Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 1: The St. Nicolas Bracelet

It was during the monsoon. I was studying in a Sainik School Purulia back then. That year due to the heavy monsoons and flood, the school had to be closed for a month.

I was visiting my home in Purulia, enjoying the time of my life, no early morning waking up, PT, drill, etc. just playing video games and basketball, eating, and sleeping, and lazing throughout the whole day. The school was scheduled to start on 1st September, which meant I still have a couple of weeks more to enjoy.

My sister, Monika also had her vacations and was spending most of her time with the Banerjee family children next door. Having grown with them and studying in the same school she was steady friends with the children in the family and practically spent all her time with them.

She keeps saying to me that 'the eldest daughter would always keep asking about me' and wanted to know when I would be visiting their place. She had promised them that she would bring me to their home on Raksha-Bandhan. They were excited and wanted to know if they could celebrate Rakhi with me.

It was just 2 more days for Raksha-Bandhan, and I have never celebrated this festival in my life. I have read from books and heard from friends that girls put a sacred thread around the wrist of boys to honor them as brothers, and in return, the brother vows to protect the sister from all evil.

The tradition seems really a good one, and for once getting to be the brother of not just one, but 3, that feels good.

I told my sister, "I will go to their place... provided you tie me a Rakhi too..."

Monika laughed at me and suddenly hugged me and said, "Thank you, bro, I would love to tie the Rakhi on you, but in return I want you to do 2 things." 

I felt a little strange when Monika hugged me and asked me for a favor. Normally I can count the days she has hugged me on my first finger and when that happens it means she has something up to her sleeve.

I asked her what is it that she really wanted from me, and she replied "First I don't want you to get your Rakhi tied by Sophia... If she insists, I want you to say no. She is their cousin who stays with them" that felt like a strange request, so I asked her the reason, and she replied "You will figure it out in due time. Just trust your sister for once... And besides, you are one of the smartest men I know..."

It felt strange, but I said ok, and then I asked her, "What’s the next request?" 

She asked me to wait for a minute and ran to her room and brought something out. She handed me a Friendship band and a Bracelet which had an inscription of Saint Nicholas on it. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint for children according to our Christian faith and said, "I want you to put the friendship band and the bracelet on Sophia's hand."

Now that felt strange so I asked her, what was going on in her head and she replied "I just don't want her to be your sister, she is a great friend, and she should remain a friend, not a sister."

I could feel something is wrong but I knew that she is one of the smartest girls I ever knew, If she has asked me to do something, there should be a reason behind it, besides If I know her well, even if I pester her for the truth she is not going to reveal it to me. I decided not to ask her anything about it for now.

But then my curiosity got the better of me and I pestered my sister about the 4 children from the Banerjee household. She started with the eldest one, "The eldest daughter "Aamaya" she is good with everyone, very outspoken, loves to play basketball, very beautiful. I really feel jealous of her beauty whenever I meet her. I sometimes feel that she has a crush on you." I blushed.

 Suddenly I saw my sister looked at me and said, "Come on bro, she is my friend"

I suddenly coughed and said "ok, continue to tell me about the rest of them" and she continued "the second one is Darika. She has a wicked sense of humor. she can make anyone laugh with joy. her best feature is her voice, she can sing really well. she is also as beautiful as Aamaya' there are no words to describe her, she is also a very good Basketball player"

"The third is Garima, she is the youngest of all. She is very fair, and if any day she wears a white dress, she looks like a princess. I have seen her playing very good Table Tennis. Garima and Darika are twins.”

"And finally the last one is Sophia, I find her very reserved, she talks very less, whenever she talks she speaks very softly, never seen her stepping out of the house, most of the time I have seen her playing with her dolls, and she is the only one in the family who like to be fully dressed up no matter the occasion."

"What do you mean?" I asked my sister, and she replied, "Whenever I see her, I have always seen her wearing a dress, clean socks, or stockings depending on what she is wearing, and shoes."

My sister looked at me and said "You must be thinking, everyone does that... What is there to feel strange about it?" 

I replied, "Yes, that what I am thinking..."

Monika replied, "What I mean is, what do you see me wearing now?" 

I looked at her and said, "your regular clothes, Shorts and a T-Shirt". 

Then my sister asked, "Am I wearing any shoes?" 

I replied "nope, who wears shoes in the house" 

My sister replied "That's what I meant to say. That is the strangest thing, she does." 

It felt a little bit strange. and then my sister continued "Her best feature is that no matter the situation she always keeps smiling, I have never seen her angry, and she has a very good dressing sense. Even though she is not as good looking as the other sisters but the way she dresses and presents herself, it brings her at par with her cousins."

I looked at my sister and said, "wow... You were able to describe Aamaya and Sophia so well, but when it came to Garima and Darika it felt like you don't care much about them."

She looked at me and replied, "Day after tomorrow when you come with me to their house, keep a close watch on the sisters you will know why."

I said ok, to my sister and went to the market to get some gifts for the sisters. I went to my friend Vikash's fathers' shop to get the perfect gifts for them and ended up buying a statue of an angel playing the harp, A dolls in a red princess dress, a superhero figurine, and a statue of Lord Hanuman which I have heard that he is also known as the "Sankat Mochan" god who protects you from trouble. I got them gift-wrapped and returned home.

Since I have never met the Banerjee family before I was looking forward to meeting them. There was this general excitement of being able to celebrate the festival of Raksha-Bandhan for the first time adding to this impatience.

Finally, the day came to meet the Banerjee family. We went to their place at around 9 AM in the morning. As soon as I rang the doorbell, I heard soft tapping sounds coming towards the door, it felt like someone was approaching the door, and suddenly someone shouted "Sophia wait," and then the tapping sound which I felt coming towards the door, slowly faded away.

Studying in a military school, all 5 senses of your body becomes acute, so I was able to hear the faintest of sound without difficulty. Someone opened the door, and my sister shouted, "Aamaya didi how are you?" and hugged her tight. 

She pointed her finger towards me and said, "This is my brother Joe". 

Aamaya was very just as my sister said. She was wearing a red sleeveless Ghagra choli, with green bangles, and a golden necklace around her neck. Her beautiful figure sat well on her wafer-thin body. Her complexion had an impeccable hue. Her pencil-thin eyebrows eased down gently to her black, eyelashes. She looked like a princess.

Garima and Darika were wearing identical golden-colored short-sleeved Anarkali dress, she was little and had a real toned figure which added to their beauty.

As for Sophia, she was a bit different, she had a beautifully toned body just like her cousins and had a beautiful smile on her face. She was wearing a Red with golden striped Anarkali Dress, with a dupatta flowing through her neck. Unlike her sisters, she has her nose pierced and had a nose-ring on and on her head, she was wearing a Sursuri. It is an ornament worn by Asian women over the forehead. She was really pretty and as a matter of fact, I disagree with Monika, she is much prettier than her cousins.

Aamaya suddenly got hold of my hand and took me to the sofa and asked me to take a seat. 

As I sat down, Sophia bought a glass of water for me and Monika. As she approached us, Darika suddenly commented "Where are your manners sunshine? You seem to forget them when Monika is around."

Upon hearing Darika’s words, I saw Sophia putting the glass of water on the Center table and then covering her head with the dupatta, which earlier she had it flowing through her neck, and bowed her head down softly replied: "I am sorry didi, this won't happen again." and then stepped forward to give the glasses of water in our hand.

The first day in this house and things started to feel that Sophia is not welcome in that house. What felt stranger was that Darika looked much younger than Sophia and still she was addressing them as if they are elder to her. “Strange.”

In reply to Sophia's sorry, Darika suddenly stood up went near her, and replied, "You better mean it girl?" and pointing his finger towards the corner of the room he said, "You can leave."

All of us sat on a sofa and they wanted to talk to me about my school life. I looked around and found that Sophia was standing at the corner of the room and listening to us. 

I looked at her and asked her "Why are you standing at the corner. Please sit with us, my sister has talked a lot about you all and I really want to know more about you?".

Sophia looked at her cousin's face, it felt like she was seeking permission to sit on the sofa. Suddenly, Aunty Banerjee came into the room and sat with us.

She looked towards Sophia and said, "My child why don’t you bring a stool from your room and sit with us. You might have some curiosity about Monika’s brother's boarding school life".

I looked at Sophia's face and felt something was wrong and suddenly she replied: "It's ok Auntie, you all talk, I will arrange the plates for the ceremony.” and then she went inside.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the rude behavior by Darika. As Sophia went to the room to prepare for the ceremony the family surrounded me, to talk about my school life. 

It felt kind of weird that the sisters were sitting next to me and Sophia was preparing the plate for the Rakhi ceremony all by herself and none of the family members bothered to go and help her.

Suddenly aunty Banerjee asked me, "Tell us something about your school life, what time do you wake up, and your regular routine."

I was kind of feeling proud and felt like I was someone special so I started "Well Aunty at around 4 o'clock every morning we are supposed to wake up and by 4:30 we are supposed to get ready for our PT. If someone is late then there are consequences. Generally, we face some sort of punishment, however in a hostel we are more like brothers in arms, so If anyone is late someone always wakes them up, so we are never late."

Garima said to Monica "You are really lucky to have a brother like Joe. He is such a disciplined guy. I wish I had a brother like him." 

I looked at Monica's face and suddenly she commented "Only the lucky ones could get a brother like him. Girls like you don’t deserve a brother." I saw her gave a wink to Garima and continued "My mom must have don’t something good in her life that God has blessed her with a son like him." 

I saw Garima’s face was turning red with anger. I was about to tell Monika to keep quiet and shout at her for being rude however she was in luck when Sophia came to her rescue and said to the sisters "Didi the plates are ready."

Suddenly Darika replied, "Sophia you are such a pain we were about to listen to the most interesting part of Brother Joe's school life, and you interrupted."

I replied, "it's ok we can talk after the ceremony" and then aunty Banerjee said "let's complete the ceremony and then” She looked towards Sophia and said “You can also come and hear about Joe’s daily routine. Perhaps that would help you change and be disciplined."

Garima added to her mother's reply "Yes mum perhaps if Sophia learns about Brother Joe's routine maybe she can also be a little bit disciplined, perhaps she can try waking up at 4:00 am in the morning. She can also be fit and healthy like us"

I looked at Sophia and she suddenly hugged aunty Banerjee and said: "Aunty, I am not going to wake up at 4:00 in the morning."

I saw aunty Banerjee get up from the sofa got hold of Sophia's hand and replied "My dear, do we have to discuss these things in front of the guest, we will discuss this in the evening." and then aunty look at Aamaya and said "why don't you take Joe and Monica inside and start the ceremony"

I stood up and followed Amaya to the room where Sophia had arranged the plates. Amaya looked at Garima and said: "Why don't you put the Rakhi on Joe?".

Suddenly my sister Monica replied, "Before you girls tie him the Rakhi since Joe is my brother, I will tie the Rakhi on him first." 

I was shocked at this reaction of my sister and said "what's wrong with you Monica? You could have done that at home, why create a nuisance here?"

Suddenly aunty replied, "It's ok son, let your sister tie the Rakhi on you first." 

I replied, "We have got no extra Rakhi with us."

Suddenly Garima commented "Monika can use Sophia's Rakhi. Why does she need a brother when we 3 are there to take care of her?"

Sophia didn't say another word and gave her Rakhi to Monika. I was really feeling bad about this girl already. What Garima was doing, is called ragging. I suffered the same fate when I was in the 8th standard, but I have made sure the day I become a senior, I am not going to become a bully. I am keeping that promise. 

Suddenly Aamaya asked me "If you don't mind will you be my best friend for life."

She got hold of my hand and tied a friendship band on my hand. I reciprocated by giving her the gift I thought suited her, 'The Angel Playing the Harp.' Although all the family members seemed perturbed by these sudden changes of events, I chose not to react to it and move on.

Then Monica got the plate with the earthen lamp burning and started to rotate it clockwise and then she used her index finger to mix the vermillion and sandalwood together, and applied the mixture on my forehead, and tied the Rakhi on my hand.

I wanted to give her something in return but at that moment I didn't have anything on me. Once she was done Garima followed by Darika stepped forward and did the same thing. I gifted her the presents I got for her.

I turned to the sisters and added, "Since I have met you for the first time, I thought of getting something for you." Saying that I gave them the gift.

Once they were done Amaya said, "the ceremony is over let's go to our room" and I asked, "What about your younger sister Sophia?"

Sophia looked at me and replied "It's fine... I am happy to meet you since I had heard a lot about you." Her tone sounded sad but in such a situation, her smile was still reflecting on her cute face. It was a big thing, for such a young girl to keep herself together.

It didn't feel good seeing someone sad and so I asked her "Since you gave the only Rakhi to Monika, can I have the honor to have a friend like you. Friends like you who sacrifice everything, are rare and deserve a special place. I would really like to have you as a friend."

Sophia looked a bit shocked and surprised by my request. I took out the bracelet my sister gave me the other day. Seeing her hesitant, my sister took Sophia's hand and pulled her towards me where I was holding the bracelet.

I put the bracelet on her hand and told her "This bracelet is inscribed with the face of Saint Nikolas; he is the patron saint for the protection of children. He will keep you safe from all evil".

Everyone in the family looked shocked for the second time on the same day by my sudden gesture of friendship towards Sophia. On the other hand, Monika had a look of content and peace on her face which made me glad that I was able to keep the promise I gave to her.