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“Liar. Liar. Liar!” the boys, all around my age, taunted as I engaged in a physical confrontation with the one who had sparked this dispute – Omkar.
“I’m not a liar!” I hollered, delivering a punch to Omkar’s stomach.
This blow caused Omkar to tumble to the ground. I loomed over him, ready to strike at him again.
“I’m not a liar!” I shouted once again, landing a solid punch at him.
“Vishnu,” the sharp voice of my mother approaching us could scare away the other boys, not me. While they fled, I continued to pound Omkar until two men intervened and pulled me away.
“Vandita, look what your son has done. Omkar is bleeding,” one of the men who had separated us remarked before lifting Omkar from the ground.
My mother offered her apologies, but the men forewarned her that I wouldn’t be allowed to associate with their children anymore, and then they rushed Omkar to the nearby clinic.
“Vishnu,” my mother addressed me, shaking me vigorously. “What has come over you? How did you get involved in this fight? How could you hit someone so badly? Omkar is your friend.”
“He’s not my friend,” I scowled, my brows furrowing. “He thinks I’m a liar; he’s not my friend.”
Maa began to wipe away the mud and dirt from my face with the pallu of her saree before gently pulling me into her comforting embrace. I held onto her, finding solace in her arms.
“If Dad had come today, they wouldn’t have dared to call me a liar,” I added, determined to keep my tears at bay.
Maa stiffened briefly. Every time I mentioned Dad, her reactions were consistently the same. She never liked me inquiring about him, especially when I asked when he would come to see me. She pulled me away from her and met my gaze as I continued.
“I told the boys that Dad was coming to meet me today, and I promised to introduce them to him. Why didn’t he come, Maa? He never comes here to see me.”
“Vishnu,” Maa swallowed, her expression conveying both sorrow and regret over my complaint. “He was planning to come and meet you, but I stopped him.”
“Why?” I exclaimed. “Why did you stop him? I want to see my dad.”
“He’s a busy man, Vishnu,” she caressed my face. “He has a lot of work to do, and today, he had to be somewhere else.”
She took my hands and led me back towards our humble home.
“Somewhere else?” I questioned, curious to know what could be more important to my father than meeting me.
I continued to pester Maa with questions about his other obligations for the day, wondering where he had to go and why. Finally, when we arrived at our small home, she turned to face me.
“He went to visit your little sister in the hospital.”
“Sister?” My eyes lit up with joy. I had a sister too? When did that happen?
“Yes, Vishnu. Your little sister was born today, and it was important for your father to go see her.”
A few months ago, Maa had already informed me that I had another mother, the one Dad was living with. The revelation made me angry because my father could live with someone else but had no time for me and my mother. When I asked Maa about it, she mentioned that he had his reasons, although she never went into details, except for explaining that Dad’s work was in Mumbai, and he was an incredibly busy man, leaving him with very little time to visit us.
While I didn’t quite like the idea of Dad staying away from us, the news that I now had a new baby sister filled me with excitement and a strong desire to meet her. All my friends here had siblings, and I always felt left out when they couldn’t come out to play because they were spending time at home with their younger brothers or sisters. Now that I had a sister, I couldn’t wait to meet her and create cherished memories together. But first, I needed to meet my father. Even though Maa had mentioned that Dad and I had met when I was around four years old, I couldn’t recollect that encounter. I was probably too young at the time to comprehend that the man before me was my father. But now, I was determined not just to meet him but also to shower him with all my love and, perhaps, persuade him to let us stay with him permanently.
A month later, the long-awaited day finally arrived when Maa took me to meet Dad. However, it wasn’t at his home as I had thought, but on a quiet, desolate road. I noticed a white car parked a short distance away from the jeep that had been sent to pick us up. Maa had already advised me to behave properly in front of him and not to bombard him with too many questions. And most importantly, she strictly told me not to refer to him as ‘Dad’ in the presence of others. I agreed to all these conditions, although I couldn’t fathom why I couldn’t call my father ‘Dad’ in front of other people. Pushing aside that nagging thought, I excitedly got down from the jeep as soon as I spotted the door of the white car opening and a tall figure emerging from it.
It was my first glimpse of him. Dressed in a pristine white cotton kurta and pants, his hair was neatly combed back with styling gel. A prominent vermilion tilak graced his forehead, and a thick orange thread wrapped with Rudraksha beads adorned his wrist. He wore thick glasses, which he promptly removed on seeing me. His first smile, directed at me, was all I needed to dash towards him. The presence of my father was irresistible. I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me, bridging the remaining fifty metres between us before I threw my arms around him. He reciprocated my hug with the same warmth.
“Vishnu,” he greeted me, gently pulling me away from his embrace to look at me. “You’ve grown so much. The last time your mother showed me your picture, you were so small.”
He lifted me with tenderness and made me sit on the car’s hood. I noticed a driver inside the car and wasn’t sure how to react. But the moment he smiled at me, I gave him my toothy smile.
“Look what I’ve brought for you,” Dad said, retrieving some toys from the car and handing them to me.
“Wow, cars,” I exclaimed as I received the electronic toy cars he had gifted me. “Next time, can you bring me a toy gun?”
