Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 2: The Approval

After the Rakhi incident, It felt like I had already created enough scenes for the day, and so I told Aunty that "I think it's time to go home."

Aunty insisted that I had lunch with them and then go home in the evening. I told her that "I had not informed my parents that I will have lunch at your place,"

Aunty said, "its ok son let me call your mom and tell her that you will have lunch here." and she picked up the phone and called up my Mom. "Mrs. Christopher, this is Mrs. Banerjee your next-door neighbor, I just wanted to inform you that Joe and Monica will have their lunch at our place."

I couldn't hear what my mum said on the other line however I heard Aunty saying "Thank you, Mrs. Christopher. You have an amazing son. My children were really enjoying his company."

Mrs. Banerjee then disconnected the call. She looked at me and said, "Your mother says both of you can have lunch here. You can leave in the evening son. You can teach a thing or two about your disciplined school life to my daughters Hopefully they will learn a few good things from you."

Although I was in no mood to talk about my rigid school routine in front of present company but being an extrovert guy who enjoyed the company of friends, I took this in my stride.

Me and Monica, walked with Aamaya to a room upstairs, with the other siblings following behind. Darika said this room belongs to Sophia. The room had its own beauty unlike the other 2 rooms I saw in the house. The little one had really kept the room clean, her study table was in one corner and the books were arranged in a really good manner.

Her Compass box was kept right next to the books, and on the table, there was a picture frame of a couple, by the looks of it I think they were her parents. Next to her study table was a metal hanger where her clothes were neatly folded and placed. 

Her bed seemed as if no one has slept there for a while, the bed cover was tucked in properly to the mattress, the pillow had been covered with a white cover with a drawing of a princess doll in it. Looking at Sophia's room felt like she was lonely.

In school, I have been taking psychology lessons from Manjari ma'am. She has been teaching me how to read people by looking at their surroundings and if what Manjari ma'am taught was right, something seemed to be very off.

Aamaya sat on the bed and asked all of us to sit. Sophia was also there, however she didn't sit on the bed with us and pulled out a chair that was lying next to her study table. Once we made ourselves comfortable on the bed, the girls started to unpack the gifts.

Aamaya pulled out the angel figurine from the box and was excited. She looked at me and said, "Do you really think I am an angel?"

I looked at her and said "You are like a leader, who can lead your siblings to any victory you wish. As you are the eldest among your sisters, you tend to lead by example, and this figurine signifies someone who brings joy to those who follow you." there was a sense of pride beaming on Aamaya's face.

Darika and Garima started opening their gifts and found the dolls packed in them. It felt like they were not happy with the gifts.

Garima said "Brother Joe, I am not a child to play with dolls. I am all grown up. Do you know I play district level Table tennis and she (pointing towards Darika) plays basketball for the school? Next year she is transferring to SAI Training Center where she will be training with the professionals".

I smiled at her and said, "I am sorry I didn't know that I will get the gift changed". 

 Aamaya suddenly stood up, and said: "Have you forgotten your manners, why should Joe return the gifts, we can find a solution, you can gift it to Sophia, she loves dolls".

Suddenly, the girls got quiet, and Garima asked "Hey Sophia, what did Joe Bhaiya give you?"

Sophia opened the gift and found the figurine of Lord Hanuman. It was a beautiful statue, it had 5 heads each representing different incarnations of God Shiva. She handed the statue to Garima and said: "You can keep it if you want?"

Garima said, "You can keep the statue, your friend has bought it for you." Aamaya was a little embarrassed by her sister's strange behavior, but then to fix the situation, I said: "Ok girls, stop quarreling, when I came to your house I saw a basketball court at your entrance, do you girls practice there."

Aamaya replied "Yes, we like to practice basketball daily. I want her to qualify for the training institute so that we can be proud of her one day."

Sophia suddenly replied with a smile "I know Darika didi very well, she really plays basketball like a pro".

Darika angrily looked at her and taunted "We didn't ask you for your opinion, what do you know about basketball. Why don't you shut up? If we need to talk about dolls, maybe we might ask you for your opinion."

Sophia didn't utter another word and then just to lighten the situation I replied: "How about a basketball match, if you can defeat me, I will take you to the mall and give you the gift of your choice, but if I defeat you, you will keep the doll".

I saw a sudden gleam in Garima's eyes, it looked like overconfidence got the better of her, and suddenly Monika shouted, "I will be in Joe bhaiya's team". Garima and Darika decided to be together and then I looked at Aamaya, she looked at me and said, "I will lead."

All but one Sophia remained. 

"Sophia will you be on our team," I asked.

She was hesitant and said, "I don't know how to play basketball, and beside the ball is so hard, I can get hurt."

The siblings laughed at her answer and the Darika taunted her " Yes she is very soft, she will break easily, she should stick to playing with her dolls. Sissy..."

Did I just hear it right? She just called her a sissy. Where the hell these new generation kids learn these words.

I looked at Sophia, her eyes were beaming with rage and it felt like she was about to cry. I got off the bed, bend down on my knees, got hold of her hands, looked into her eyes, and told her "Always remember one thing, I read one of your holy books Mahabharata, there were 2 warriors whose skills were beyond comparable. One was named Karna and the Other was Eklavya. Karna was a son of a Charioteer and Eklavya was the son of a tribal chief. Both of them approached Guru Dronacharya and requested him to teach them the art of warfare. Guru Dronacharya replied to them "Do you see any son of a Nishada or a Suta here. I only teach students from the royal lineage" and told them to leave."

"They felt dejected and was on the way home, suddenly Karna decided if guru Dronacharya would not teach him, he will go and request his teacher Sage Parasurama to teach me, and so he went to Parasurama and learned the art of warfare from him. He was so devoted to his studies that to date it is difficult to say among Arjun and Karna who is the greatest warrior of all times. Similarly, Eklavya was unable to go back to his father out of shame, so he went deep in the jungle and created a statue of guru Dronacharya and started to learn the art of warfare himself."

"His strong will and dedication were such that he became such a great archer that even Guru Dronacharya had to come and witness his skill, For guru Dakshina,(fees to the teacher) he asked for his right thumb so that he could never shoot an arrow again."

"Eklavya understood the guru's intention he just said to his guru "O great saint, if you would have said that you wanted to see Arjun as the greatest archer in the world, I would not have learned the art of archery. For you, I would do anything." Years later when the great Mahabharata war happened, Eklavya fought alongside the Pandavas."

"He was the only warrior in the world who could shoot an arrow without a thumb. If they had made a sad face and said no, they cannot, would we have known about them now? They stood up to the great Sage and proved him wrong. Give it a try, play with us, I promise you I will protect you when the ball comes directly at you".

I knew I was asking a lot of this timid and shy girl, but I wanted her to stand up to her fears. She suddenly smiled and said, "Ok, let me ask auntie if she will allow me to play." 

I told her "Why don't you sit and relax and let me and your Aamaya didi get the permission for you."

As I was about to leave the room, I saw a funny sight, Darika was trying to imitate holding a bow and using her right hand to get the feeling of how to pull an arrow. I decided to ignore her childish pranks and left the room with Aamaya to the kitchen to meet Auntie and told her about the basketball match we decided to play in the evening. Auntie was happy about the match, but she was not letting Sophia play.

She replied "No son, I cannot let Sophia play, she is too fragile, I don't want her to get hurt. Besides, she has just recovered from flu and is taking medicines. You can get any of your friends who lives nearby to play in her place, just not her".

Aamaya tried to convince her mom and said "Maa, Sophia is fine, she needs some fresh air and she should get well from the flu very soon. Besides, most of the time she spends with her stupid dolls only. It only makes her more ill".

Aunty replied "I think you are right. She can play, but if I see that she is not feeling well, her match is over." I told Auntie "Of course, if she falls ill, I will personally tell her to go inside." and then I left the room.

Aamaya wanted to check the food so she didn't return with me. And then, as usual, I heard some whispering "Mummy be ready for tonight".

Did I hear it right, 'What could be happening tonight?' I ignored her remark and went away to Sophia's room to give her the good news.

A few moments later, Aamaya reached the room too, and then we started the pending conversation.

Darika asked me "Brother Joe, how much time do you spend studying, considering that you are living in a boarding school, and I have heard that you don't get much time to study."

I replied, "Well you are right with all the PT, games, and extracurricular activities I normally get about 2 hours a day to study which is only enough for me to pass my exams."

Darika looked at Sophia and said "See your friend studies only for 2 hours and still manages to pass his exam, and you.... " pointing her finger at Sophia "are so dumb that you cannot pass a simple test".

I was so angry at Darika that her taunting was getting on my nerves and if she would have been my own sister, I would have punished her. She doesn't have the manners to talk to her own sister. I have never talked to Monika this way ever in my life.

Monika was looking at me and understood that I was angry, and she came to Sophia's rescue. "You are her own sister right, and you keep saying to everyone that you are her elder sister, you could have helped her instead of blaming her for failing an exam. What kind of a sister are you if you cannot help one another?"

Aamaya felt a little embarrassed at my sister's remarks, she looked at Sophia and said: "Why don't you go and help mummy getting the lunch ready?".

Sophia didn't utter another word and left the room.

I felt bad for her, but It felt like it is better to keep mum at that time. I am going to teach the siblings a lesson today evening in basketball that they will remember for the rest of their life.

The siblings started asking questions and I kept on replying. It felt like it was a one-way conversation. I was the one replying to the questions and not asking any. After about an hour, Sophia came to the room, as soon as Aamaya saw her, she shouted "I asked you to go and help mom in the kitchen. What are you doing here?" 

"I am sorry, but lunch is ready, Aunty is calling you," Sophia replied. 

We went to the dining table to have our food and found there were 5 plates placed on the table.

The 3 siblings took their place, I sat next to Aamaya and Monika sat next to Garima. The table was big, but there were only 6 chairs placed, and then Aunty came and sat on the 6th. It is a kind of table manners for an elder to be seated together to make the guest feel at home. For once I felt that someone in the Banerjee household at least had some manners. Otherwise, the lack of general courtesy shown by the younger sisters was more than enough to indicate their lack of respect towards others. Then my sister suddenly asked Auntie, "What about Sophia, she is not having her lunch?"

As aunty was about to say something Sophia replied: "I will have lunch with Aunty, she will feel lonely eating alone." Aunty Banerjee stood up, got hold of Sophia's head, and kissed her on the forehead. "That's my little girl."

I was not sure if it’s my analytical instincts that make me observe this or maybe I was thinking too much but I was pretty sure every time any member of the family addresses Sophia as a girl, she had a look of discomfort on her face. Maybe I was thinking a little too much.

We finished our lunch and waited for Sophia and aunty to finish their food as well. For some reason, the two of them went to have lunch in auntie’s own room.

After lunch the sisters took me and my sister to Sophia's room and pointing at the bed, Garima said: "Why don't you both take some rest, you will need all the rest you can get to defeat us."

I looked at them and said 'hmm' and then I climbed on the bed. Monika also got on the bed from the left side. she looked at me and suddenly got hold of my hand and said "Thank you, Bro, you have given me the greatest gift of my life. I can never thank you enough for what you have just done to me".

Suddenly, I saw tears rolling down her eyes. I was not sure why she cried or for what reason she thanked me, but of all the things in the world, I can never bear to see tears in her eyes. She is the jewel of my eyes, and if anything is bothering her, I can always feel that.

I looked at her and asked "Dear, do you mind telling me what is bothering you?" she replied "It’s nothing bro," and she hugged me tight and said "You are the greatest gift lord Jesus had given me. Thank you for being a part of my life."

I got hold of my sister by the arms and looked at her in the eyes and said, "You called me your brother, tell me the truth". 

She got hold of her bag and opened it and then took out a picture, showed it to me, and said. "Look at this picture," It was her school sub-junior basketball team's picture taken 4 years back. Back then she used to play Basketball, but one day she suddenly came and told mom that she doesn't want to play basketball anymore. We tried to coerce her into telling the truth, but we hit a blank spot.

On taking a closer look at the picture I found her holding someone's arm. I asked her who that is. She just replied "That’s my best friend, that is the reason I quit playing Basketball, We were the best of friends but one day we got the news that my best friend left school for family reasons." and again she felt sad.

Suddenly Sophia came to the room and saw Monika and me talking to one another. She looked at me and said, "Sorry brother I disturbed you, you guys take a rest". I told her, "It's fine, not an issue, I normally don't sleep in the day but I think I need your help, for some reason Monika is sad, and since you are her best friend, maybe if you talk to her, she might feel better." 

Without another word, Sophia got on the bed got hold of Monika's chin, and said "Ole... ole... my Korean doll, why is she crying, my sweet baby, don't cry, Why is my baby crying...?" and then she used her right hand to wipe the tears of Monika's eyes. 

Suddenly Monika got hold of Sophia's hand and landed a kiss on her cheek, Monika was still weeping a little and said to her "I am sorry Sophia!!!" I was in shock as to what just happened. but I thought it was between the 2 of them and so I didn't intervene.

Suddenly Sophia saw the picture on my hand, and asked me "What is that pic on your hand Brother Joe?" 

I looked at her and said, "It's nothing, it is just an old picture of my sister 2 years back when she used to play basketball" and I showed her the picture. She looked at it and said with a smile, "Ya, Monica Didi really looks very pretty in this picture." 

I replied "Hmm...." and then she said "You two take rest, I will just be back, and she left the room"

I took a close look at the faces in the picture, and suddenly it all became clear. I have seen that content smile somewhere. It felt like as if I know who the friend in the picture is.