Dear Piya,
Allow me to share something with you, about the human nature, today.
When facing two specimens of the same species, it is natural for the human mind to look for similarities & differences, between the two.
How one looks different from the other.
How one acts differently from the other.
How different their reactions are to a stimulus.
How different their likes, dislikes, temperament, movements, expressions, sounds, tantrums, sleep times, poop styles, etc. are.
Okay, now would be a good time to share that I am not really talking about two specimens, here.
You are right.
I am talking about my two kids - You & your baby brother.
And yes, the human unable to escape their inevitable difference-observing-nature is your old lady here.
Before you take offense, let me clarify that I am not judging any one of you two.
If anything, I am amazed at how different two siblings can be!
You share the same DNA, and yet, I distinctly remember having greater dark circles witn you than I have now with Vivaan.
I also know for a fact that I felt like you were a football player trying to make a goal every other minute, while I was expecting you, while Vivaan made me put a kick-counter-app in my phone to keep track of his movements.
Your cries could make the neighbours lose sleep, and Vivaan needs me to check up on him again & again, just in case I missed his soft cries.
Okay, I may be judging you a little...
But just as I realise that I am, I get reminded of how the silence without you around, tends to make me feel listless.
I also know that I keep waiting for you to come back from school so that I can see your goofy smile as you speak non-stop about all the things that I did not ask about
I wish I had your energy-level so as to feel more alive, instead of being this bed-hugging person I have become.
Here is when the compare & contrast between my two kids kicks in again.
You keep me on my toes, while Vivaan makes me sit down.
You instill me with energy, while he makes me meditate.
You add sounds to my speech, while he add the much needed pauses.
You are like dancing in the rain, while he is like making sandcastles on the beach.
You are my heartbeat.
While he is my breath.
You are my Treble.
And he, my Bass.
In this musical of my life, I cannot have one without the other.
And that is what makes my life complete...
Love,
Maa.
P.S. Vivaan is a little shy of three-months-old. I wonder if I have written this letter ahead of its time. I also wonder if you two will have a good laugh, in case he grows up to be cut from the same cloth as you.
May I have the strength I need to survive the avalanche, then.
