The drudgeries of life
Thursday, September 22, 2011
One score, many years! - A Letter to my Little Angel
Hi kiddo,
Time flies.
It seems like it was just yesterday that I had received the good news that you'd be joining the family... I was happy, but I remember having no clue as to what the whole brouhaha was all about.
Back to square one.
I’ll reiterate. Time does fly.
Today is the 22nd of September in 2011.
And just like that, you’ve completed 20 whole revolutions around the sun! By jove!!
Things have changed, but certain aspects remain constant.
You were an infant then and are a mature adult now, but you’ll always remain my baby sister <3
You were a little girl a few years ago who has blossomed into a beautiful, charming, intelligent, compassionate, independent woman. But come what may, I’ll be the same overprotective, loving, mischievous, lecture-giving, pain-in-the-ass big brother that I always was :D
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Sweetu!
Shine on, you crazy diamond of mine!
Truckloads of love, hugs and kisses,
Appu
Time flies.
It seems like it was just yesterday that I had received the good news that you'd be joining the family... I was happy, but I remember having no clue as to what the whole brouhaha was all about.
Enlightenment took its own sweet time to dawn.
Soon enough I had realized that even long before your arrival, you had unwittingly started stealing my limelight, everyone's attention of which, until then, I was the sole recipient!
Worst still, a while before your arrival, the woman I loved the most had to be taken away from me and was imprisoned (or so I thought!), and I was allowed to meet her only once a day as per visit schedules.
And I had started fretting over the thought that if the harbingers of your imminent arrival were this unwelcome, how unpleasant your arrival could turn out to be for me!!
And then you arrived.
One glance at you and all the childish negativity had evaporated.
Right at that moment, all I cared about was the fact that I now had two beautiful women in my life :)
The new entrant was you, the little angel who I couldn’t help keep gawping at!
Before I knew it, I was a big brother. Period.
That day was the 22nd of September in 1991. A Sabbath as holy as every!
The last couple of lines in the rhyme “Monday’s Child” fitted you ditto, and they still do:
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay
Soon enough you became the apple of everyone’s eyes. You won so many hearts.
More importantly, in a jiffy you became the centre of my universe. Needless to say, you still are.
True that pangs of jealousy and vindictiveness played spoilsport initially, but they paved the way for a stronger bond.
I remember the evenings in crèche when, at the tender age of 8, I used to be faced with the decision to choose between a cricket match with friends, and being with my hardly-a-year-old sister. I used to surprise myself by forgoing the dumb game, though I do confess now to having looked out longingly towards the field at those times...
I vividly recollect the bone-chilling experience of our first long walk, you were all of 2 years then, to the colony pond with the kid next door – the stroll during which, out of the blue, a pack of mad stray dogs charged towards us helpless kids. Though the other kid ran for his life, I, despite being scared to death but realizing that it was impossible for us both to take flight, held you protectively and stood my ground. I had wondered where a scaredy cat like myself had garnered this much courage from.
I can still recall those hundreds of games which I taught you to play over the years, most importantly cricket. I had made you believe that bowling is the best thing ever, and while a half-a-decade old you used to tirelessly keep pitching the ball, I, the selfish batsman, enjoyed while also exposing you to the joy of fielding :p
I reminisce about the smart and brilliant kiddo that you always were, excellent in academics, fantastic in extracurrics, teachers’ pet, our parents’ gem, and my little role model!Then came our fights. I was pretty sure that our ‘cat and dog fights’, as mom labelled them, would lead to our being sent away to different boarding schools. Thankfully that never happened, despite our squabbling being a never-ending story :D
My memories of your teens is somewhat hazy, my staying away from home to be blamed for that, but I clearly remember the somewhat awkward adolescent who had her own set of strengths, but was struggling to find a foothold in life. Then, it had seemed like an energetic electron losing its energy and spiralling downwards into the nucleus. But all nerds know that that doesn’t happen! As did I.
Your temporary relapse was akin to a solar eclipse – you fear that the brilliance of the sun is going to get lost in the oblivion of darkness, yet at the point where getting enveloped by gloom seems inevitable, an unexpected and outright brilliant corona in the middle of the nothingness serves as a positive harbinger of change, reinstates your faith, and lights up your world!
Sure enough, the way you pulled yourself up from the rubble, and emerged as a much stronger person is praiseworthy. And you’ve never looked back since. The way you’re surging ahead in life now, there’s no way that the sky is the limit for you *touchwood*
I hate comparisons to the core, but I feel pretty smug about getting to see traces of myself in you. That said, I effortlessly gloat about the fact that you’ve outdone me and all my tacit expectations of you, but best of all, you’re constantly outshining yourself! Keep it up!!
Simply saying that I’m proud of you would be the understatement of the millennium. Words fail me
Soon enough I had realized that even long before your arrival, you had unwittingly started stealing my limelight, everyone's attention of which, until then, I was the sole recipient!
Worst still, a while before your arrival, the woman I loved the most had to be taken away from me and was imprisoned (or so I thought!), and I was allowed to meet her only once a day as per visit schedules.
And I had started fretting over the thought that if the harbingers of your imminent arrival were this unwelcome, how unpleasant your arrival could turn out to be for me!!
And then you arrived.
One glance at you and all the childish negativity had evaporated.
Right at that moment, all I cared about was the fact that I now had two beautiful women in my life :)
The new entrant was you, the little angel who I couldn’t help keep gawping at!
Before I knew it, I was a big brother. Period.
That day was the 22nd of September in 1991. A Sabbath as holy as every!
The last couple of lines in the rhyme “Monday’s Child” fitted you ditto, and they still do:
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay
Soon enough you became the apple of everyone’s eyes. You won so many hearts.
More importantly, in a jiffy you became the centre of my universe. Needless to say, you still are.
True that pangs of jealousy and vindictiveness played spoilsport initially, but they paved the way for a stronger bond.
I remember the evenings in crèche when, at the tender age of 8, I used to be faced with the decision to choose between a cricket match with friends, and being with my hardly-a-year-old sister. I used to surprise myself by forgoing the dumb game, though I do confess now to having looked out longingly towards the field at those times...
I vividly recollect the bone-chilling experience of our first long walk, you were all of 2 years then, to the colony pond with the kid next door – the stroll during which, out of the blue, a pack of mad stray dogs charged towards us helpless kids. Though the other kid ran for his life, I, despite being scared to death but realizing that it was impossible for us both to take flight, held you protectively and stood my ground. I had wondered where a scaredy cat like myself had garnered this much courage from.
I can still recall those hundreds of games which I taught you to play over the years, most importantly cricket. I had made you believe that bowling is the best thing ever, and while a half-a-decade old you used to tirelessly keep pitching the ball, I, the selfish batsman, enjoyed while also exposing you to the joy of fielding :p
I reminisce about the smart and brilliant kiddo that you always were, excellent in academics, fantastic in extracurrics, teachers’ pet, our parents’ gem, and my little role model!Then came our fights. I was pretty sure that our ‘cat and dog fights’, as mom labelled them, would lead to our being sent away to different boarding schools. Thankfully that never happened, despite our squabbling being a never-ending story :D
My memories of your teens is somewhat hazy, my staying away from home to be blamed for that, but I clearly remember the somewhat awkward adolescent who had her own set of strengths, but was struggling to find a foothold in life. Then, it had seemed like an energetic electron losing its energy and spiralling downwards into the nucleus. But all nerds know that that doesn’t happen! As did I.
Your temporary relapse was akin to a solar eclipse – you fear that the brilliance of the sun is going to get lost in the oblivion of darkness, yet at the point where getting enveloped by gloom seems inevitable, an unexpected and outright brilliant corona in the middle of the nothingness serves as a positive harbinger of change, reinstates your faith, and lights up your world!
Sure enough, the way you pulled yourself up from the rubble, and emerged as a much stronger person is praiseworthy. And you’ve never looked back since. The way you’re surging ahead in life now, there’s no way that the sky is the limit for you *touchwood*
I hate comparisons to the core, but I feel pretty smug about getting to see traces of myself in you. That said, I effortlessly gloat about the fact that you’ve outdone me and all my tacit expectations of you, but best of all, you’re constantly outshining yourself! Keep it up!!
Simply saying that I’m proud of you would be the understatement of the millennium. Words fail me
Back to square one.
I’ll reiterate. Time does fly.
Today is the 22nd of September in 2011.
And just like that, you’ve completed 20 whole revolutions around the sun! By jove!!
Things have changed, but certain aspects remain constant.
You were an infant then and are a mature adult now, but you’ll always remain my baby sister <3
You were a little girl a few years ago who has blossomed into a beautiful, charming, intelligent, compassionate, independent woman. But come what may, I’ll be the same overprotective, loving, mischievous, lecture-giving, pain-in-the-ass big brother that I always was :D
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Sweetu!
Shine on, you crazy diamond of mine!
Truckloads of love, hugs and kisses,
Appu
Labels: Birthday, Family, Memories, Nostalgia, Sister, Sweety
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