From Dawn To Dusk

 A childhood without a sibling, is like cola without fizz, a cake without sugar. A sibling is the only enemy you cannot live without. By definition, siblings are the offsprings of the same progenitor, who are immaculately normal unless they get together. They come from the same womb, listen to the same heartbeats, same blood yet become a sweet pain in the neck which you get addicted to until you grow up and take different paths in life.

Whenever you think of your early years, the first image that crosses your mind is that of your sibling. A sibling is a lens through which you see your childhood. You never grow old with siblings on your side, you just grow up. You know each other since you started knowing your own self. Siblings live outside a touch of time, in each other's heart.No matter how far they go and how different paths they take in the journey of life the starting points of the journey would always be the same .

 As a four-year-old child, I could never understand why my mother was getting fatter and fatter with each passing day, till one day she showed up with a little new entrant in the clan-"My Brother".Everyone was happy on his arrival except me.

His entry had challenged my authority and monopoly over my parents. I could not take it so easily, so a deal was made, anything which is my favorite would not be shared with him like ice-creams chocolates, mangoes, he would be served only roti sabzi. This assurance slowly made me accept him. Little did I know at that time that he would be the one who would be teaching me the lesson of sharing.

With the passage of time, we were interwoven, he became an integral part of me. His first step in his first fall, his first words are all fossiled in my mind and eventually, his first murmur became my nickname. These are all timeless treasures that are ingrained in my memory, and even after four decades of life, they candidly dance in front of my eyes and transport me to those childhood days.

Those long Tom and Jerry chases, those Maggie Tuesdays and Saturdays, That running away with scooter or cycle of anyone who would drop at our house. Climbing the trees and eating guavas from neighbors' gardens. Playing pranks by throwing eggs. Those cats and dogs fights

Oh, the list is endless to conclude in this lifetime.

"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined to strengthen each other to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories"

George Eliot.

Dear Brother, "You are the keeper of my identity, the only person who has access to my unconstrained self."

You were with me in the dawn of my personal stories and I pray that you are at my side till the inevitable dusk of my life.