Sadly, we are miles apart with oceans and mountains between us, but she's been a pillar of strength for all of my life (and counting) playing various roles of sibling, subordinate mother, friend, guardian, advisor, partner-in-crime and an ally. Of the most notable, she refined me from a "Mowgli" to a (cleverly disguised) respectable looking citizen with essential social skills, she has pushed me to be bold and daring and she has always been supportive of my tough decisions.
(Left) Shu's sister and (Right) Shu. Aren't I adorable?? Well, not really. The family still testifies that I was a holy terror at that age. Then one day somewhere during adolescence, I was abducted by aliens I think, and later returned to my thankful parents as a good child. Nobody knows what triggered the shift in temperament.
I got the sweet end of the deal, coming in 9 years after her (and no one else between us!) with guaranteed showers of extra attention, love, gifts, free rentals and hand-me-downs. When it came to me, she spent her meagre savings generously so I can have the best of everything she could afford - roasted chicken drumsticks from John Keells and pineapple gateaux from Devon's (a big deal back then), clothes, shoes, visits to the salon and allowances to spend. We even had many animal rescue operations and projects together.
Although I have grown older to about 1.5 times her size in dimensions, she still looks to me like one of her own children and who can complain?! It is really surprising considering I have mass murdered and decapitated most of her dolls, destroyed her story books with scribbles and such, smashed her toys, shattered her social image with public tantrums and even beaten her up, to name some of the gruesome things that Shu junior-the-terror was better known for.
Happy Birthday, Akki and it goes without saying that you are immensely loved!
Speaking of sisters, my parents announced that we have a new baby sister (scroll to the next image). They keep adopting stray animals and children, possibly to fill the void we have left. She is adorable and my parents can't stop talking about her whenever I call them.
Pini Junior suffers from ADHD and has managed to destroy a lot of furniture during the few weeks she has been there
Brought joy n tears to my eyes seeing this pic!! I don't know where you managed to dig it out from :D. It was like a trip about 28yrs back in time and how ironic.... JD is like a repetition of your childhood!! I'm counting days when he would get abducted by the same aliens (fingers crossed it won't be long! :-D..)
ReplyDeleteYou were my pride n joy.. Waited 9yrs to have you n i had to create a kinda protective shield to keep you safe (from you know who!) I couldn't bear to see you experience harsh punishments.. Guess i became the motherly figure over the years! I loved baby sitting you in spite of all the destruction done to my dolls! Loved playing with your imaginary characters "Slaty Aunty" & "Shuddi" as i clearly recall. Well you grew up but you'll still be my baby sister no matter how old you are!! Made me & our family so proud with all the achievements, amazing talents, taking responsibilities n blah blah blah..
Love you loads with all my heart.. Thank you for the best birthday gift ever!!!
Love, Akki.