There was nothing extraordinary in the mundane life surrounding Prabir and Bhargavi. They had to cram for their exams even though they had stayed behind to help Ms. Nalini.

However, the dreadful thought of convincing Bhawani to take her medicines was too unpleasant for both of them.

Waiting till the late afternoon, they decided to discuss the issue with her, before she left for the institute with Shekhar.

Not knowing how to bring up the topic, Bhargavi suddenly said,
"Bhawani. We need to talk to you about something and it is urgent," noticing her munching on some chips in the kitchen.

Making her wait for a while, she quickly ran out, looking for Prabir, who was sauntering in the living room pensively.

A look on her face explained it all and he only followed her silently to the kitchen. All three of them sat quietly, for sometime just looking at each other till Prabir finally said,"Bhawu. Dr. Menon has prescribed certain medicines for you and..."

"I don't need any medications," Bhawani chortled. 

"I believe that my wishes deserve some respect Di. You have never listened to Maa and have always done, what you thought was the right thing for you to do. This is my decision and I am willing to bear the consequences," she added with her voice trembling and eyes moist. 

"Doesn't this sound a tad silly to you? You may device irrational excuses that sound superficially reasonable but just calm down and think for a fleeting moment.
I know it's hard and it must be... upsetting to hear those voices.

Each bout of psychosis damages your brain and it leaves you in a worse shape than before and I am not telling you a dreadful fib but the truth Bhawani.

It doesn't matter to me how the medicine gets down the gullet - it's just got to get there. I'll use all the leverage at my disposal to enforce medicine compliance, even... if you hate me.

You know I think it is justified to treat people against their will. This isn't a civil rights issue instead, it is a medical treatment issue," Bhargavi said calmly but in a stern voice. 

As expected, Bhargavi had the best approach, setting aside emotions, being rational, looking at the evidence and take decisions that will be best in the long run. Basing health decisions on how one feels is not only unproductive, it's downright dangerous. Prabir thought to himself.

Smiling at Bhawani, he stated,
"Princess. I know you trust your Di enough to let her make a few decisions on your behalf. This is about your health, safety and well-being. See medications are the cornerstone of several kinds of diseases and when we are sick, we...need to depend on them. Please listen to your Di.You don't want to be forcefully injected with medicines instead of taking pills, now do you? We are worried about you baby, we don't want to see you in pain anymore."

Whimpering Bhawani asked," If I take these medicines... will those voices go away?I...I feel like a monster has been living inside me, prompting and nudging me to do things I don't want to."

"Yes! Indeed!" Prabir was quick to respond."But Princess you will have to take your medicines on time and... no cheating."

"Fine! I'll do as you say," Bhawani agreed and stood up slowly. Embracing her in a side hug, Prabir said,"What's that face for? Cheer up Princess. There's nothing you should feel ashamed of. We all have a monster within us. But you know what, the future can always be better than the present and you have the power to make it so."

Smiling back at him, Bhawani walked back upstairs to get ready for attending her classes.

"You deserve a special treat tonight," Bhargavi exclaimed in soft whispers, after Bhawani's departure. "How about  Gulab Jamuns as treat?"

"Only if you prepare them yourself, I'll consider that as a treat," Prabir said cheerfully.

Much later in the evening, Prabir observed Bhargavi trying to make Gulab Jamun herself, after having jotted down the ingredients and the procedure carefully, watching a YouTube video. "Why are you giving me a treat? I mean you convinced Bhawani to take the medicines, I certainly don't deserve any credit," he asked, remarking her face carefully.

"What I did isn't convincing someone Prabir. Using threatening circumstances...I was compelling her to settle for the medications, without her consent," she snapped.

"If I take those medicines will those voices go away, she had asked if you remember. It was you Bhargu...who made her reconsider her decision, before jumping to a conclusion of not taking the medicines. You had thoroughly researched about her mental condition and the impacts of not taking the medicines on time. Certainly, you deserve more credit than I do.
I only ensured that she quickly was able to draw up the most evident conclusion from what you had said earlier," Prabir said.

"Are you worried that I'll destroy your kitchen or that...this is gonna taste horrible?" She snapped annoyed. "It was YOU who wanted me to prepare this myself..."

Hardly, was she able to complete the sentence, he kissed her softly on her cheeks making her mind go blank instantly. "This treat can wait until the exams are over Bhargu. Only three days are left for your exams," he said caressing her face.

"Alright! Then I'll be treating myself, don't keep whining later," she gave an evil smirk.

"I'll steal all of your Gulab Jamuns if you don't ..." Prabir paused as Parul came in chirping,"Bhaiya. Di. I think we have a problem."

"What?" Bhargavi quizzed, mixing the ingredients.

"Umm...I don't know where to start. Di, Bhawani Di...she has been behaving strangely odd these days. She kept whimpering yesterday almost for the entire night, when I asked her why she was crying, she just shut her eyes and ears tight in response. And...and she was hiding under the bed when I woke up today in the morning,"Parul said anxiously. 

"We know Paru. It's alright! Relax! The way she's behaving...it defies common sense, doesn't it?" Prabir asked smiling.

"You know?" She asked with her mouth wide open.

"You should have called us yesterday, when you observed her behaving strangely," Bhargavi suggested.

"I thought...maybe she was missing Ishaan Bhaiya and only wanted to be left alone," Parul replied sadly.

"Paru. Your Bhawani Di is sick but she has agreed to take her medicines and will be fine," Prabir explained.

"Sick?"

"Yes! She's delusional Paru. She has been hearing voices in her head," Prabir further informed and looking at the panicked face of his little sister, he said smiling,"Don't worry Paru. Bhawu will be alright. But I need you to behave as normal with her as possible. No awkward or weird behavior or stupid questions asked. Okay?"

Lightly Parul punched on his belly,
" Why will I ask stupid questions?" She asked puzzled. Pulling her in a warm embrace he whispered in her ears,"Don't be scared even if she behaves unreasonably at times. I need you to be brave Paru."

"Why will I be scared?" Parul asked bewildered. Prabir knew he had a grim task at hand.

"Well, Paru I need you to stay cautious about what you say or do around Bhawu. She deliberately had pushed Maa down the stairs.
We need to understand here that she is not well...not capable of making the right decisions and needs a lot of affection and compassion..."Prabir stated.

"I understand Bhaiya," Parul sighed heavily. "I won't ask her if she's taking her meds or if she's still hearing voices or anything that can stir up her feelings of not being well."

Both Prabir and Parul's undiverted attention landed on Bhargavi, hearing her scream. "Stop it! KitKat. Stop doing that."

She was being attacked by KitKat, who was trying to bite her on her arm and the left shoulder while she was making the dough using flour (maida),khoya (milk solids) and a large pinch of baking soda, adding a mixture of milk and yogurt as needed to make a smooth soft dough. They could notice Hope trying to lick at her feet, which clearly revealed the jealous and wild behavior of the family cat.

Rapidly striding towards Bhargavi, Prabir grabbed KitKat by the neck while Parul lifted Hope in her arms softly patting his head.

The sugar syrup was boiling in a pot on the stove, with a few slightly crushed cardamoms. "Wow! Gulab Jamuns!" Parul yelled excited after she had tied up Hope in a corner in the kitchen and returned to examine the dough being prepared with great interest.

Though, she didn't say it aloud, she knew that Bhargavi had been making this for Prabir's birthday. He had a special liking for sweet dishes - Gulab Jamun, Ras Malayi, Kheer and a lot more.

Post dinner, still awake, Prabir was waiting patiently in the living room,for everyone to fall asleep. He wanted to savour the delicious sweets prepared by Bhargavi.

She had left the berry sized balls soak in the sugar syrup for hours now. He could still hear Mr. Banerjee's voice coming from upstairs, the loud beaming voice was clearly audible. He was speaking to one of his friends living abroad, thus explaining the time of the conversation.

He sprang up all of a sudden out of instinct and walked towards the kitchen. He saw a small candle lit up on the dinner table. Moving closer, he observed a small round chocolate cake with HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRABIR, on it written with royal white icing. A small hand made birthday card was placed beside it, along with a letter, a gift wrapped box and a tiny plate containing two Gulab Jamuns layered with pistachios, saffron and some cream with some saffron honey syrup added to it.

His eyes wandered around to get a glimpse of Bhargavi, but she wasn't there. It was quarter to twelve and he knew his little sister would come downstairs yelling and howling, exactly at twelve to wish him on his birthday, waking up almost the entire city.

From the kitchen cabinet, he saw something crawl out and was overjoyed. His heart thumped loudly in his chest, as she kissed him, throwing up her arms around his neck. Frozen, he held his breath.

"I wanted to wish you before anyone else did. Can you please help me hide all this for now. Paru will kill me otherwise. This is not what she has planned," she murmured softly.

Quickly, tossing the two Gulab Jamuns in his mouth one after the other, Prabir helped Bhargavi hide the letter, the card, the gift box and the cake. The cake was placed inside the refrigerator, while the letter went straight to his pocket along with the birthday card. The gift box was placed inside a clean empty cabinet. Bhargavi ran away to her mother's room not wanting to be caught red handed by Parul, and be accused of having ruined her surprise.

At exact twelve, Parul came running downstairs, followed by Bhawani, Bhargavi and Mr. Banerjee all screaming together "Happy Birthday!"  Almost immediately, his phone started to buzz.

Taken upstairs, Prabir was shell shocked looking at the decorations in the room with Ms. Nalini smiling at him.

This wasn't like all of his other ordinary birthdays as he had expected. There were no balloons or streamers. The room had been decorated using his paintings, but not the exact paintings. Taking photographs, his paintings were printed out and displayed on the walls as in an art gallery. Small LED lights strings of various colours covered the walls. A small cherry blossom bonsai light was placed on the table.

The first gift he received after Bhargavi's was from Ms. Nalini. A salmon pink, ring wound leather diary along with a personalized Pierre Cardin pen with his name written on it. Though she couldn't sit up, he managed to give her the first bite of cake. This cake was a huge one, a chocolate caramel fudge.

Though Mayank wanted to join in the celebrations,he had been reluctant, not wanting to bring up a chaos. He avoided Bhawani at all costs. Calling up Prabir, he didn't have the luck to wish him as his phone was engaged. After trying for several more times, he gave up and rather texted a message before going to bed.

Prabir was on his phone for almost three hours. His phone kept buzzing and he kept answering. Finally, he decided to switch it off and get some rest.

Early in the morning, next day, Prabir was still sleeping on the couch, when Bhargavi came downstairs and covered him up with a coverlet.

At sharp 5.30, Sarvesh had called up Bhargavi arriving at the door with the cook.

Opening the door for him,  Bhargavi found Sarvesh beaming happily. He had been jumping, excited and out of joy. "Shh! He's sleeping," Bhargavi said in softest whispers, pointing at Prabir.

The hired chef had to work as silently as possible without making any noise, even when he kept asking about the ingredients and utensils.

Waking up at 6.30, Prabir walked in the kitchen to wash his face and bumped into Sarvesh. After a cheerful and warm greeting, Prabir went upstairs to take a bath and freshen up.

He pulled out the letter from his pocket first, that he had completely ignored all this time.

Given my limited artistic and cooking skills, there was not much I could do for you Prabir...Nothing in comparison to what you did for me to make my birthday special. Hope you can forgive me for that.

Thank you for making me a better person everyday because if I don't get my shit together, you'll have a lot of girls in line to replace me.
Happy birthday,
Lots of Love.
Bhargavi.

His face turned into a slight frown as he yelled," Bhargu! Please come here!"

Sarvesh gave Bhargavi a quick glance before she left the kitchen saying,"I'll be back."

"Bhargu. What is this?" Prabir asked angry and upset, showing her the letter.

"No one can replace you...ever, you get that?" He said placing his palms on her shoulders.
" You are the strongest person I know Bhargu. I have seldom seen you cry. Yes, you are bold and impulsive but intellectually challenging as well. You  treat everyone with respect, and are poised with class and elegance.

In times when my brain wouldn't even function properly, you can make me laugh out loud with your humorous and sarcastic remarks.

You hate to see tears in anyone's eyes, are kind and empathetic.
You strongly oppose anything wrong that comes to your notice without the fears of the forthcoming consequences.

Bhargu you endure so much pain with such a pleasant smile on your face and sometimes a perfect poker face that... it's unimaginable for me to even be aware of what you are truly going through.

You don't like to even put on a minimalistic amount of make up, or glamorous apparel's and clothing.

Undoubtedly, you're not like the other girls and are unique in a lot of ways.

For me you are perfect," he concluded smirking, noticing her blankly staring at him all the while.

Pulling her cheeks, he teased her a bit to make her smile. He could only hold her in his arms, unable to kiss her, not having brushed his teeth yet.

"Why are you so quiet dear? What's the matter?" He whispered in her ears.

Bhargavi wanted to tell him that she had seen his painting of Ziko and it looked just like him. She wanted to ask him, why had he not shown her the painting yet but definitely, this wasn't the perfect day or the perfect time for it. 

Author's note:

Sometimes all it takes is one bad day to spark an important realization.

I hope you enjoy reading this update.
Happy Reading!!