. . . When I was sitting in a birthday party arranged for a little kid I didn’t even know, I was just searching for stimuli to relate to. My aunt was thankfully there to give me company. Known faces to her but alien to me, kept passing by, exchanging pleasantries. Suddenly I heard my brother’s name being taken up for discussion. “He is in Pune, designing an Audi car for racing.” No matter how much I despised him thanks to our childhood rivalries, this particular statement made my heart swell with pride. Suddenly in front of my head I saw this motion picture running with images of my childhood memories with my brother flashing right in front of my eyes as if it happened yesterday. Sitting inside his room without him feels quite weird now. The walls of the room ooze his style and temperament and just automatically bring back a lot of memories. Like cat and dog we were throughout my childhood as far as I can remember. We had our share of fights and fun and managed to stay tight. His fascination with my snub nose that turned red every time he pinched it and his obsession with exerting his rights of being elder by eight years and 364 days, always got onto my nerves. But then those were never heavier compared to the weight of protectiveness he showed on me. It was nice to walk around with an elder brother to flaunt to the world.
. . . First cousins we may be, but grow up we did together as siblings J He was the mastermind behind several of my broken toys and wasn’t the apple of my eyes back then. But as they say one realizes the value of something only when it’s gone. It’s only now that I realize that brother and sister are as close as hands and feet. Care, compassion, love, fights, fun, tears are all things that you can share only with a brother and I am happy I had one to share these and more with. A brother is someone you share childhood memories and grown up dreams with. It’s a pleasure having a brother around, someone to lean on, someone to count on, someone to tell on..I’ve always had your image in my head as this lanky big brother who loves bullying me. But now the avenues of your life have broadened and you're going places too. You’ve made me proud. Times may change, situations may change too. I know that no matter what, no matter how the world changes, one sweetly-irritating person won’t.
