NEW MOTHER

 

... After my mother's death, a few days later, my father brought a new woman and said, "This is your new mother. I've brought a new mother for you from today." Rage and hatred ignited throughout my body.

SSC exams were the only remaining hurdle. At half past midnight, my father called and said, "Your mother is no more." I burst into tears.

My elder brother tried hard to console me, holding me in his arms. My maternal uncles from other rooms also came to offer solace. It felt like facing an unsympathetic world. Despite going for exams in the morning, I broke down in tears. Somehow, I managed to finish the exam and returned home.

I couldn't even imagine my father doing something like this again to cope with my mother's absence. It seemed like a dream.

I returned home that day. Just a year and a half after being admitted to college, I learned that a new daughter had entered the world of my new mother.

As soon as the news reached my ears, my hatred towards my father grew even more. How could my father do this? Thinking about it made me rage to the point of bursting.

Whenever I went home, I never turned back to look at my mother and her daughter. Even when at home, I secluded myself in a room. Mother always tried to engage me in conversation, but I remained indifferent.

That morning, after freshening up, I sat with a book. Moments later, a girl with a few rotis and fried vegetables in her hands entered my room.

I asked her, "What's your name?"

She didn't respond. Fear turned her face red. I lifted her with her small hands and put her on my lap.

She remained silent, maybe because she never received her brother's affection. Perhaps that's why she cried.

Then I went to my father and whispered to him about the new mother, repeating, "I also want to call Avnir's mother, my mother."

Turning to look, I saw the new mother wiping her tears with the end of her sari.

(The End)