is so much fun and I JUST love her”.
I found the whole thing amusing but couldn’t help feeling sorry for Naina who had no sense of humour when she needed it most.
Naina who was silent all this while couldn’t bear it anymore and announced her decision to have her own imaginary sister.
Nikita who was acting like she was super busy with Sister Pakoda had her ears trained in our direction all the while.
She was at our side in a flash and firmly stopped Naina’s plans from taking wings.
“The imaginary sister thing is MY idea. You can’t copy MY idea” she says authoritatively.
“Yes I can”
“No, you cant”
“Yes I can”
“No, you cant”
“Can”
“Can’t”
“Mamaaaaaaa…..”
“Stop it u twooo…”
“Naina if u copy my idea then I’ll copy ALL ur ideas for the rest of our lives and you will not able to stop me.” says Nikita resourcefully.
Nikita leaves the room leaving Naina to mull over the statement.
Naina who knew the consequences of that left it wisely alone. She retreated for the moment and sat down to think of new strategy.
Just then Nikita calls out “Naina, can u get me my library book, it’s on the bed”
“Ask Pakoda to get it for you” says Naina without missing a beat.
There was a resounding silence punctuated by me trying to muffle my laughter.
And for the rest of the day Nikita was royally ribbed by both Naina and me.
“Nikita, ask Pakoda to get me your lunch-box from your bag”.
“Chechi** will Pakoda play with me if I ask her nicely”
“Pakoda lay the table for me please”
“Pakoda I like u more than my real sister”
By the end of the day Nikita looked like she wished she’d never started it but very good-naturedly endured all the teasing;-D.
The next day the teasing continued and in desperation Nikita put Pakoda to sleep from 2 to 6pm.
Naina & I were so bothered about Pakoda ‘s sleeping pattern; we kept urging Nikita to wake her up because she won’t get any sleep at night if she slept too long.
And the next day when no mention was made about Pakoda till evening I was dying of curiousity.
“Where’s Samosa??? Errr....I mean Pakoda" I ask.
“Oh Pakoda stayed behind at school to help with the chartwork. She’ll be there till night” says Nikita very casually avoiding our eyes & had a small smile playing on her lips.
Naina grins at me from behind Nikita.
And that was that I thought with relief. The better-half when he first heard about the imaginary sister had reacted very differently from me. He was very upset and asked Nikita why she felt the need for an imaginary sister when she had a real sister who was so much fun and who thought the world of her.
Nikita who looked guilty and mutinous at the same time said that Naina was not treating her with respect and not listening to her or doing anything she asked her to do. So then her father gently explained that only if you treat her well and give her respect will she also give you the same. Just because she is your sister she can’t be expected to obey you blindly. And even after that Naina treated her with disrespect she was to tell us about it & we’ll soon set her right. I don’t know how much Nikita gleaned from the conversation but she didn’t argue anymore. Naina was also given a warning that she was not to forget that Nikita was her elder sister and that she’s not to get over-familiar with her especially in front of their friends and schoolmates.
After a few days we forgot all about it and then yesterday….
Both get off the school bus and run up to me….
“Mama, may I introduce my sister to you” says Naina excitedly pointing to Nikita.
“Meet Pakoda, my new sister!!!!!”
Chechi stayed back in school to help with the chartwork”
And they walk off hand-in-hand talking excitedly about their plans for the afternoon.
Here we go again……
@picture above: Nikita’s new found hobby. She found an old church directory and decided it was going to be her comic book. She stuck colored paper on the front & back and illustrated it on her own. At the end of each day she cuts out the cartoon section from the newspaper and sticks it in the book. Initially the book had only her name on it but one day when Naina was sad about some incident which happened in school, Nikita magnanimously added her name below. I was sooo touched.
p.p.s: Before you go all awww…..
…when Naina does anything to irritate her the first thing Nikita does is threaten to scratch her name off the comic book;-P
*Pakoda: a small, spicy fritter containing pieces of vegetables, made usually with a batter of chickpea flour and deep-fried.
**chechi: elder sister in Malayalam
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