NEPENTHE

sister

Some terms in the Malayalam language that might need clarification....

Uppa- father

Umma - mother

Thaatha - elder sister

Happy birthday, Noureen!!!!!

You are talking to your sister.

She's talking about her day at school. About how she learnt in physics about gravitation and Ray optics. About chemistry. Of mitochondria and dicot roots. You listen to her, marvelling at the maturity behind her words. Her kind heart. Her lovely smile.

And then you start remembering.....

You remember you were 6 and your mother held her out to you, all swaddled in a little blanket- a pink, chubby little newborn and you remember thinking how tiny she was.....

You remember waiting patiently by the side of her cradle, waiting for her to wake up so that you could play with her......

You remember the pure joy you felt when she called you, 'Thaatha' for the very first time....

You remember running out of the room, yelling, 'Uppa!Umma! Come quick, she's walking!!!!'

You remember teaching her to write ABCDEFG on a black slate with a white chalk....

You remember feeling proud when she went to kindergarten with plaited hair and the cutest school uniform ever.....

You remember singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star again and again and again...

You remember the little fights you had together...

You remember dancing like maniacs to Justin Timberlake songs and always getting the lyrics wrong....

You remember fighting for the remote control....

You remember explaining The Whiplash effect to her after watching The Amazing Spiderman 2.

And now you look over at the beautiful, mature person she is now, and you feel a small ache in your heart. Because she grew up so fast. From a pink, chubby newborn to the smart young lady before you.

She snaps a finger at you.

'Thaatha, are you listening?'

And you say, 'Yes!'.

First of all...... Please forgive me. I haven't been able to write for a long time because of my hectic schedule and I am sorry. Will try harder to update more often... Tha