Friday, October 10, 2008

She is...


my wake up call on holidays in delhi...
firm tugs of the bed sheet...repeated calling in her sweet sing song voice...and occasional dripping drops of water delivered amidst incessant giggles...

my nemesis when it comes to TV watching...much better at handling that god-damned contraption that is the dish tv remote...and of course much faster...and consequently, never allowing even the faintest trace of sporting activity on the screen...

a constant critic of my daily jaunts with the school gang..."you're not going out with them again??" being her constant refrain...

a walking-talking excel sheet of my bloopers...." u didnt switch off your laptop..."...."the fans still on there..."
"take a bath!! It's 1... "

a live feed of info to mom...." manoj's on the phone; for the last 1 hour! ....he's still sleeping.... he's saying something behind your back...."

the staccato of noise in the background when am trying to take my afternoon nap...

constant sharer of her 'away from home' issues....disturbing 'colleagues'...amazing friends...threatening old ladies all of whose names begin with 'sister'....

frequent framer of exasperating serial questions like "what do you want to be when you grow up?? you still dont know?? how come?? " .... "is that girl you're talking to on the phone the girl you're gonna marry?? when is the marriage?? can you buy me a new gown for it?? "

ender of all of her occasional skirmishes with the family with the mother of all "am such a cute lil thing ...y r u doin this to me" expressions...

most importantly though....

still remember her entry into my life 6 years ago...wrapped up in a sheet..bawling her lungs out...

remember the many nights during class 12 examinations when I've had night swotting sessions with her comfortably nestled on my shoulder...gently going to sleep with intricacies of physics in the background...

her particular tendency to choose to relieve herself precisely whenever i eagerly lifted her up after a tiring day at school...

her gradual growing up that has somehow corresponded to me maturing ( or trying to act like i am at least...)

the shriek of 'manoj annnaaaaaa" and the huge hug everytime i came/come home for vacations...

the feeling of "heck...life can wait" whenever she falls asleep on my shoulders while watching "bob the builder" or "pumba..." ( or whatever that hideous purple thing on pogo is)

panacea of all kinds of depression with her frequent hugs and giggles...

to...
the sweetest lil thing i know...

my lil sister...whos turned all of a wonderful 7 today...

happy birthday ammu :)


PS: Anna's not that great a writer; still...
hope you'll love it whenever you're old enough to get down to reading this!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Not The City I Grew Up In...


Courtesy a gang of friends chock-a-block with delhi's 'bhadralok'...Durga Puja nights have always meant an amazing array of dazzling pandals, maddening crowds, joyous festivity and great music...

being in delhi after years of missing the pujo...was quite looking forward to being a part of the celebrations this time around....made a mental list of all the familiar haunts i wanted to get back to....

start with CR Park of course...move on to Sector-8 RKP...round off with Janakpuri....

the dazzle was there...the pandals have become more imposing...the idols are prettier...everything just the way i remembered it..and better....

except for the crowds...missing....conspicously missing....

"bombs ka darr hai beta"..a friends dad tells me...bahut kam log bahar aa rahe hain....

shaken a bit...i drift towards the people milling about....love all these conversations you can sit around and join into...love the mix of all kinds of people who come and spend their time here...
my fondest memories remain of me and a sikh friend of mine spending a considerable amount of time pandal hopping, eyecandy spotting and chatting up people...

caught whiffs of conversation going on...

"these ______, its all their fault....look at the terror they are spreading..."

"orissa mein jo hua...wo ek tarah se sahi hi tha...apne kitne logon ko convert kiya hai unhone"

"Their problem is their upbringing actually...they dont really think like us...alag hain bahut..."

agitated faces...and animated discussions...

"one off?" i ask my friend as we discuss the topic..." not really ...havent you noticed...a lot of conversations steer this way nowadays..."

the memories i take back at this bijoya are disturbing...

starkly thinner crowds...in fact the gun toting policemen seemed to be much more prominent, an air of impending trouble....and a very visible 'us versus them' theme to the celebrations....

maybe its just me....but at least for me....
 
Certainly....not the city i grew up in....not even close to it....