Dobie and Me: Chapter 14

For those who came in late, the short serial Dobie and Me begins here

Click here For Chapter 13

“How did it go?” Gautam asked me on the phone later in the evening.

I started crying. “Bad,” I whispered.

“Do you want me to come over?” he asked softly. But I knew his mother was not doing well and he had to be home. Also, I didn’t want my sons to see him right now. They were out, but I expected them back anytime.

“No,” I said hoarsely.

Dobie and Me: Chapter 13

Read Chapter 12 here, if you missed it 

Telling my sons was not easy. Shiva looked dazed and Amit… Oh my poor boy! He couldn’t speak. I felt miserable as I watched them struggle with the news. “How, what? What are you saying?” Amit asked.

“I know it is not easy for you, Amit, Shiv…”

“It is our age to have girlfriends, not yours to have a boyfriend!” Shiv burst out, leaving me baffled. “You have us! Aren’t we enough?” he asked and started crying.

Dobie and Me: Chapter 12

Read Chapter 11, if you haven't yet

Dobie was snoozing. He barely opened his eyes when we entered, and went back to his beauty nap.

I cleaned his dish and put some fresh food in it. Gautam joined me in the kitchen and I started making coffee without asking. He placed the cups on the counter and added sugar. I brewed coffee. The silence hung between us. I was immensely disappointed at this transformed man, and uncomfortable when I caught him staring at me.

Finally, I turned to face him, though uncertainly.

Dobie and Me: Chapter 11

(Click here for Chapter 10)

“Who is he, ma?” Amit asked when Shiv, he and I sat down for dinner that night.

I knew who he meant, of course, but I stalled. “Who?”

“Gautam, the man who was here this morning…”

“Who was here this morning?” Shiv asked, not taking his eyes off his phone.

Dobie and Me - Chapter 10

Read Chapter 9 here

The house seemed fuller, and emptier, when my sons visited me. There was much noise when they were around, much laughter, teasing and fights. Much love.

And then, when they went off to meet their friends, I felt the silence pressing against me.

Their timings were uncertain, as usual, putting me in a bind. I had to accept that they were adults and had to have a life of their own. I tried to resume mine, but a sort of lethargy set in and I stayed in the limbo – neither able to work nor meet friends, nor enjoy the holidays completely.

Dobie and Me: Chapter 9

Read Chapter 8

When I met him a month later, he laughed on hearing of my exploits. “Is that your idea of life?” he asked snidely. “Ok, for the first month it is okay… Let’s see how you fare the coming month…”

“What do you want from me!” I asked exasperated. “You mocked me for not going to a movie or shopping! And now that I tell you I did, you still mock me!”

“Me? It is not what I want from you! It is what you want from you, from your life!” He leaned forward. “Tell me, did you enjoy yourself?”

Dobie and Me: Chapter 8

Read Chapter 7 here

The carefree college days, where all that mattered was bunking classes, the hours spent in canteen, going to movies, shopping… Shankar and I drifted close. Soon we drifted away from others, I a shadow of him, he leading me to new worlds.

One world he led me into was that of college elections. He campaigned for Pratyush, our senior. We were sophomores and Pratyush was doing his first year post graduation. Pratyush and I rarely spoke to each other, except when he wanted to give me some instruction. But he never failed to greet me, even after he won the elections and became the president. Shankar, though, became Pratyush’s understudy and spent much time with the ‘men in power’. I complained, but it fell on deaf ears.