The book of snippets

Two birds

Abir hates it, but he doesn't mind it when mom scolds kunal for it, he hates it way more when Kunal is sad.

Or when he is sick.... like now...

Nanko is coughing his lungs out, holding his chest for some sort of comfort, his small gray (blue?) eyes prick with tears at the end of them. He looks miserable and Abir feels something he has never felt before.

"Abir beta nanko ko kuch nahin hoga" His naanu comforts him, toddlers catch these bugs, they will be okay, Kunal will be okay. Abir believes him because he trusts Naanu. But that feeling doesn't go away. Every time Kunal coughs it intensifies. Slowly the cushion Naanu's words gave him falls away.

They don't let him sit with him much because Abir might catch the bug and through Abir Ketki and Naanu might. His mother tells him and he listens. But he can't stay put.

That night he knows sleep would be a far away thing, so he decides he'll stay with Nanko instead.

Kunal is bent over when he walks in, Maa had just left after making him drink the khaada Maasi made. He looks up at him and hoarsely whispers, "Bhai."

Abir walks over and plops down. He'll stay away from their baby sister and Naanu. Nanko needs him now.

He rubs his back and Kunal visibly relaxes. He stays there long after Kunal sleeps. Rubbing his chest and pressing his little forehead. Maa and Naanu try but give up very soon knowing he won't budge.

He stays there and falls asleep beside Nanko's bed. Next morning when he wakes up in his own room, the first thing he does is run to Kunal's.

3.

"Aaj main aapke saath so-un kya?"

The question catches him off guard. Nanko was a carefree teenager now, but it took a lot for someone to see through him. He rarely let anything open.

He was going to Harvard tomorrow. The entire family has been ecstatic since the day the acceptance letter came, a bit melancholic too cause Kunal is going to be gone for 4 whole years, would probably visit them once or twice a year.

Ketu, Atul and Naanu have been dragging him to different activities lamenting how much they will miss him. Even Mamu, Mami and Jugnu tell him how they will miss him, during dinners or any random activity picked for the day. Maa and Maasi never partake in them, but Maasi has been cooking his favorites for all three meals for a week now and Maa has been fussing over everything Kunal will need in London.

Abir is the only one who doesn't know what to do. He will miss Kunal, god he will miss him so much, he couldn't find enough words to tell his little brother how much he will miss him. Kunal was his little brother, his best friend and his wingman. For as long as he remembers he's always had Nanko by his side, he doesn't remember the time when he wasn't there.

He doesn't know how to deal with this, how to come to terms, how to cope, how to make up for all the time he's going to lose.

"Bhai?"

"h-haan"

They decide to sleep in that one verandah near terrace. They are gazing at stars and Abir doesn't know what to say, he wants to joke but he doesn't know if he will be able to.