llAbhiGya/TiSha AT#82-'I like you, alot..'ll - Page 34

Sometimes Abhi thought he was at risk of forgetting his own name.

Because nobody used it.

There was once a time when he'd be hollered at by random people on the street - fans or paparazzi yelling out his name to get his attention. But he'd retired as a rockstar several years ago, and nowadays people were more respectful of his privacy. Of course they were, since they had younger, fresher, current celebrities to gawk at.

Now that he was a film director, no one at work really addressed him by his name either. For most of his cast and crew he was "sir," which had taken a bit of getting used to, but was unfortunately necessary for professional discipline. His producers and financials backers did use his name, but he saw them so rarely that it didn't matter.

And anyway, he didn't spend that much time at work really. He'd be away on shoots for weeks at a time, but that was only a few times a year. The rest of the time he was at home...enjoying the sober domestic life of a family man. (Well, and writing songs for resale. He wasn't a househusband, it didn't suit his temperament.)

Abhi knew he was a lucky man. His house, his life, his heart - all were full to bursting with people he loved who loved him back.

But none of them used his name.

Daadi rarely had reason to be annoyed at him these days - she was satisfied by his life choices, and reserved her faux-scolds for the children - so it had been many months since he'd heard her say "Abhi" in that warning tone that had been so common earlier in his life. These days she just called him "puttar," if she called him anything at all.

Tayaji and Taiji didn't often have reason to speak to him, but when they did they called him "beta."

Raj and Mithali would use his name, but after the debacle about the marriage hall corruption case, his relationship to them had never quite recovered. He was polite to them and still let them live in his mansion, but on a day to day basis he had very little interaction with them.

Aaliya, Aakash and Purab of course all called him bhai. Nothing new and surprising there, in fact he'd probably be upset if they didn't call him bhai. They weren't supposed to use his name, after all. But then again, did that really have to be so important now that they were all adults? Purab and Aakash used to sometimes say "Abhi bhai," but lately they seemed to have gotten lazy and dropped his name. It was irritating, but not exactly something he could complain about.

What he wished he could complain about was how all of his little siblings' spouses addressed him. Well, he supposed it was alright that Bulbul called him Jiju - he was her jiju, and she was cute about it. And Bulbul spent much of her time with her sister anyway. She and Purab had moved in with them at Abhi's invitation, but to him it seemed like they'd really only accepted to be close to Pragya.

Then there was that Neil. Abhi had hated to let Aaliya marry him but she'd been insistent, and everyone else had vouched for Neil's transformation into something human enough to consider allowing into the family. Well, ok, mostly they'd said much nicer things than that, but Abhi had never really wanted to forgive Neil for all that had passed between them. And Neil knew he was always on shaky ice with Abhi, so after one disastrous attempt to call him "saale saheb," Neil was always scrupulously respectful in addressing him as "Bhai." And somehow Abhi found it within himself to grin and bear being related to him because despite all odds he did make Aaliya happy.

Rachna was really the worst of the spouses. She positively delighted in calling him "jethji," even though technically Raj was her jeth. She knew it made Abhi feel old and crusty, and she used it anyway, often with a cheeky smile and sparkling eyes. But what could you really expect of double battery's sister! Waise she and Aakash were doing well together and Abhi was happy for them but he did wish his cousin's wife didn't find it so easy and fun to tease him.

But to be really honest, Abhi could accept the various terms of address used for him by the adult members of his family. Mostly he'd been hearing them all his life, and he was used to it. What was really getting to him was the children.

So many children in the house these days, and so many names for him!

Bunty, Babli, and Rachna's twins called him chachu, which was fine. He'd had the whole of Babli's lifetime to get used to it, and he liked being the fun, rich chachu. Generally his nieces and nephews didn't come across his way much anyway.

He'd adored Aaliya's daughter (ignoring the fact that she was Neil's daughter too) before the little princess could even speak, and he didn't mind anything she did, even calling him Mamu. She had him wrapped around her finger, which he'd freely admit. Of course that meant that almost on a daily basis she tried to manipulate him or wheedle something out of him - very much her mother's daughter - and he knew that her syrupy sweet way of saying, "But Mamu, please," was just a weapon for her. But it was a weapon that worked on him.

Now Purab and Bulbul's children, on the other hand - their name for him had taken some getting used to. Purab and Bulbul had argued forever on whether Abhi should be considered their chachu or their mausa - until Rachna solved their problem with the wicked suggestion that he could be their "mauchu." Abhi had tried to object that he didn't want to be named like a kitten, but no one had listened. Pragya had seconded the idea and Bulbul had decided she loved it, and Purab was absolutely useless at denying Bulbul anything she really wanted. So now their rascally sons called him Mauchu, and there was nothing he could do about it!

And of course his own children called him Papa. That had taken no getting used to; it was as natural as air. He'd started talking to his firstborn before she was even born; it had started as a way to tease his wife - he'd lean near her stomach and speak all kinds of nonsense about how the baby would be papa's girl and together they would teach her boring mumma how to have fun in life. But very quickly he fell in love with the idea of having a daughter, and then when she was born he was so ready to be her father. By the time her siblings came along, "Papa" was such a well-engrained and readily accepted part of his identity that it would never occur to him that it could somehow subsume his being "Abhi."

And, of course, it didn't. Nothing could stop Abhi from being Abhi, even if the whole world forgot his name.

The worst offender was of course his Chashmish. She still insisted on addressing him as "aap" at nearly all times - absurdly dedicated to the old rule of not taking her husband's name.

Well. Nearly all times. Sometimes she could be brought to say his name. Yes, Abhi, more! Oh, Abhi, there, could you - Abhi, oh my God Abhi!. But he could hardly spend all day in bed with his wife - hardly got to bed her at all, between all the regular stresses of life - so that was little comfort.

No, he was just having to make peace with the whole situation as an odd fact of life. He had everything he could ever want; he never needed to doubt who he was and what he meant to the world. He didn't need to hear his name from other people's lips to affirm anything about himself.

He knew he was Abhi, and he knew he was happy, and that was enough.