Looking Back ....

Sunday again and there was lots to do at home. Maya breathed a sigh of relief and sat down warily on the couch. Today was cleaning day and since their family was on a holiday last weekend, she would have to do loads of work today.

Mumbling circumspectly to herself, Maya got to work. She started with the old cupboard which contained hoards of items and could pop up old surprises, at any moment. She saw an old radio which was in the shape of a small square box with an even smaller dial at one end which produced strange gurgling noises when turned.

Lifting an eyebrow, Maya looked beyond. There was the doll that Mini, her daughter, had been given when she was nine. Now she was 15 and didn’t need it so it lay abandoned……with one eye popping out and her dresses worn and torn.

Suddenly a square piece of paper floated out and lay face flat on the dusty ground. Surprised, Maya picked it up. It was a black and white family photograph. It was taken years back when she was a young child. She saw her parents standing beside her and giving a screwed up smile. Remembering to tell mom about the awful dress she was wearing for the picture, Maya diverted her eyes.

Then she saw someone standing behind her mom. She hadn’t seen him at first glance because he was partially hidden behind the burly figure of her mom. The young man had a huge cap on and a large twitching mustache on his face. Maya remembered some movie villain when she saw him….after rattling her mind she remembered, it was Uncle John. Ah! How ummm….really different he looked. He still had the look of a villain and actually he was one too.

She remembered those dreaded days when Uncle John came to visit them uninvited. He sat comfortable on their couch smoking a pipe and not noticing when Maya coughed due to the pungent smoke in the air. He would then call Maya near and when she would be expecting a small gift that all other visitors gave, but from him, she’d get a pat on the back (which made her go tumbling forward on the ground) and bruised cheeks when he pulled them with his strong hands.

Being a military man, Uncle John had great many stories to tell about those days when he was fighting a war. He would start of unwarned when the others started wondering why in the world were they here, listening to him. All his stories were unbearably long, but the major problem was that he wouldn’t describe the bravery of the soldiers, but his benevolence. He was a military ‘cook’, mind you, so he would tell us stories about wars that were already over and where the weary soldiers were returning to the tent and how Uncle John would prepare for them some, healthy and tasty (?? Awww!) dishes. He told them how the soldiers praised him for his culinary skills (and going off to vomit secretly and swearing about him behind his back!)

He would tell unending stories about what he cooked, how nutritious it was, how very delicious his dishes were and blah…blah…blah….She remembered her dad going off to sleep during one of his long speeches and hearing him snoring softly, but Uncle John just didn’t care! He turned his face towards little Maya and continued along, not noticing her twisted face……He would continue long until dinner time and when mom set the plates, he would stand up, give a big yawn..stretch his hands and head towards the table…And when Maya gave a yawn he would start off with a lecture on how active he was as a child and how he never used to go to sleep but had thoughts in his mind even at bed time.

“Ah…yes, you are uniquely special (you know how!) and only you could do such things”, Maya mumbled to no one in particular ! And then, he would join in at dinner too….Yes, didn’t I tell you he was a villain? He would eat more than what the whole family could and mom couldn’t have prepared much due to the short notice. Maya would watch him finish the last piece of meat and the bowl of stew….which rightly belonged to her and laughing and showing his dirty yellow teeth and saying how Maya’s mom could have improved upon the dish, after eating around 5 bowls of everything!

He would then give a satisfied pat on his tummy and finally stand up! (And Maya would squeal delightedly within!) But still he would not go before giving an unnecessary piece of his mind to every member of the family. He would leave then, after telling us how much he enjoyed his day and leaving others mumbling about how he spoilt theirs.

Maya chuckled at these thoughts and with a pat on her head, got back to work. Suddenly she heard a doorbell…..She wasn’t expecting a visitor, so surprised, she wiped the dust and sweat from her face and ran to open the door. She opened the door and she was bewildered by the unexpected guest…….

There stood Uncle John, though with gray hair and mustache but hale and hearty as ever and starting off the talk with how dirty the house was and how Maya was not doing her job well and telling her a long story about how he did most of the work at home….

Maya sighed and sat down beside him…a funny smile on her face!