(Dear Readers, I would request you to please read the first 2 chapters of this series "The Policewoman 1 & 2" to better comprehend the continuity of this story so far…)
Our lunch was over, I was paying off the restaurant bill. Madhumita was trying to call her Bhabhis to inform them that we are coming now. She was not getting through. So she told me that she was going out of the restaurant and try…possibly the network wasn't so good inside. As I came out, she had made the call and was waiting for me. I don't know what exactly she had told her family about me.
She said, "Come let's go to the bus-stand."
I said, "No, we will take a cab. But first let us walk down this street a little farther. There's a good sweet shop, I'll buy some sweets.
She said, "Why this formality, Sumit ?"
I ignored her …we went to the sweet shop and bought some good sweets for her family and some chocolates for her elder Bhabhi's baby.
Madhu protested, "Arrey…she is not even a year old, she can't eat chocolates yet."
I smiled, "Then all of you share them".
Then I hailed a taxi and off we went to Madhumita's house. Their house was in the northern part, which is the older part of the city. A two storied house inside a lane, off the main road. As I got out of the taxi, I saw two ladies on the 1st floor balcony. They smiled seeing us and ran inside the room. Minutes later the front door opened and there they were, both of them together again. Now that I was well informed about their physical attributes, I could tell that the taller, well built one was the younger bhabhi , while the other was the older sister-in-law of Madhumita.
We went inside. We stood on the porch. The two Bhabhis stood there smiling welcoming me. Both were taller than me. Madhu came in after me and removed her slippers by the shoe rack beside the wall. I also removed my shoes, as is the custom in this part of the country. As soon as I stepped out of my shoes and was standing in my socks, I found that the Bhabhis seemed to look even taller, now that the advantage of the 1 inch heel of my shoes was also not there. I folded my hands in namaste and smiled back at them. I handed over the box of sweets to one and the packet of chocolates to the other Bhabhi. Madhu had come and was standing right behind me with both her hands resting on my shoulder from behind. I looked back at her and suddenly felt I was standing in front of a wall. Her head extended so much above mine, now that she was so close behind me that our bodies almost touched. My head was not even reaching the base of her neck, and was under her collar bones. I craned my neck up to meet her eyes and she smiled down sweetly at me.
Just then I saw an elderly lady come out from inside and came and stood in front of me. Madhu spoke up from behind me,"My mother." I bent down to touch her feet, as is the custom in India to show respect to elders. She held my forearms midway and pulled me up. As I stood right in front of Madhumita's mother, I felt my head was coming up to her nose level only. But Madhu had told me that she is 5'5" tall, that is 2 inches taller than me. I looked down and saw that she was wearing those 2 inches thick rubber slippers, which made her 4 inches taller than me. She smiled at me and said, "Nahi Beta (son), your place is not at my feet but here." Saying this, she bent forward slightly and hugged me tight…then straightened up. I felt my feet leaving the ground as this old woman stood up straight. My face was now a little above her face….meaning that my feet were more than 5 inches off the ground. She held me there in her bear hug and said, "What a cute little boy you have chosen Madhu. I already love him."
I was shocked. Madhu had said her mother was 57 years old. I am 28, so she is 29 years older than me, that means practically double my age and plus one year more. And here she was holding me up in her arms like a rag doll, with my feet hanging in the air. She kept on holding me up on her breasts with a tight bear hug, smiling at me. She was even swinging me ever so gently, so that my feet were actually dangling like pendulums. I saw the elder bhabhi come forward and whisper, "Mummy ji what are you doing ? Please put him down. Can't you see, you are embarrassing him."
She immediately let me down. With an apologetic face, she held my hand and said, "Very sorry, Beta. You are so small and cute, I just couldn't control myself. Hope you are not mad at me, are you, Beta ?"
I meekly replied with a shy smile, "It's ok, aunty." I saw the younger Bhabhi exchange glances with Madhu with a mischievous smile on her lips. The elder Bhabhi's face was however serious…she didn't like this action of her mother in law.
Aunty tugged at my hand and walked me to the next room, "Come let's sit here and get to know you better." The room she brought me seemed to be their drawing-room. It was quite well decorated, quite sober, nothing distasteful. Aunty led me to the 3 seater sofa and she sat on one side and made me sit beside her at the centre. She called Madhu to sit by my side. The two Bhabhis took the two single seater sofas.
They were ready for our visit, so as soon as I sat down, they brought in a plate of sweets and cold drinks for me. I said that we had just had our lunch. Madhu intervened, "He will be here for some time now. So he will have these later." So all took a glass of soft drinks in our hands and settled in for a chat.
Aunty especially asked in detail about my family : about what my parents did; about my sister ; where she has been married ; whether we have our own house; how many rooms are there ; whether my father had any brothers and sisters and whether they had children… At this point when the questions never seemed to end and were getting a little one-directional, Madhumita stepped in and came to my rescue...."What are you doing Ma ? Why are you barraging him with questions like a police officer ?" She made a forceful laugh, to lighten the tenseness growing in the room, especially for me.
The younger bhabhi started discussing with me regarding a film they saw recently, "Do you like films, Sumit ? You know we went to the latest Sharukh Khan movie last Sunday. You know he is my favourite hero. Who is your favourite heroine ?" She tried to divert the conversation into more comfortable areas. I caught on fast at this opportunity.
I said, "You see Bhabhi, I don't think much about film hero, heroines. Whatever they are, is because of their good looks or tall figures or even for their star father or mother. There are only a handful of heroes who are not so good looking, but really good actors. Good looks or tall height or whether you are born into a film star's family are just God given. If I had been born with such good looks, maybe I could also have become a star. That is why I do not have any film stars as my hero. My heroes are real life people, who have achieved something of their own accord."
Both the Bhabhis and Madhumita too were laughing. But aunty was serious. The younger Bhabhi said, "Wow Sumit , you seem to have pretty strong ideas about this. Good. Thinking about it this way, you are right."
I saw Madhu's mother still not getting over her grouch, after Madhu stopped her from quizzing me. I had to lighten her mood. I said, looking at the Bhabis, "See Bhabhi, you can find extraordinary qualities in ordinary locations as well. For example, look at your own family. Can you show me a similar family where all members have such excellent height. I have heard about Uncle and both Bhaiyas (elder brothers) being six footers. See all four of you ladies, even Aunty, have such fantastic heights. These are much above average than any normal Indian woman. So yours is a unique family in its own way." I saw all the ladies sporting wide grins. Aunty's smile was a little subdued.
So I fired my next salvo. "But you know, what I found the most astonishing, Bhabhi ? Even at this age, Aunty, the way she has maintained herself, her figure, her strength, it is exceptional ! I had bent down to touch Aunty's feet…. The next moment I found myself up in the air, my feet dangling like pendulums 5 inches above the ground. Can you imagine ? I'm a full grown adult man of 28 years. And this here old lady of 57, more than double my age, had effortlessly lifted me up in her arms and was rocking me like a rag doll. If Badi Bhabhi would not have requested her, I do not know how long she would have carried me hanging helpless from her arms. You were asking about my favourite heroine, Chhoti Bhabhi ? From today Aunty is my favourite real life heroine."
I knew I had scored my point, when the next moment I found Aunty hugging me tightly and pulling my upper body towards her and planting a massive kiss on my cheek. Now everybody was laughing, with Aunty, the happiest of them all. "You naughty boy," she was saying to me, "This is the best compliment I've ever had in my life. Madhu you have made me very happy, by bringing this little boy to me."
Badi Bhabhi was not saying much till now but was only observing me. She now broke her silence, "You see Mummy ji, I was skeptical after seeing Madhu and Sumit together…he looked like a small boy beside her. Also when he was standing with all four of us around him, I thought that he looked nervous and felt intimidated by all of us towering over him. But now, listening to him talking about Mummyji lifting and rocking him like a rag doll, it reflects his self confidence. He doesn't even care or bother that he is so much shorter than all of us. He is so sure of his own strengths of education and character and professional success in life, he knows he is head and shoulders above us all."
I had to look at Badi Bhabhi now with an increased admiration. I didn't know that she could observe and analyze and speak so well.
Aunty still had me pinned to her body from the side. Since she was quite taller and bigger than me, my head was now resting on her shoulder, with her chin touching the top side of my head. All of them had a contented smile on their faces, with Madhumita looking as if she was so proud of me.
There was an odd silence in the room, with no one knowing what is the best to say after Badi Bhabi's magnificent short speech. Chhoti Bhabhi broke the silence. She said, "Now let Madhu take Sumit upto her room and chat with him. She has brought him home not only so that we can all meet him, but to also talk to him in private. They must get to know each other better, they have just met two days back."
Aunty released me and all of us stood up. Badi Bhabhi was right …standing in the middle with all four ladies towering over me, I felt so little.
Madhu stepped ahead and beckoned me to go with her. Aunty put her fingers on my cheek and squeezed them, as if I'm a small child. Both the Bhabhis smiled sweetly at me. And off I went following Madhu up the stairs to her room.
Once in the room, I was standing in the middle looking around. Madhu closed the door and came up to me. "Oh God ! I really thought for a moment that everything's going so horribly wrong. First Mummy lifts you up and dangles you in the air, high up on her breasts. Then she barrages you with all those awkward questions. Then when I tried to stop her, she got grumpy about it. I for once thought that our relation's gone down the drain. Neither you nor Mummy will like each other. Then what a turnaround you had made. You flattered Mummy so much that now even if you want, she won't let you go. I didn't know that you are such a smooth talker."
Madhu was so excited she hugged me to her breast. I had totally gone inside her body. My face was smashed between her two big full breasts. For a moment I got blinded. She held my head pressed on her breasts for some moments. After some time I started panicking…what if I get suffocated ? I pulled at her arms frantically. She released her stronghold and looked down at me alarmed. She hadn't released my body though. My full body was still pressed to her front, my head was just free. I craned my neck up at a right angle to meet her eyes. She was also bending her head fully to look down on me. She had a worried look on her face, "What happened dear ?", she asked.
I smiled up at her, "No, I was just starting to suffocate with my face inside your breasts. That's why I panicked."
"Ohh I'm so sorry, my little boyfriend," she smiled back. "Come I'll get you some fresh air".
She bent down, put two hands under my back and straightened up. I was now held on her stomach, facing her. I put my hands around her shoulders as a support. She jerked up my thighs and pulled me in towards her, so my legs went around her hips and wrapped around her waist. She looked very happy, she spun around with me in her arms. I clung to her more tightly, so that I don't fall off. She laughed again, "Don't worry my little friend.. I won't let you fall... You are too small and light for me...I can carry you like this all day."
"Madhu," I said, her eyes now right in front of mine, "You are so tall and strong. I feel so safe and protected in your arms."
Madhumita hugged me tightly to her bosom. She put a hand behind my head and pressed it down on her shoulders. My face went inside her big neck. Her hair covered my face which was now inside the crook of her neck. She held me like that for a few moments. My nose and lips were touching the soft cold inside of her neck. She started walking slowly in her room, her one hand behind my head pressing my face down inside her neck. She was not talking now, just walking with me, like a mother carrying her child on her breasts. I sensed that she was possibly crying. But I did not react. I lay on her shoulders, with my eyes closed. Let her pour out her pent up emotions. I was experiencing a strange feeling. It was like a tall, big woman had captured me and I'm totally helpless under her physical control, unable to move. But yet I had the feeling that I was safe and protected, like how a small child feels being carried in her mother's godi (lap).
She stopped her walk, removed her hair from around my face, pulled my head back, so that my face was just in front of hers. I saw tears in her eyes. " What is this, Madhu, you were crying ?" I wiped her eyes practically sitting on her waist, held firmly under my bottom by her strong hands.
She brought a forced smile to her lips. " I don't know why tears came to my eyes. Possibly all my frustrations over the years are now escaping through my tears. You know, Sumit, every other person in my relationship says, 'Itni lambi ladki …kaun shaadi karega issey ?' ( Such a tall girl... who will marry her ?) My parents and brothers are fed up searching for a groom for me. Nobody loves me. Even my parents say that they wished I was short or at least born as a boy. All throughout my school and college days, they used to tease me by calling names like Coconut tree; baby giraffe; Miss Amitabh Bachchan. I have had a miserable life just for being so tall." Her eyes were swelling up once again.
Madhu was slowly walking carrying me on her bosom. Our faces were right in front of each other. She smiled and continued, "But now I've found you, I am so relieved. That is why I cried. You like me just because I'm so much taller than you. You don't even have any inhibitions around my tall mother and Bhabis. You joked even after Mummy lifted you up like a baby. An old woman lifting a young adult man like a rag doll and you just laughed it away. I can't even imagine that you have so much self confidence. I'm so happy that I've found you."
I didn't know what to say. I just smiled in reply. Inwardly I know how embarrassed I was when Madhu's mother, an old woman of 57 lifted me effortlessly and was dangling my feet like a pendulum, five inches above the ground. That too in front of three tall young women. I was dying of shame. I know what amount of nerve it required to joke about the whole incident and brush it away as if it didn't affect me at all. Good for me. These ladies have taken it as my self confidence and strength of personality.
But frankly speaking, I however was loving this feeling of being lifted and carried by Madhu on her big soft breasts. I had a strange feeling of weightlessness. As if I was floating in the air in the arms of a giantess.
There was a knock at the door. Her chhoti Bhabhi's voice came through, "Madhu you had forgotten the sweets. I've brought it. Open the door and take them."
I whispered to Madhu, "Put me down quick, Bhabhi just might come in. What will she think seeing me in your lap ?"
But before I could finish, Madhu had already called out, "Chhoti Bhabhi, the doors are not closed. Just push it and come in."
I saw the door slowly opening and Bhabhi coming in…I was still perched on Madhu's breasts hanging on to her neck.…
( To be continued …)
