(These days, I am writing stories at a go, meaning I start writing and stop when I feel I should stop. I do the editing .mostly after the story gets published on a channel of the Social Media. The present story had something about Forgiveness. I sincerely hope that you, reader, will encourage me to write more. Like I told you earlier none of these stories will cross more than six hundred words.)
Ratan thought there was none like him. He was the most honest, most practical and forgiving man. In due course of time, Life made him feel otherwise.
By the way, I forgot to introduce his eldest brother, Amit. Extremely gifted, Amit was a versatile talent. He had the handwriting that would put any calligrapher to shame. He was a poet, a singer, a dreamer. In short, he exemplified all the good qualities of a truly wonderful man. Life wasn't fair to him though.
When Amit got married, Ratan was still at college. There was a close camaraderie and bonding between the brothers. They were quite fond of one another. Ratan could never forget the essays which won him medals or prizes at various contests. The truth though was that all these essays were written by his elder brother, Amit. Ratan loved how his brother made him fall in love with Rabindra Sangeet ( the songs written by the great Tagore and popularized by various Bengali singers of repute). Ratan thought the relationship between his brother and himself would never change. The One above was smiling though.
During Ratan's wedding, Amit had to be a mere spectator because his adorable younger brother had grown up by then. He was employed, more independent, earning more money than Amit. Relationship between the brothers had already started deteriorating. Amit started avoiding his once apple of the eye kind of younger brother. There were occasions when Ratan called his elder brother names, forgetting all sense of propriety and respect for the elders. He even fought with his brothers at times. Amit was completely taken aback by the vehemence of those attacks, both verbal and mental.
Strange are the ways of God. It was Amit who fell sick. He was suffering from a severe damaged kidney, his only son didn't know from where to get the the extra money for a transplant of the kidney. The nephew had already withdrawn money down to the last paisa from his father, Amit’s account. But he still needed more to pay the advance the doner-to-be had asked for. While he was talking to another relative, Rita, Ratan's wife, overheard him. Thinking Ratan wouldn't mind at least helping his elder brother financially, especially when he was in such dire need, Rita offered the nephew nearly all of what she had in hand at that time in Ratan's absence. Ratan though was not impressed. In fact, he was livid. He shouted at his wife, called her careless with His money and raised hell by throwing the ladle he had at hand. It struck Rita on the forehead leaving a permanent scar. Ratan even mentioned this to his only sister, Smriti, telling her that had he been present, he wouldn't have bothered about such a useless elder brother. Amit breathed his last a few days before the transplantation.
That Sunday, Ratan was at home, doing some cleaning. The radio was on playing one of those popular Rabindra Sangeets - jakhon porbey na more payer chinnya ei ghatey, takhon nai ba money rakley ….( when my footprints will be washed away, please remember me not).
Ratan stopped cleaning the mementoe he had won during his school days, by courtesy of his late brother. He stealthily looked at his aging wife busy cooking in the kitchen. She looked back indulgently at her husband, wiping the beads of sweat around the scar with the back of her hand.. For the first time, since his brother’s death, Ratan put his head down due to utter shame. He had always thought that he was the one to have forgiven his elder brother. Truth was he should have learnt something about Forgiveness from his wife.
The End.