AMRIT-KALASH

Chapter 4: Shekhar and Kasturi

"You know my father does not know that I am gay, like , you know,  I am into men. Just like it happens in every rich family , my father and my Mum too are looking for a beautiful bride from a compatible family. The family that would match our status , our family name and also be compatible with our family culture." said Kalash.

I listened to him while I was still driving.

"Then why are you not going for the relations which your parents are finding for you . The family which your parents will find for you would be compatible with your family . There would be no class difference and both the families would be happy relatives. " said I.

"Huh !! , I don't want to do a marriage to make my family happy . I should be happy in a marriage first . I should be compatible with my spouse. In fact there should be mutual reflection of love between the couples like you said few minutes back. The parents should stop finding their happiness first instead of their wards. They should understand that parents'  happiness might not be evolved into a happy marriage for their children." said Kalash.

"But you did not say the fundamental thing yet .." said I.

Kalash looked at me confused.

I understood that he did not understand what I meant so I thought of elaborating it a little.

"Well , you did not tell your parents that you are into men. " said I.

Kalash gave a meaningful pause for some time processing what I said .

"Yes, I can't say that you said something wrong ...they really did not know yet that I am not into women. What I guess they would not take this piece of information too well. " said Kalash thoughfully with a grave voice.

This time I was silent thinking the gravity of the issue. I could remember my time when I was accepted by my parents after not talking to each other for a whole two months as I came out to them that I was a gay.

"But , there is one person though who knew about me ...like about my s****l orientation ...like I am into men." said Kalash breaking the silence.

"Hmm...and who is he..?" asked I.

"Well , it's not he , rather , it's she " said Kalash.

I gave a pause to let Kalash finish his words.

"It's my one and only baby sister ,  Kasturi " said Kalash revealing the precious information.

A smile automatically generated on the corner of my lips.

The way Kalash talked about his baby sister, it sounded that he loved his sister a lot. And Kalash made me feel that love through the modulation of his voice . How his voice became full of affection with the mention of his baby sister , it was evident that he spoils his baby sister with his love and pampers her a lot.

"It seems that you are very close to your baby sister ..." said I.

"Yes , I am ... I am really close to her . In fact it is actually the other way round. Actually , my parents were busy in their career when we were kids. So during our childhood we both were for each other . The bond which we share is because of the void that was created due to the absence of busy parents in our lives." said Kalash.

I sighed.

Kalash looked at me and said " What ?"

I said " Actually I realised something , right now. "

"And what did you realise ?" asked Kalash.

"I realised that the rich has their own axes to grind. It's not like that they have everything in life . You have money so you take the material possession to be granted . You are deprived of the emotions and affections and  you crave for that ....so your life is not easy either." said Kalash.

Kalash nodded his head. He said " Yes , you are right there. Our life is not  easy either. We have all sorts of material possession . But , we crave for things that money can not buy . Like I did not have my mum around to take care for me . I did not have my father to take me to the school and stay with me during my exams. He had his presence of course. Whatever I am , it is all because of my father.But I craved for the more physical presence of him in our lives."

I nodded my head in sympathy.

"So , you are two siblings only. You and Kasturi " asked I.

"Actually , no . I have a younger brother too. He is actually in between me and Kasturi. But he is not my blood brother. He was adopted into our family when his parents died in a car accident .  His parents were our family friends. And he is my best friend too. Also he is now my adoptive  brother as well ." said Kalash.

"Oh , I see..that is sad." Said I.

"Wait, you have a brother who is adopted . His parents died in   a car accident when he was ten ..." asked I with a little doubt.

Kalash too looked a little surprised at me and said " Yes..."

"By any chance  , is he in textile business..?" asked I in a hesitating yet hopeful voice.

"Well , yes...he is in Textile business..." said Kalash , now himself hesitating.

"Okay , is Shekhar Mukherjee your adoptive brother ?" asked I now bringing the cat out of the bag.

This time Kalash did not say anything. He just nodded his head in an yes.

I chuckled at his confusion. He looked so cute when he got confused.

"Okay , so I know Shekhar ...he is one of the prime dealers of my company and also a good friend of mine..." said I.

"So , Shekhar deals with your company. He is such a monkey. He did not say anything when I asked him about you. " said Kalash annoyed by his brother.

I could not say that I was happy with Shekhar either. I talked about Kalash , two three times even I said that I have a crush on him but he did not say anything that Kalash was his brother. May be he was not sure about his brother's sexuality. So he wanted to keep his brother protected. Shekhar is a nice brother.

"Actually , Shekhar knew that I had a crush on you ... yet he did not say anything about you. He did not say that you are his brother . Also , he did not say about me to you either..." said I to Kalash.

Kalash remained silent for some time .

"He does not know about my sexuality . I told you that , my sister is the only one in this world who knows my sexuality.Also he is very protective about me , so may be that's why he thought of paying no interest even knowing about your crush on me." said Kalash.

I nodded my head in understanding.