Best Friends

By Apratim Majumder

The curry needed to be a little thicker, Rani thought to herself as she continued to stir the pot. Her hand ached so she switched hands. She had been at this constant stirring for more than forty minutes now but the gravy just wasn’t what she wanted. She had been looking forward to this meal for more than a week. Her son called and said he really missed her fish curry and wanted her to make it. After that conversation with her son, Rani found herself smiling through the day. And then she dived into the preparation. She decided that given the time she had, she would make the dried lentil dumplings herself and not buy from the market. They aren’t what they used to be. Her son loved the dumplings in the fish curry and she was going to make it perfect for him.

It's been ten years now that her son and his wife have moved out of the house. Not that there was any tension or disagreements. It’s just that they wanted their own space. Rani understood that. She counts herself lucky that they are just five minutes away. And he’s always been there. Like when his dad fell and broke his hip or when he fainted on his morning walk. Rani was walking beside him and when she saw his unsteady body slowly slumping to the ground, it was like meeting her worst fear. Being all by herself.

It’s not that she wasn’t lonely. Her hypochondriac husband had very little time for anyone else despite the retirement. Her son and daughter-in-law were always busy and hardly called or came over on a regular day. Rani, from the onset, had dedicated her life to ensuring her son and husband had everything they needed. She didn’t invest in friendships. And her hopes of some new company were mutilated at their fortieth anniversary.

“What do you want for your anniversary, Ma?”

“When are you giving me a grandchild?”

“That’s not happening.”

“Why not? Is there some problem?”, Rani asks with concern. “Na Ma. There is no problem! Actually, there is. There are way too many people and the world is going to the dogs and I don’t want to bring another stupid child into it”, he said in one breath.

“Ok, don’t get so angry. You have a child when you are ready.” “Ma. I am telling you. Look at me. Never. I will not have a child” “What about Meera? What does she want?”, she enquired about her daughter in law

“Obviously she wants the same. It’s a joint decision.”

Rani was crestfallen. Which turned into anger with the kids of this generation. Why don’t they want to have children?

“The fish curry is outstanding” should have been the only thing that Rani would have normally remembered from lunch that day. But it wasn’t. Her son told her his friend was moving into the apartment next door. He was dating this foreigner and they accidently made a baby and while he wasn’t keen to have it, it was her call and she decided to keep it. They had just delivered the baby girl and wanted a bigger place. Rani couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Rhiannon was not any ordinary baby. She was fairer than the fairest and when she walked in her pram with her mother pushing it in the park downstairs, there seemed to be a glow emanating from them. Rani watched them from her balcony. She saw other mothers and their pram trotting babies ignore Rhiannon. They are jealous, she thought. She got used to seeing the foreigner walk Rhiannon all by herself. And then suddenly one day, she saw Rhiannon walk. She was having tea in her balcony and had just dipped her cookie into her cup, when she saw Rhiannon take her first steps. Her mother shrieked in joy and then looked around at the empty park. Her sad eyes looked up to meet Rani’s on the balcony. And she smiled when she saw Rani’s excited smiling face.

“Your cookie’s crumbled”, said her husband and laughed loudly at his own joke.

Rani raised her hand and asked the foreigner to wait.

“I am going down for a walk.”

“Now? Don’t you want to have your tea? Did I do something?”, he asked. Rani barely heard the last bit as she walked towards the door.

It’s been a couple of months and Rani has found her favorite time of the day. It’s the same every day. Rhiannon picks up stones and throws them in the park. Rani does the same. Rhiannon still can't talk. And the foreigner doesn’t speak Rani’s language, she sits in the setting sun reading a book.

Her son calls. “Ma are you busy?”

“Yes, I can't talk now. I am with my best friend”

There’s silence in the park again as they resume throwing stones. Rhiannon picks one up, looks at her and says, “Rhaaiii”

Rani takes her tiny white face in her palms and talks like a baby, “That’ll do.”

By Apratim Majumder