A choppy situation

As already established in the first post of this series, my eldest brother was an adventurous child. My second brother, on the other hand, was everything the first one was not. He was the obedient, silent, strong type. So if the first one, let’s say, dropped tea all over our new cordless phone, the second one would quickly dismantle it, wipe its innards clean and fix it right back, like nothing happened. Basically, they were as different as their hair types: tightly curled versus naturally straight.

Both of them spent the first ten years of their lives in Kuwait. Understandably, mum and dad always had a lot of dinners and gatherings at home over the weekends. Since the Indian community was much smaller then than it is now, everyone made an extra effort to meet over the holidays.    

So one such evening, the parents invited a couple over for dinner who they knew from Bombay. The kids always had strict instructions to stay in their room and play, while the guests and the parents chatted. They were promised good food as a fair trade, so more often than not they happily obliged.

Now my eldest brother can never sit still, especially when he is told that he must. While the second one continued to mind his own business and kept busy with his cars, the first one suddenly had a stroke of genius.

After a little chitter-chatter, mom decided it was time to lay out dinner. So she made her way to the kitchen, calling out to the boys as she passed their room. While she busied herself with the food, she heard their room’s door open. Then she heard them rush out to the hall, where daddy sat with the guests.

Then she heard the first one say this, “Look daddy! I gave him a haircut! It’s all nice and even now!” She decided it was best to abandon laying out the food, and rushed to where everyone was.

There, in the middle of the area surrounded by myriad expressions of shock, stood my eldest brother with a spray of Windex in his hand and a big smile. Beside him stood the second one, with a handkerchief tucked neatly in his tee, a sheepish look on his face and little hair left on his head.