His first younger sister was born when he was 14. Exuberant Uttam even managed to name her—Sudha. Seven years later, Rama was the new addition to the family.[break]
“The age gap might be one of the contributing factors why we’ve always taken him as a fatherly figure,” Rama observes. But a “liberal” one. All three agree to it.
The siblings, who grew up in a conservative Newar Karmacharya family, often turned into mice when their father was around, recalls Uttam.
His father and grandmother were not in favor of him becoming a painter. “My grandmother used to cry because the profession was looked down upon at the time.”
But the two sisters grew up in an artistic space created by their elder brother. “I used to make paper boats and play in the water tub that was prepared to dip his paintings,” Sudha reminisces. Along with it, the sisters also stole their brother’s painting cubes just to brag about it with their friends.
And though the family was conservative, it was liberal enough to educate their daughters.
There, however, were special restrictions when it came to the daughters. Suddha recalls an incident when her eldest brother Uttam backed her choice.
“He supported me when I was having an argument with my family members on how I didn’t like the concept of wearing trousers underneath a skirt.” The uniform, however, was mandatory at the school.
Some thirty years back, when family members were not cool about their daughters putting makeup, Uttam—the oldest of four brothers—complemented his sisters. “He still manages to pass compliments,” says Suddha, who is immaculately dressed in bright yellow sari.
Despite being a liberal figure, however, the sisters always feared Uttam. It was only after her marriage that Sudha grew closer and started being candid to him.
But it is a little different when it comes to Rama. With laughter, she informs that she still fears him.
Their brother, however, never ceases to amaze them. “Even a stone looks beautiful in his house,” adds Rama when the talk diverts to his home décor and cooking.
Uttam, who occasionally cooks for his family, not only played a matchmaker for Suddha’s marriage but also managed to cook biryani for the engagement.
And as the talk traveled from childhood to education to their marriages and how Uttam played crucial roles in their lives, it seems as if over the years the fear had drifted away and the sisters have become more of friends with their brother despite the age gap.
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