A Birthday Gift

Part 2: Birthday Gift

Now that Neha di was once again talking to me, I was happy once again. In fact, I was having fun with my dupatta and gesturing like girls but in a more exaggerated way, or you could even say in a more boyish way.

“Priya, can’t you be a little more serious, and try to be more like my sister?”, Neha di scolded me because of the way I was behaving.

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“Ok, di”, I said trying to mimic a girl’s voice but I ended up laughing after it. You see one might think that I would have felt embarrassed or shy being in girls’ clothes. But I did not. I was too confident in my self as a boy and as my sister’s brother. I was just doing this for my sister. So I took it as fun. And because of my confident personality, I could do it without feeling embarrassed or shy. Think about it, does Amir Khan feel embarrassed to act as a woman? No, because he is confident about his life as an actor. He knows that by dressing up as a woman, that wouldn’t change his demand as an actor. He does it for the audience, who loves whatever he does. So, he doesn’t feel ashamed to occasionally act as Manno Bhabhi or any other woman.

“Look Priya, if you are not going to take this seriously and continue to act like my dumb brother in a salwar, then this is not going to work out.”, Neha di said.

“Sorry, di. I will be more serious now. Can’t you forgive your little sister?”, I said to her. She smiled back at me and we got busy once again with what we were doing.

Neha di was checking out a dress from her cupboard. So, I asked her, “Di, what are you searching for now?”

“I am looking for a dress to wear in the evening”, she said.

“But you already bought a dress, a salwar suit, for your birthday, two months ago. Look it is here. Then why do you need to search?”, I asked.

“Because that dress is not for me, Piyu”, she said. She called me “Piyu” in an affectionate way, short for “Priya”.

“I don’t understand. Then why did you buy this dress in the first place?”

“I didn’t know back then, but this dress is for my cute little sister.”, she chuckled.

“What?”

“Yes, piyu. You are going to wear that dress today.”

“But di. You brought that dress for your birthday. It wasn’t for me. I can’t wear that dress.”, I said thoughtfully.

“If you want me to wear that dress, then you will have to wear a saree tonight.”

“What? No way.”

“Come on. It would be the kind of sisterly fun I was talking about. I would love to drape a saree on my cute sister. But you have a choice. Either you can wear this dress or a saree. You decide.”, she said.

“I don’t think that I can handle a saree. But you make a choice for me.”, the boy in me told me that there is no way I could handle a saree so didi would agree with me. But I didn’t want to take her birthday dress either.

“Well, since you have already worn a salwar, and you look so beautiful in it, I suggest that we should try a saree for you for the evening. I want to see how my sister would look in a saree.”

“Are you sure, didi? I can wear some other salwar suit.”, I said.

“You don’t worry sis. I will be there to teach you how to handle a saree. Besides only three of us are going to be at home, so don’t worry about it. Mom would be excited too to see you in a saree.”, she exclaimed.

“Ok fine, I will wear saree.”, I resigned.

“Good. So come here and help me select a saree for you”, she said.

“Didi, you are taking this too far. I don’t know anything about saree. You just select something and let me know. I know your choice is not bad at all.”, I said with reluctance.

After some time, she took out one red designer saree and kept it on my shoulder and said – ‘Yes, this will look perfect on you , What do you say?’

“Ok di. You know that red is my favourite colour”, I smiled. I think I was enjoying this sisterhood with her.

“Ok then it is final that you will wear this saree in evening”, she smiled.

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It was around noon. I was in the bedroom reading a book and still in a salwar that I wore that morning. I heard a doorbell and mom opening up the door. I heard the voice of a boy but I couldn’t figure out who he was. I got occupied with my reading again. But after about 10 minutes, Neha di called me to come out. I just came out adjusting my dupatta that kept slipping over my arms. As soon as I came out I saw that there was a boy. And he was none other than my friend Ritesh. He lives in the same building as us, and lives with 3 other boys of his age. We both belong to the same batch in the college, and we do projects together. Then I recalled that I had informed him about my sister’s birthday sometime back. Since he knew Neha di too, he must have come to wish her a happy birthday.

Being a prankster myself, I thought let me have fun. I just hope Neha di didn’t tell him that I am Pravin in a girl’s getup. I gently held my dupatta in my hand and walked as femininely I could manage to see him.

Neha di saw me and broke the silence and said – “Ritesh, meet my sister Priya. Today is her birthday too.”, she was giggling a little while she said this.

“Hi Priya, what a great coincidence. Wish you many many happy returns of the day”, Ritesh said.

I just smiled and said thank you in a feminine voice I could muster. Though I wanted to pull some kind of prank, but I could not think of anything. So I just went to the kitchen.

“Looks like Priya is feeling shy.”, didi said.

“I haven’t seen her here ever before. How did she manage to come during a lockdown?”, Ritesh asked.

“Oh, she had been here before the lockdown. Because she is extremely shy, you hadn’t met her.”, didi replied.

“Oh, ok. By the way, where is Pravin? I think I should see him now that I am here anyway.”, Ritesh said.

“But you just saw him”

“What? I didn’t see him. Where is he?”, he asked.

“Let me bring him here.”, didi said and she came to the kitchen. Probably, she understood that I wanted to pull a prank too. So, she said, “He is asking for Pravin. Now take this coffee that mom prepared for him, and go out. Let’s have some fun.”

Mom just looked at us and smiled at us.

I came out with a cup of coffee in a tray, and went out with di. I gave coffee to him, and sat next to didi on a sofa. I tried my best to act like a shy girl. But I didn’t have to try too hard. He was more shy than a girl. He could barely raise his eyes up to my chest level. Who knows he liked what he saw… ha ha.

“Neha didi, where is Pravin?”, he asked again. He looked uncomfortable in presence of an unknown girl.

“Oh, he is here with us.”, didi said.

“Here? Where?”, he looked perplexed.

“In front of your eyes.”, didi looked at me as she said.

He still looked confused.

“Oho .. this girl sitting here for the past five minutes is none other than Pravin. He is acting as my little sister today as my birthday gift from him to her.”, didi clarified while laughing.

“Ta da … dude, you didn’t even recognize your friend!”, I finally said in my usual voice laughingly.

“Oh man… you guys really got me. And here I was sitting blushing thinking that there is a new girl in this building. You guys … “, Ritesh said.

He seemed a little relaxed now. His face was turning pink because of the stunt we pulled on him.

“So, should I call you Priya now?”, he asked.

“Of course! Don’t I look like Priya?”, I said in a naughty way while adjusting my dupatta to exaggerate the effect.

Meanwhile we talked while he finished his coffee. He then stood up to go back to his house. That’s when mom came to the room and invited him for the evening dinner which he gladly accepted.

I went to the door to close it behind as he went out (as was my habit), he looked at me and said, “Will see you in the evening Priya.” He was still blushing in front of me! “Yeah, see you dude.”, I said to him in my usual boyish way. What he heard and what he saw was really confusing him. Well, he was like that, never comfortable around girls.

After our lunch, didi and I were sitting in the bedroom and thinking about today’s evening. Because of the lockdown, we could not invite anyone for the birthday party. Only Ritesh could come because he lived in the same building. Mom was busy preparing a cake while we two chitchatted. Neha didi truly appreciated that I became her sister today. She admired the jhumkas that I was wearing in my ear.

In the evening around 6, didi came to me and asked me to get ready. I went to the washroom, got fresh and came out. Didi was standing there. She kept the saree and a matching blouse along with other accessories on the bed. She asked me to remove all the clothes and gave me a red bra to wear.

“Why do I have to change bra, didi?”, I said. Finally, I was comfortable enough to say that word.

“Because girls need to match their undergarments with the clothes they are wearing. It is not ok to wear a bra of colour that does not go well with the clothes on the top. A white bra in a red blouse is a no no …”, she explained.

And I thought to myself, we guys have it so easy. We never care about the colour of what we wear inside.

“Also remove bangles, earring, neckless and payal. I will give u another to wear.”, she said.

I did what she said and went to the bathroom to change my bra. This time I managed to do it myself with some difficulty to reach my back to hook the bra.

When I came out, she handed me a red petticoat to wear. I wore that, and then she gave me a red designer blouse to wear.

“I hope it fits you.”, she said to herself. Apparently, a blouse is made to fit each individual woman. A good blouse is the one that is custom made for an individual woman. The standard sizes like S, M, L don’t work well for saree blouses. Luckily I was slimmer around my arms than my didi, so I could easily get into it. To me, the sleeves felt a little tight around my arms, but didi said, it looked a little loose. That’s another thing, we guys are used to wearing loose fit around the arms, but saree blouses need to be a perfect snug fit.

“It looks a little loose, but not too much. So, it should be ok.”, she said looking at me. I felt a little strange and actually exposed because of the deep open back of the blouse. Then, didi arranged the bra inside the blouse so that it is not visible in the blouse. She adjusted my bra straps and hid it under the blouse.

Then she started to drape saree on me. She folded and adjusted plates and kept pallu on my shoulder and pinned that. Once saree draping was done, she started to give nice look to my hair to look more beautiful. Then she did a little makeup and applied red lipstick on my lips. After that she gave me matching earrings to wear using a clip-on. Then she came with red bangles and helped me wear that. Also she gave me a matching neckless to wear.

After this she said- ‘Birthday girl is ready!’

“yes di, but.. “, I said.

“What but..?”

“Where is my payal?”, I asked as I remembered her advice from earlier.

“Ohh I forgot about it. I think you love the payal. That’s why you remember it.”

“No didi. You said that it looks beautiful on me. That’s why I remembered.”

‘Don’t lie! I know you love all this” and she started to tease me.

And I was blushing and smiling. Then after wearing payal, she taught me a few things about holding and handling a saree. After that tutorial, she asked me to go out and let her get ready. I went out slowly by handling saree and saw that mom was busy decorating a cake. I went to her. She looked at me and said – “Don’t tell this to your sister. But you look more beautiful than Neha! I wish you were born as a girl’

“Thank u mom. But you have me as your daughter as well as a son.”, and I hugged her. Was I emotional when mom praised me? A little bit or may be a bit more than I am willing to admit.

After some time di got ready and came out. It was around 8 o’clock. Mom told me to call Ritesh. But before I could call him, the door bell rang. Di went to open the door and it was Ritesh. She welcomed him in.

He wished birthday wishes again to di and said – ‘Neha didi, you are looking beautiful in that dress’
“Thank you so much Ritesh.”, said didi.

“You are welcome didi. And happy birthday to u also Priya”, he said looking at me.

“Thanks”, I said to him while holding the pallu of my saree in my front as didi had taught me.

“Wow, I didn’t know that you can wear saree too.”, Ritesh said to me. His face looked red. It was very clear that he saw a girl in me. I just wanted to turn into my boy mode and snap him out of his dream. But didi had asked me to behave like a girl for the rest of the day. So, I didn’t do anything but acknowledged his compliments.

Meanwhile mom came with a cake and then, Neha didi and I cut the cake.

After some gossiping, mom told di to help her for getting dinner plates and di went into kitchen. I was sitting on sofa with my legs crossed so that my saree pleats look neat and remain in place. Neha di had taught me several things about the saree. In the mean time, Ritesh was sitting on a chair. I noticed that my saree was slipping below my blouse. Neha didi had warned me to take care of it and check it from time to time. So, I just pulled it up so that my saree sits nicely over shapely blouse. I observed that Ritesh was staring at me as I fixed my saree. In fact, I caught him looking at me. He quickly looked away. I couldn’t really blame him because I myself had watched scenes like that when girls in our college would wear a saree. I loved watching those girls taking care of a saree. I never imagined that I would be the one doing something like that one day, and another boy would be watching me. Still I felt that Ritesh should know better because I am not a girl. I was his good friend Pravin.

Then to break the silence, he just asked me – “When did you start wearing girls dresses?”

“Today itself because of Neha didi’s request.”, I said.

“Nice thing you did for your sister.”, he said with his eyes down. He was obviously blushing talking to me.

I laughed and said, “Come, let’s go for dinner.”

It was much better for the two of us to be not alone in the same room. Ritesh was acting weird. We all sat for dinner, when my mom asked Ritesh, “How are your roommates doing Ritesh?”

“Oh aunty. They all went to their nearby relatives to stay with them because we were not able to get the tiffin service due to the lockdown.”, Ritesh said.

“Oh… I didn’t know that.”, I said.

“Oh poor boys. Why didn’t you go to your relatives then? And how are you managing your food?”, mom got concerned and asked.

“Aunty, I don’t have any relatives nearby. And going back to home in my home state is not possible because there are no trains and buses running. I have a small electric stove at my room. I make Maggie and omelette for lunch and dinner. I also eat bread, butter and jam for breakfast.”, he said.

“Oh poor boy. My heart goes for you. I had no idea that for the last month you are surviving on Maggie and omelette. That’s no way to eat for a young boy. From tomorrow onwards, you will come here for dinner, and I will pack food for you to eat during lunch.”, my mom said and we all agreed to this arrangement.

“Thank you, aunty.”, he said.

“Neha, remind me to give a tiffin for lunch to Ritesh when he leaves tonight.”, mom said to Neha di.

I too felt sorry for Ritesh. He was all alone this time and surviving on bad food. Our chitchat continued for some more time. I liked spending time with Neha di as her sister that evening. And after a while, I was so comfortable with the saree that I didn’t pay much attention towards it, except when it was time to take pictures. Neha di made me pose in several ways, holding saree in various ways. We girls had fun and Ritesh gladly agreed to be the photographer. For the most part, he spoke only with Neha didi. And when we were done, he left for his home.

After he was gone, I just collapsed on the sofa couch next to Neha didi, and said to her, “Ok, didi. I think we had a lot of fun today. But I think that I am ready to get out of this saree now. I feel a little too tight around the petticoat string after eating so much food.”, I pointed towards the area below my navel. Wearing saree for a long time is not an easy thing. Neha didi laughed at my predicament.

“Neha, you didn’t give tiffin to Ritesh that I had packed for him?”, mom came with a tiffin in her hands.

“Oh, I forgot mom.”, didi said.

“Now Priya, you go and give it to him in his apartment.”, mom instructed me.

I was reluctant to go because I just wanted to change my clothes and sleep. But looking at mom’s mood, I thought it is best not to argue and do this job as soon as possible.

In the next part, you will read what happened when I went to Ritesh’s apartment.
 

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