Unfazed

1. First Day of Vacay (Deeksha)

How do you deal with a brother who, at the age of 24, acts atleast 2 decades younger? Worse, how do you get back at him for pouring water on you, to wake you up, on the first day of your vacation?

In my case, unplugging his favorite game-station from the TV, on my way to the bathroom to get ready. Thirty minutes later, "A brushed, bathed, ready Deeksha Bhalla at your service, Sir", I say, climbing into my brother's second hand Audi.

"You know? You don't have the right to be mad today. We decided at the dinner table yesterday that you are to drive me to the convention centre today. So sulk all you want, but you agreed to this", said Harsh, looking out of the window as I turned a particularly narrow corner onto the main road.

Making my voice as sarcastically sweet as possible, I replied, "Oh of course, Brother Dearest! It's not like you had convinced Mummy beforehand or anything!!"

"Okay – okay," he said, lifting his hands in surrender, "I may or may not have wanted to take you with me for this event for a really long time." When I finally flashed a smile at his confession, he continued "You've been away for six months Dee. I kinda missed you."

Though he tried to hide it, I know Harsh's face like the back of my hand. Even with me, the longest friend he's ever had, talking about emotions or what he feels, is a task for him. And I know this because somewhere, while I pretend and try not to be, I am no different. Letting that comment pass so as to not make this emotional or weird, we passed the rest of the ride jamming to the latest Bollywood songs on the radio.

Pulling into the parking lot of the convention centre I noticed Harshu fixing his bow-tie. Dressed in a strange combination of smart casuals, I wanted to laugh at what he was wearing. "Dude - you seriously need to take that bow-tie off", I laughed. "Eh... Get lost bro!", he said. But when I clicked a picture on my phone and showed it to him, he was convinced. Not quite admitting defeat, he silently handed me the tie, as I happily made a mental note for using this against him in the near future.

"Acha.. So what's our POA?" he asked. "Hello!! YOU have brought me here... Better not be one from the old prank war from last Diwali, ok?!? We called truce on that one!" I said. Harsh couldn't stop laughing at that as he explained how his company had the event-management contract for this event and how, being the Manager, he was just here to make sure everything was going well.

"It won't take more than a couple of hours", he said. "WHAT?!? Couple! As in two - as in more than one!!?" I shrieked, as Harshu put on his most innocent expression and said "I was hoping you'd want to look around and meet a few new people, Dee".

Completely ignoring my scowls and the figurative fumes rising out of my head and ears, Harsh continued cheekily,"Don't get into trouble, don't get lost, grab yourself something to drink and all the other things Ma normally tells you. If you need anything, don't bother me lol", he said, as we got out of the car and he pulled me into a hug. "Gee, thanks Mom!" I said sarcastically, though I won't deny that I'd missed this cartoon too (even if I rather wear blue glitter nail paint than ever admit it to him).

"Good to have you back, Watson!" he called as he walked towards the centre - another fantastic joke from our childhood. "Good to be back, Sherlock...", I mumbled as I locked the car and took one last look at my reflection in the window, to make sure I looked okay, before FINALLY making my way to the queue for frisking before getting an entry pass into the Convention Centre.

"Today will be so much fun", said the disdainful, acerbic and oh-so-sarcastic voice in my head, as I waited for my turn at the entrance of the centre. However, little did I expect the security guard to say, "You are not allowed to enter this convention, Ma'am."