Unkept Promises

The reason - Part I

"I had a wonderful childhood doctor. I was five when she was born, but unlike a lot of other kids, I had taken a quick liking to my baby sister. I was always a possessive child, and Kinjal immediately became my dearest sister. We were a close knit family, so happy with each other, so happy because of each other. She wasn't at all fussy as a baby or even as a toddler, so that made it even more easier for me to enjoy her company. I remember how at times, I used to snatch her away from my parents to play with her.", I felt a nostalgic smile appearing on my lips as I reveled in those wonderful moments of the past. It felt so blissful to just reminisce them.

"She always looked up to me - I was her favourite Abhi bhai. I often used to get her some snacks from my pocket money on my way back home. I remember how she used to be sat near the window when it would be the time for me to get back home from school, and just as I would be in her viewpoint, she would rush towards me. We were really close, we loved each other dearly, and I remember how proud and happy mummy and pappa used to be seeing us. Kinjal was a chubby little child, and a lot of people used to compliment her, admire her, praise her for all of her cuteness, her mischievous shenanigans. And she loved it very much when people praised her.", I smiled some more, but what I was about to say next, gradually took that smile off my face.

"All this continued till the point she was admitted in my school in the first grade. the teachers who had taught us were more or less the same. Ever since she wrote her first exam, it was evident that she wasn't amongst the academically sound students. Yes, she scored well, but she was referred to as an average student. Now, mummy, pappa were not like some typical parents who only make their child pursue school grades - they were quite liberal, and when they noticed Kinjal's creative skills, they only encouraged her to pursue that, be stronger in that zone. Be it workshops, classes, competitions - they offered every kind of support a parent could."

I took a deep breath since things were only about to go downhill from this point.

"Okay wait Abhiram. Not to interrupt you or anything, but I think that's one phase, and I have received the answer to my question."

I nodded.

"Now comes my next question, and I don't think this will be difficult for you at all, since, from what I perceive, you were about to describe how things started getting ruined. So go ahead. Please explain me, what exactly happened, why do you think Kinjal began acting out, and what was the extent of all of that."

"As I said doctor, academics wasn't her strongest point. While us, her family members had no issues with this, since mummy and pappa had always been of the opinion that each child is different, and has different strengths, others around us did not hold the same view. Those people - neighbours, relatives whose praises had been showered on Kinjal earlier, now shunned her lower grades by constant comparison with me. It started affecting her."

"Okay, I got this, but just tell me one thing - when you say it started affecting her, what exactly do you mean?"

I tried to recollect how actually her reactions were.

"Doctor, she did not quite like people making comparison between us - I mean that is quite obvious and very natural. However, there's one peculiar thing - she would ask mummy and pappa that if such and such a person used to praise me earlier, why isn't him or her doing that now?"

Those were her questions.

"So you mean to say, lower grades did not affect her, but what people would say about her did? When people would praise you and not her, it would affect her more?"

I thought about her words. Kinjal did not use to make promises of higher grades after all of those incidents, it was more of the kind, why don't they praise me like Abhi bhai, why only him? Or why am I not getting called good?