Cousins

There is something about cousins that bonds us with them. No matter how many differences arise in the growing up years, a stage comes where they become an essential part of our lives. We may not meet them often, but even if you meet them after ten years, the warmth remains the same.

16th May 1991. I was 8 yrs old and it was my Upanayan (thread ceremony). After everything was done, I changed into normal clothes from dhoti, etc. I noticed that there was a lull. It was about 4 in the evening and almost every guest had left. Only a few close relatives remained. I experienced a lull and was kind of disappointed to see empty chairs and the silence deafened me. I was hungry for a second time and was looking to eat. With no one around, I took a plate and served myself some rice and began eating. I felt very lonely. It was the kind of loneliness that bites you with its sharp teeth. Just then, my three year old cousin emerged from somewhere. I told him, 'See, this is my function and I am eating alone,'.  This three and half year old boy picked up a plate and said, 'Wait, I will join you' and served himself rice. That was the first memory of my cousin Krishnakant Dixit. 21 years later, we share the same bond although he acted a bit weird in between, in phases he was stupid, but he's the best cousin you can get.

But the story today I want to tell you, is of another relative. He is 45 now. Let's name him Shiva. Shiva was in 9th class in 1981. One day after quickly finishing lunch, he was playing cricket in his school's large playground. He was fielding on the boundary. From where he stood, the school's gate looked like a miniature. From the gate, he saw someone enter in pure white clothes. He ignored and concentrated on the game. After a minute, he saw and ignored again. After two more minutes, when he saw a young man slowly started walking towards the main building. He suddenly got a hunch that it could be someone he knows. In a few seconds, he knew who it was. The bowler was getting ready for the next delivery which everyone awaited.

Suddenly, Shiva started running. He ran across the pitch as everyone stood astounded after a couple of them screamed his name to hear no response. He ran hard. He stopped right in front of the man in whites. Shiva couldn't express his joy when he saw his cousin, lets call him Dada. He simply jumped and clung to him and hugged him for a minute. The first thing Dada said to Shiva was, 'Give your bag to somebody, let's go out,'. Shiva wasted no time. He haded over his bag to a friend and they were off. It was just about 1 o clock. Dada took him to Dilshad theater where Kamal Hasan's Ek Duje Ke Liye was being shown. They watched the matinee show which ended at five pm. After that, Dada, who was in his final year of graduation in those days, took him to a bar. That is where he tasted his first beer. That night when they got home, they talked and talked and talked till dawn. After two days he left. That was the beginning of one of the greatest affinities I heard.

There was a phase in between, when unfortunately, for some reason, they weren't on great talking terms for a few months. One day in 1998, Shiva had gone to a town in Karnataka for some work. Dada's home was 40 kms from that town. After he finished his work, he thought a hundred times contemplating whether go and meet Dada or not because of lack of time. For some reason, he didn't and instead decided to watch a movie in those few hours he had before his bus left for Hyderabad. The exit gate of the theater where he watched the movie led straight to the main road through a staircase. As he walked down the stairs with about 8 steps to go, on the opposite side of the road near the pan shop just opposite to the exit, he saw Dada. He couldn't believe his luck. He pushed people apart and ran towards him. Dada couldn't contain his excitement and screamed aloud. Shiva usually emotional man couldn't help but tears flowed out of his eyes. Dada had come to watch the next show of the movie before he took a bus to his village. As expected, the plan was cancelled. They went straight to a bar, talked a million sentences, made up for what they had missed and had a great time. They never had any discomfort between them after that. 

In 2003, when I was studying in my B School, Dada was admitted in the hospital for jaundice. He couldn't survive the illness and sadly, passed away. In early 2011, I went to attend a marriage in the same town where Shiva had met Dada.We reached the function hall late in the night at about 12.20 am. Everything, as expected was closed outside. As we unloaded our luggage and walked out, Shiva realized that it was the same cinema theater which was now a function hall. He looked at the Pan Shop and tears flowed out of his eyes. That was when he told me narrated tales about his days with Dada. Time flies. Today, Shiva's hair has greyed but he still thinks of Dada and remembers his three decade old stories as if they happened yesterday. 

Good cousins indeed are a gift. Even a billion dollars can't bring back Dada or that smile on Shiva's face when he came down looking for him to his school or the one on Dada's face when he accidentally discovered him at the pan shop. What remains today is memories full of delight, but iced with tears. 

- Deepak Karamungikar