Biren looked at Avik and said - “let’s go play hide-and-seek!”
The winter break in Kathmandu had just started and kids were busy trying to finish their homework so that their remaining one and half month was going to be full of fun. Biren was in grade four and Avik was in the eighth grade. The had a sister too who was in the sixth grade. All of them had completed their assignments.
“Let’s go find Jyoti.” Avik replied.
Jyoti was in the living room sketching some trees. She loved to sketch and her mother was so proud of her. She always got good grades and was very obedient. Avik and Biren rushed into the living room and asked Jyoti to join them. She was excited as hide-and-seek was her favorite game. They went out and collected some neighbor kids and played their favourite game.
Winter vacation was always so much fun. They played hide-and-seek almost everyday. In addition, they loved carrom, chess, scrabble, ludo, playing shopkeeper etc. But that year, there came another excitement in the house. Daddy dear bought a TV. They hugged each other and said - We don’t have to go to Sharma’s house to watch TV anymore. There was no cable and Nepal Television started at 6pm with ‘Bal Karyakram’(Children’s Show) and ended after English news at 10pm. The three siblings loved Bal Karyakram with their favourite being Barba Papa. They sat on the carpet and watched while their mother cooked. They loved all the shows except the 8pm news. The kids loved each other’s company and were protective of one another. If one of them dropped a glass bowl on the floor and broke it, nobody would tell mom who did it.
A year passed with infinite love between the siblings. The next year, dad got promoted and included cable in their house. They kids hugged one another and jumped with joy. They exclaimed - “Now we can watch movies and HBO.” The first few days, they watched the cable channels with wonder, awe and happiness. In the later days, Jyoti thought - “Why do we always watch what Avik wants to watch ?” Then she snatched remote from Avik’s hand and put on Cartoon Network. Avik exclaimed - “ I don’t like Cartoon Network, put back ESPN so I can watch football (Soccer)”. Jyoti did not say a word. Avik stood up and left the room. In the next few days, there was argument, fights, hair pulling and hiding the remote control. Jyoti would be happy to be alone in the house when the boys went out to play so she could watch Cartoon Network all by herself.
In the coming days , the kids stopped playing hide-and-seek. Even the neighbor kids were busy watching TV all day long. The siblings did not even like each other’s company. They had different interests and different friends. Their parents started to worry and after a couple of years, dad got each one a new TV put into their room. They were happy and thought - “ No more fights and struggle to watch what I want” By this time Avik was already in the 12th grade. He was relieved to have his own TV.
A couple of months passed with their individual TV. It was the time the siblings didn’t even bother with one another. Their winter vacations were spent in their personal rooms. They did not study together, watch movies together or play together. There was hardly any interaction. Parents were relieved. Dad looked at mom, smiled and said - “No more fights”.
- Prixya Khakurel 1/6/2016
Edit Note
