Happy Birthday Darlings

My Darling Duos

It’s your Birthday today, and it so happens that just at the moment when I was wondering what special thing can I do for my sweethearts on their special day, and that too sitting nearly 5000 Kms away from both of them , Hrishikesh’s prompt on Unsent Letters is up…and can you believe whom we have to write to this time …to our siblings …or more precisely to someone with whom we share an invisible bond … Isn't it surreal…

Words … we never needed that medium to feel or express the love we have for each other..it has been there for us …invisible and unsaid from the time we did not even know it existed. Growing up would not have been so much fun if not with the both of you.

My childhood memories would have been colourless, insipid and dull if they were not full of all the mischief, the drama, the strong held secrets, the frowns, the squabbles, the fights, the laughter, the togetherness we shared. I feel so blessed with both of you around. I don’t want to be modest … I know I have the best brothers in the whole world ..and it is definitely not a cliché because with so many years behind me now I have seen quite a few good ,bad and average brothers and I know that my “Double Pack” is simply the BEST!!!

God was super happy with me some good years back, and so he  decided to present me with the best “Double Deal” he had ever made …he sent me two angels...bundled in one gift wrap. The only grudge I have against him is that he could not hold his excitement for some 3-4 years more. I would have loved to be big enough to receive both of you in my lap… But as HE would have it, I was just a year old when we met J

But that’s OK. He has compensated in many ways after that. I have been so lucky to have been able to spend whole of my childhood and almost all my years till now with both of you around. I may have never told you, but you are the “Colgate Suraksha Chakra” for me … Despair, sadness, sorrow, darkness …nothing ever succeeded to cross that protection cover and reach me.

So on my special day, let me tell you few of the happy memories that we share and that I hold very close to my heart. Memories I cherish and relive constantly …

TV Smashers – You remember the day when we would have been 4-5 years old, and Ma had left us in the room and was busy in the kitchen. And the naughty trio decided to clean up the whole place. And after putting everything in its place, the only thing that was distracting us was that loose black wire that ran right in the center of the room. And so we, the smart kids, decided to make it tight. Instantly we knew what needed to be done. Confidently, we put a cloth across the wire and all three of us together started pulling it. And SMASHHHHHH came the sound and our Black and While TV set was on the floor. Ofcourse what followed was an even bigger noise of Ma screaming at us and cursing her fate to have been blessed with heavenly kids like us.  As soon as she left I remember our rejoice, as we knew that now what will follow will be a coloured TV replacement. 

Door Bell Kids – Those summer vacation afternoons when we had nothing much exciting left to do, we would venture out in the neighborhood, and ring door bells for all the aunties we did not like. I am still to figure out a better thrill. Imagining the all-the-time-ready-to-fight aunts , getting up from their siesta and coming to the door and not finding anybody is so appeasing till date

Glass Breakers – Every time any one of us broke a glass it was the most dreaded moment. Breaking the glass was OK, but breaking this news to Ma …unimaginable. I still remember how much we shivered telling Ma that one of her  glass set is no longer complete. And so it became a highly confidential and strongly held secret between the three of us. And more than that it was a strategic weapon to blackmail each other and get those undue favors like the last cookie in the box, or that extra Maggie.

Remote Fighters – Watching television is so much less fun now, when I am staying alone. No one to change the channel, no one to hide the remote and no one to switch off the main power switch for the TV to not let the other one watch their favorite show.

Kutta Billi Bhalu – And this one is my favorite. I remember three of us were ferociously fighting over something when Ma came and in her cant-take-it-any-more tone shouted on us ..”Kutta Billi Bhalu ki Tarah Ladte ho tum log” (You all fight like cats,dogs and bears) and the moment she left the scene, all three of us very seriously started contemplating that according to her who was who. And finally I being the elder one concluded, since I am the bigger one I am “Bhalu” (Bear), Archit is the sweet one, so he is “Billi” (Cat) and Rochit being the naughtier he is “Kutta” (Dog)

There are so many more memories that I cherish … the memories of growing up, the memories of affection, the memories of togetherness …  all those are special and colourful only because they have both of you in them. I am what I am today because I have grown up in a particular way. And I have grown up in every sense only with both of you. My sensitivities, my sensibilities, my values, my virtues, my vices, my will, my ambition and my strength all comes from both of you.

On this day, like any other day, I thank the Almighty to have blessed me with brothers like you…I wish you abundance in life … and abundance never comes from outside. It is always within. I wish both of you always feel happy and good about wherever you reach in life and whatever you do. In light as in Darkness, the only assurance and the only permanence that I offer you is my hand. It will always be with you. Not to guide you or protect you, because  I know you don’t need it. Only to be Together.

Love Always

Shiva

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This is written for a prompt Unsent Letters at Write Tribe.