Buri Amma

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(A Small story with the hope that you all  like it).

If you ever come across any Bengali family then you must have known that Bengalis are well for giving typical names to each other. Now let me introduce my ‘Buri Amma’ to you all.

Mrs. Sharma, my neighbor whom I  call ‘Buri Amma’since childhood used to live with us in the same society of Shayambazar, North Kolkata for the last twenty years. However due to my educational purposes my family had recently shifted to South Kolkata. Buri Amma has two sons. The elder son, Rakesh Sharma is an efficient lawyer. However due to his job purposes, he got shifted to the USA with his wife and now both of them stay there. Her younger son, Yadav Sharma is a well-known teacher. His relationship with his wife didn’t last long due to his extramarital affair. This often caused trouble in his life which lead to divorce and break in the family system. Buri Amma broke all his contact with her younger son after she came to know about his son’s extramarital affair. Buri Amma ‘s husband, Mr.Govind Sharma had sacrificed his life for our country while fighting a battle. This tragic incident happened fifteen years ago. So basically, Buri Amma stayed alone in a broken apartment full of cobwebs and cracked holes on the walls. Her livelihood is mainly based on her husband’s pension and her elder son occasionally sent her money from the USA.

Buri Amma adorably called me ‘Asha’while my actual name is Ashima. When I used to stay in ShayamBazar, I liked to pass my time mostly with Buri Amma. After shifting to South Kolkata I hardly get any time to meet her. Almost after one year suddenly on one fine afternoon I came to visit her.

As I came to visit her I found her in a terrible condition. I wondered what had affected her so much? Is it her age? Is it because she overthinks a lot or something else? On seeing me Buri Amma came running towards me and hugged me. I realized that it’s her loneliness that had doubled her age and made her so weak. On that evening Buri Amma cried a lot in front of me. She told that she missed me a lot all these days. She also told me how badly she missed her family nowadays. Her elder son did not keep any contact with her anymore. “I am so lonely ” said Buri Amma. “I have no one”uttered Buri Amma. The string of words jumped from her mouth to my ears one by one. I said nothing. I could read her eyes. Gosh! she’s one of my favorite people. I remembered in school whenever I had any crush on anyone, I used to tell her. I could share any kind of story with her. Still, now I find her very cool than any other elders of her time. It’s almost nine PM  and I bade Buri Amma goodbye with a promise that I will come to visit her every weekend. “I will wait for you, dear” uttered Buri Amma. I left her apartment with a smile on that day.

I kept my promise. I used to visit her now every weekend. It has become my duty now. I can see the smile she gives after seeing me.

Anisha Das.