Biography 258 : Friday

 At a young age, Friday was very special to us. The moment I am telling you is when we returned from Saudi Arabia and lived in a rented apartment. We were waiting to complete our own building. I was newly admitted to a primary school.

Every Friday was a government weekly holiday. That was the only day in the week that we had school and the office closed. The whole family was staying at home. My father used to do his weekly grocery shopping from Khilgaon Kancha Bazaar.

I have always liked the meal cooked on Fridays. Because it tasted very good. Now I understand; it was because of fresh ingredients from the bazaar. Another reason was that my dad used to stay home, so my mom tried to make new items that day. I remember that our big launch table was filled with various food items. My dad also used to enjoy the Friday meal with all family members.

On that day, BTV (Bangladesh Television) started its channel in the morning. On other days, only after 5 pm. They played cartoons, kids' programs and many other special programs that day. We sisters used to watch it together. We used to play together after lunch. While our parents were sleeping. No matter how much we tried to keep our volume low, finally, we ended up shouting, fighting or laughing that my mom used to come up from her afternoon nap and beat us up. Because, she couldn't sleep because of our high volume of noise.

Now I can understand her position. She used to make special breakfast in the morning when we were all at home. Then, my father brought a weekly bazaar. Those were very raw in shape. Like chicken and fish, all were alive; vegetables needed to be washed, cut, and cooked. She had to cut all and pack up for the rest of the week, including cooking for that day, and she had to clean the house. Everything has to be done in a very short time.

We, sisters, used to clean shaak (like spinach, mustard leaves, etc)  for her while watching TV. That took hours for us to separate all from rotten ones and wash them. Mainly, my older sister and I did this job.

Maybe I liked Fridays because the whole family used to enjoy the day together. My parents used to wake up early in the morning. As we didn't have school, we stayed in bed as much as possible. My father had only one day to spend time with us. So, he tried to wake us up by calling our names, increasing the TV volume, and sometimes singing at a high volume while my mother was making breakfast. We sisters became annoyed with him, but never woke up early. We always tried to sleep as much as possible. This was our only day to sleep in more in the morning.

Now I understand how my father missed and tried to spend time with us. My mother was working alone from very early in the morning. She sometimes became very angry with my father, and he always tried to enjoy time with us by watching TV or playing. He never tries to make us study.

We were happy that our parents didn't disturb us in studying.