Hitler Bhaiya, Brat Bhai Behen [Shattered Illusions by Swati Sandeep]

The clock struck midnight, shooting Dhruv’s worries sky-high. Dev was supposed to be home by ten. Dhruv was particular about curfew. The boy was only seventeen, far too young to be loitering around at such an hour, especially in New York.  

Dheer sighed, watching his Bhaiya pace the room in agitation. It was giving him anxiety. After a sixteen-hour workday, all he wanted was sleep, but Dev had decided to play the rebellious teenager. If Dheer retired to his room now and Dev walked in, Dhruv wouldn’t hesitate to let him have it.  

Dev was acting like any ordinary teenager, which meant clashing with Dhruv was inevitable. Their fights always ended the same way with Dev grounded, utterly unrepentant. It was as if he enjoyed riling Dhruv, and frankly, Dheer believed he did. The boy was testing boundaries.  

Dhruv had been lenient since their move to New York, but Dev was pushing his luck. Judging by the fire in Dhruv’s eyes, Dheer could tell, the boy’s days of freedom were over. Dev was in a lot of trouble.  

A car pulled into the driveway. Dhruv’s eyes flared with anger. Dheer quietly slipped away. He had to reach the boy before the lion pounced. Dev had very little common sense, and while he deserved what was about to happen, Dheer couldn’t let him make it worse. If he convinced him to hold his tongue, things might go easier. For both of them.  

He thanked his stars that the study door opened directly to the garage. Dhruv wouldn’t notice what was happening.  

Dev parked his car and strolled toward the house. Dheer cursed himself for ever teaching the boy to drive. If he’d known his angelic little brother could grow horns, he would have never defied his Bhaiya and taught him. Since the day Dev had gotten his license, he had been nothing but trouble.  

“Big-B! Aap ghar aa gaye? [Big-B! You’re home?]” Before Dheer could react, Dev hurled himself at him. He was practically vibrating with excitement. The game launch was fast approaching, and Dheer was barely ever home. Dev missed him more than he could admit.  

Dheer pulled back and rewarded him with a sharp whack on his back.  

“Ouch! Mara kyun? [Ouch! Why did you hit me?]”  

“Time kya ho raha hai? [What time is it?]”  

“Aapke paas ghade nahi hai? [Don’t you have a watch?]”  

Dheer resisted the urge to hit him again. He knew exactly who had taught him this sass. Aman Shekhawat. That man was turning out to be the bane of his existence. He would have to have a word with his moron of a partner, after he beat some sense into Dev.  

“Tujhe dus bajeghar aana tha, idiot! Abhi raat ke baarah baj rahe hain! [You were supposed to be home by ten, idiot! It’s almost midnight!]”  

Dev shrugged his shoulders.  “To kya? Aaj Friday hai. Hitler to 2 baje tak ghar nahi ayenge. He must be still stuck in the restaurant. [So what? It’s Friday. Hitler won’t be home until 2 AM. He must still be stuck at the restaurant.]”  

“And that gives you the liberty of staying out after curfew?” The deep baritone voice sent shivers down Dheer’s spine. Dev quickly grabbed his hand, all his courage forgotten.  

“Bhaiya!” Dev’s throat ran dry.  

“Hitler, Devansh! Bhaiya nahi. [Hitler, Devansh! Not Bhaiya.]”  

Dhruv crossed his arms across his chest and stared the boy down. Dev could not even dare to look him in the eye. All sass deserted him.  

“What time are you supposed to come back home, Devansh?” Dhruv’s eyes bore into Dev’s.  

Dheer spoke before Dhruv could lash out. “Bohot bhook lage hai, Bhaiya. [I’m really hungry, Bhaiya.] Chalo jaldi se mere liye kuch bana do aap. I am starved! [Come on, make something for me quickly. I’m starving!]”

“Really, Dheeren?”  Dhruv’s eyes glinted. “You think it would work?”  

Dheer let out a little sigh. “You can scold the boy tomorrow, Bhaiya. Friday ke din bhi koi kaise kisi ko daatta hai kya? [Who scolds someone on a Friday?]  Give him a discount today. You can save the lecture for tomorrow. Let’s go inside.”  

Dheer reached for Dhruv’s hand, but Dhruv swatted it away.  “Tujhe dekhke hi yeh sare nakhre seekh raha hai! You are the one who is spoiling him.[He’s learning all these tantrums by watching you! You’re the one spoiling him!]”

“I am spoiling him?”  Dheer’s eyes glinted.  “Aapka yeh bachcha koi doodh ka dhula nahi hai Bhaiya. Yeh pehle se aisa tha. BRAT! Aur isse maine nahi, aapne hi bigada hai. Infact, sar chadhake rakha hai aapne. Pehle hi do laga dete to yeh naubat nahi aati. Abhi bhi kuch der nahi hui hai Bhaiya. Main toh kehta hoon, laga hi do! Akal theekane aa jayegi shehzade ke.[Your precious boy isn’t some innocent soul, Bhaiya. He’s always been this way. A BRAT! And it wasn’t me, you’re the one who spoiled him. In fact, you’ve let him run wild. It’s not too late even now, Bhaiya. I say, just give him a solid smack! It’ll set his brain straight!]” 

Dev gulped and looked at Dhruv. “Maroge?” [Are you going to hit me?]”  

“Ruko, main chhadi leke aata hoon. [Wait, let me go get a cane.]” Dheer chimed in.  “Aaj toh (Today he…”  He yelped when Dhruv caught his ear and gave it a sharp twist. “Arey, kya kar rahe ho, Bhaiya? Chhodo! Lag raha hai! [Hey, what are you doing, Bhaiya? Let go! It hurts!]”  

“Maine kuch galat nahi kaha, Dheer beta. Yeh sare harkatein tujhse hi seekh raha hai. Maar use nahi, tujhe padni chahiye! [I didn’t say anything wrong, Dheer beta. He’s learning all these antics from you. It’s not him who deserves the beating. It’s you!]”  

“Arey! Yeh kya zyadti hai? Galti aapke shehzade ki hai aur aap mujhpe baras rahe ho? [Hey! This is unfair! Your prince makes the mistake, and you’re coming after me?] How is that fair?”  

“Kisne kaha tha isse driving sikhane ko? Maine mana kiya tha na? [Who told you to teach him how to drive? Didn’t I forbid it?]”

“And if he didn’t know how to drive, would he have come home on time?” Dhriri’s voice startled them. Dheer and Dev let out a sigh of relief. Now that she was here, they didn’t have to worry about the roaring lion.

Dhruv was surprised to see her there. “You came back after a graveyard shift. You should be resting, Riti.”

“I would have been resting if you didn’t decide to howl the house down. Why are you yelling, Dhruv? Dadi so rahi hai. [Dadi is sleeping.] Do you wish to disturb her? Dhruv’s eyebrows shot up.

“I was yelling?” Dhruv’s eye brows shot up in amusement. He had barely even raised his voice.

“Yes, you were!” Dhriti insisted.“Now, take a break. You can lecture the kid tomorrow.”

“Are you defending Dev?”

“Why should I?” Dhriti shrugged her shoulders. “That boy deserves a belting. You were always too soft on him.”

Dev shot her a betrayed look.

Dheer bobbed his head. “Sahe kaha, Drt… Di.” [She’s absolutely right, Drt… I mean, Di.] Dheer caught himself before Dhruv could correct him. He had been whacked enough for taking Dhriti’s name, but old habits were hard to break.“Sari galti Bhaiya ki hai.” [It’s entirely Bhaiya’s fault.]

“100%” Dhriti agreed. “Now if we’re done with this little court session, can we all go back and sleep? Unlike the useless kid, most of us have to go back to work tomorrow.”

“You called me useless?” Dev gasped, taking offense. “Bhaiya, suna aapne? [Bhaiya, did you hear that?]” Dev forgot his fear and reached for Dhruv’s hand. “Di called me useless. She always does that! Yesterday she called me nakara, the day before she said I was dumb, even Big-B calls me names, Bhaiya. Yeh dono milke mujhe bully karte hain.” [These two gang up to bully me, Bhaiya!]

“Arey! Di ne kuch galat nahi kaha, tu to dumb hai hi. [Hey! Di didn’t say anything wrong, you really are dumb.]” Dheer chimed in. “Infact tu dumb nahi, maha dumb hai.” [In fact, you’re not just dumb. You’re super dumb!]

“Dumb main nahi, aap ho! [I’m not dumb, you are!] You are dumb!” Dev yelled.

“Nope!” Dhriti shook her head. “You are the dumbest kid I have ever met.”

“You are dumb, Di!” Dev shot back.

“You are more dumb.”

“NO! You are!”

“Ahha! Dheer is right. You are dumb!” 

“You are dumb.”  

“You are dumber.”  

“You are dumbest.”  

“You are a dumb donkey!” Dev glared at Dheer.  

“If I’m a donkey, so are you, Kiddo! Told you the truth. You’re really dumb!”  

“Aap hi nahi, aapka poora khandaan dumb hai!” [Not just you, your entire family is dumb!]” 

“Tu bhi usi khandan mein aata hai, idiot! [You’re part of that family too, idiot!]*  Dhriti shook her head in disgust.  

“Dumb kid.”  Dheer smiled. “Hence proved.”  

“Shut up, Big-B.” Dev hissed.  

“You shut up.”  Dev shot back.  

“You shut up.” Dhriti whacked Dev. “Dumb kid.”  

“You…”  

 “All of you shut up.” Dhruv hissed. The three of them needed no real reason to fight. They immediately stopped and looked at him. “What is wrong with you, Riti? Dono toh bache hain. Tujhe kya ho jata hai? [ These two are just kids. What’s gotten into you?]*  

“Arey! Tere chhote chhote bachon ki zubaan dekhi hai? [Have you seen the way your little kids talk?] You expect me to lay low and take their nonsense?”  

Dhruv glared at the other two.  “And you two…”  

“She started it, Bhaiya.”  Dheer insisted. “She called Dev useless! She’s the one who started it. Yell at her first.”  

Dhruv looked at Dhriti.  

“And why did I say that, Dhruv?”  Dhriti challenged.  

Dhruv looked at Dev.  

“She called me names, Bhaiya. Pehle aap unhe daanto. [She called me names, Bhaiya. Scold her first.]”

“Pehle use daanto. [Scold him first.]”

“Pehle unhe.” [Her first.]

“Pehle use.” [Him first.]

“Pehle unhe.” [Her first.]

“Pehle use.” [Him first.]

“Pehle unhe.” [Her first.]

“Pehle use.” [Him first.]

“That is enough!” Dhruv’s voice boomed.“I’ve had enough of your nonsense. Go to your rooms! If I hear another word, I swear all three of you will be doing dishes for a month!”

The three of them wisely shut up. Dhruv stormed back into the house. He could feel a headache brewing. The three of them could give him a migraine any day.

Dev waited until Dhruv was out of earshot and quickly hugged Dheer and Dhriti.“Aaj toh aap dono ne bacha liya! Warna Hitler toh meri khal kheench lete. [Today, you both saved me! Otherwise, Hitler would have skinned me alive.]”

Dhriti pulled back and gave him a hard whack on his back. “You are really dumb, Dev. If you don’t come home on time, Gammy will be worried. She’s the one who called Dhruv. You’re lucky Dheer was here, warna toh aaj tu joote khaata.” [You’re lucky Dheer was here,  otherwise, today, you’d have gotten good belting.]

“And don’t think Bhaiya will let this go.”Dheer shook his head. “He knows us better than anyone else. You can kiss that car of yours goodbye.”

“What? No!” Dev protested. His Bhaiya wasn’t happy about his driving, but he was the one who gifted him the car. Dev didn’t want to lose his car privileges.

“It’s a given, Kiddo.” Dhriti ruffled his hair. “You’re going to be grounded. Hitler Randhawa does not forget a misdeed. You can thank us for saving you from a belting.”

“Bhaiya kabhi bhi nahi maarte! I had it handled. [Bhaiya would never hit me! I had it handled.]” Dev hissed.

“Really, Devansh?” The deep baritone voice sent a shiver down Dev’s spine. He looked around, ready with an explanation, only to find Dheer standing there with a mischievous grin.

Dheer could perfectly mimic Dhruv’s voice, A gift that Dev loathed. He fell victim to the act every time.

“Main aapko chhodunga nahi! [I won’t let you go!]”

He reached for Dheer, but the boy ran inside. Dev chased behind him. Dhriti shook her head as the boys’ laughter echoed in the mansion.

Both the boys were a pain in the wrong place, but without them, her life would have been bleak.

As she smiled, her mother’s voice echoed in her ears. “Dheer is the enemy, Riti. The boy will—”

Dhriti ignored the voice and walked back inside. The laughter sounded much better than the hollow warnings. Life was giving her another chance. She refused to make the same mistakes twice. The boy was not her enemy, he was her brother.

No voice could change the truth. She wouldn’t let it.