Gone Wrong

Navami

Tridha peeped onto the balcony. Trishan was leaning on the railing, sipping his tea.

Loud noises of dhaak were coming from different corners of the streets, and Kishore Kumar's songs were blaring out of the mics. The lights on the streets would make a foreigner think it was Christmas, but it, in fact, was Durga Puja.

Today was Nobomi, the second last day of the 10-day long course of celebration.

Trishan slung his arm around her as she hopped on the balcony. This pair of cousins had grown together like siblings. They would donate their hearts to each other, but won't share food. So the moment Tridha reached for the chai cup in Trishan's hand, he forgot about all the love he had for her and shoved her away pretty forcefully to the other end of the balcony.

"Heyyyyy!!!" Tridha squealed.

"What??" Trishan raised his eyebrows and finished his tea in one sip.

"Why did you push me??"

"Why were you taking my chai?!"

Tridha scrunched her nose.
"My head hurts..."

"Not my prob, bruh."

Saying that, he offered his arm again. And she, without responding, slipped inside his arm. It was a good negotiation for both of them.

"They will be showing the results when school opens," she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"And...you're worried?" he cocked his head.

"I am, and you should be worried too!"

"I am not and I never will be. C'mon, we have repeated this too many times, Rai. You need to stop worrying. You will do good."

She moved away and flung her arms in the air, "You don't understand, I can't let anything get in my way," she exclaimed.

Trishan held his head in exasperation.
"You don't understand! If this is your outlook on life, then everything will get in your way. Let things happen even if they interfere with your way. Everything will fall into place eventually..."

Tridha had been eaten up by this immense fear of the fact that things would get out of her hands. Trishan was older than her by a few months, and he was absolutely not the shining star of the family. She was the family's only hope.

Trishan was a born rebel. He wasn't doing what his parents expected from him. Neither did he care. But Tridha did. And she cared to the extent of sickening her mind with worries about her scores and being scared to death whenever something unplanned happened. It wasn't the case that she liked to obey her family, but in reality, she had no idea what she wanted to do.

Trishan never told her not to study or not to be the shining star. He was just worried that she was destroying herself, and he couldn't bear to see that happen to her. Their family loved them. But desi families have a weird way of expressing their love, and at some point, that love eventually ends, and some contractual promises emerge from the bottom of their hearts. Such contracts start from "you have to be a doctor" to "I need a grandson asap".

And Tridha...well, she wasn't one of those people who embraced change.

So, when this Nobomi night, that same conversation emerged between the cousins, she swivelled around on her heels and bid a goody good night to Trishan.

"Thanks for the lecture, sir. I need to sleep!"