We have been brought up in a traditional Hindu society; the society, which considered calling a husband by his name, a taboo. But, the generations are changed now and so are the customs.
My mother never called my father by his name. The logic she threw was, this would reduce the father's age and the same logic we got from all our surroundings. You know, typical Teknonymy. And yes, this caused many funny moments in our lives too.
The famous TV serial MAHABHARAT by B.R.CHOPRA made crazy the whole country those days. At the beginning of the serial was a narration by so-called Samay, The Time, followed by the fantastic serial.
Our Uptron, B&W, TV was installed in verandah on Sundays so that as many as possible persons could be occupied for that one hour. The TV would be placed on a table; only three to four chairs were arranged for senior-most personalities and the remaining gentry was allowed to sit on the carpet on the floor.
Tripathi Aunty, five feet four inches height, milky white in color, and a bit bulky was an epitome of typical Indian housewife. She felt each and every dialogue of the serial and tried to grasp the sermons as much as she could... and never missed even the title sequence. The point is that the name of the uncle was Omkar Tripathi.
On a Sunday,
"How many minutes are to go?" She asked sitting in the chair.
"Five minutes remain aunty." My elder brother replied.
"They seem like hours while waiting for Mahabharat." Impatient Sandeep replied.
"Hmmm. But this will pass in our chatter." Aunty said.
"I have a time pass question." Bhaiya said.
The eyes of everyone there were now asking him for the question.
"We have watched the twenty episodes of the serial but how many in the audience can recite the starting narration?"
"Main Samay hoon. Main Omkar hoon......I am the time. I am the OMKAR......." was the starting narration of the serial.
Many hands were up, all at once. But the hand which fascinated him the most was that of Tripathi aunty.
"You too, aunty?" he smiled.
"Yes, so what if I am not literate. I am pretty well in memorizing, especially the religious lessons."
"But I doubt."
"Doubt, what for?"
"You can't even recite the starting two lines of the narration."
"Ramesh beta, don't underestimate me."
"The obvious needs no evidence aunty." He teased.
"Ok then, listen everyone."
Aunty was a bit serious now but my brother was still smiling at her.
After a deep breath, she started, "Main Samay hoon. Main........" and she stopped as she realized that the following word was nothing but her husband's name, a typical dilemma.
Everyone was now smiling, waiting for the outcome.
'How can I utter his name? It is against the customs. But I have to complete the narration' she thought.
She then glared at the player, "Ramesh, you scamp, you pushed me in the dilemma knowingly. I will beat you."
"I am ready for that aunty, but first you complete the narration." He laughed.
But the smart aunty completed her sentence in her own way, "Main Samay hoon. Main Chunnu ka papa hoon....and so on. I am the time. I am the Chunnu's father.........."
And smiled shyly but we almost lay down with a fit of laughter.
****************************
The Tripathi uncle, a five feet five inch, skinny man with dark eyes was quite a gentle person. His wife, our aunty, was flat at his flying hairs, rapidly turning into silver.
The real problem appeared when the uncle, in his lunchtime, met with an accident just outside his home with a rickshaw and went unconscious. Aunty was out in her lawn and saw the accident. She ran to him immediately.
Then pulling the rider out, she ordered to the rickshaw-puller, "Run immediately to the hospital."
"But madam, I have a ride."
And the rickshaw-puller got a hard slap, in turn, immediately.
"You have no option but to run to the hospital. Otherwise, I will call the whole colony and then police." She yelled.
Frightened, he found his well being in going to the hospital only. The rider helped them to ride uncle on the rickshaw.
She saw the bleeding from uncle's eyebrow and cried, "First you make us reach to the hospital. Then I will decide your fate there."
He didn't dare to say a word and shot to the project hospital. The OPD time was nearly over.
With the help of him, aunty hanged uncle on her shoulder from one side and entered the Doctor's chamber pushing her way through the crowd at the door.
"What happened to him?" Doctor asked.
"He met with an accident."
Uncle was now a bit conscious but groaning due to pain.
"He had a wound just above his eyebrows, deep a bit."
"Hmm."
"His right ankles are also swollen."
"Hmm. I prescribe him stitches and X-ray of the ankle."
"Ok."
"What's his name?"
The doctor got no answer.
Aunty was in dilemma once again. How could she pronounce her husband's name? It would go against her customs.
"Mam, I am asking his name. Will you please tell me?"
"I can't utter his name. This will go against my faith I followed till date."
"Ok. Then please write it down."
"I couldn't write it either. I am illiterate."
"Oh Gosh! What nonsense is this?"
"Doctor, this is not at all a nonsense."
"Ok, ok, then what name should I write in his prescription list?"
"Chunnu k papa, Chunnu's father."
The doctor almost fainted, "Seriously?"
"Of course"
"Ok. Then I suggest for the stitches for the wound above eyebrow first and then X-ray of the ankle of right leg for Chunnu k papa. Albeit it is not a fracture but it would be good for us to be sure about that." And he mentioned the patient's name in the prescription list as the same.
"That's fine."
The minor O.T. and the X-ray rooms were in the close vicinity of the doctor's.
Meanwhile, the colony got the stuff of uncle's accident. Some of us ran immediately to the hospital. Yadav uncle was a close acquaintance of the doctor. He shot himself into later's chamber.
"Mr. Omkar Tripathi might be your recent patient, doctor."
"No. I didn't attend such a patient today."
"But the rickshaw puller told me that you attended him."
The puzzled doctor was scratching his head, "Oh God! Please save me. Who the hell is this new entity today Mr. Yadav?"
'Why is the doctor so irritated? Might be a large number of patients today' He thought and turned to Chunnu, the son of Mr. Tripathi.
"Chunnu beta, what did the rickshaw puller tell you?"
The doctor immediately interrupted, "Wait, wait, wait. Are you asking about Chunnu k papa?"
"Yes, doctor."
Yadav uncle gave a chuckle.
"OK, now I got it. Chunnu k papa i.e. Mr. Omkar Tripathi is now in minor O.T. I sent him there with Chunnu ki mummy, Chunnu's mother" and the doctor burst into laughter.
All were staring at him.
He maintained himself, "Sorry, But don't worry, Chunnu k papa is fine. A few stitches only." and cracked up again.
As a matter of fact, aunty carried her customs throughout her life and never uttered uncle's name as I recall. She is no more with us today but her sweet memories are........
#Author's note: The read count approaching to 1K, the votes and the comments are the best rewards you all bestowed upon me.
I am indebted to you all for keeping the stories alive and giving your sincere eyes a halt on these.#