meenu mehrotra

it was a feeling i had never experienced before but one for which i had waited too long.

the birth of my brother’s child and to watch my parents become dada-dadi(grandparents) after so long. to have a niece and become a bua(aunt) was a never-felt emotion.

so now as i watch her play, myriad emotions run through me. joy, laughter,pride,affection…tears -the collage just keeps growing, fitting in the various feelings seamlessly.

a tiny, fragile creature becoming the centre of everyone’s universe. even my fourteen year old son and eight year old daughter respond to her with a seamless affection i had never seen them express.it fills my heart with pride and joy undoubtedly to see the compassionate and loving side of my kids. to watch them shower all their love on the little bundle of joy and react to her tiniest smirk,faintest smile, loudest cry for hunger or attention ,the instinctive opening and closing of her eyelids and the soft gazing through her dark, black eyes…oh! it all makes us swoon with happiness.

and i wonder how the entry of an angel in our lives have affected us so deeply.the way my parents enjoy her and just to watch them play gives me a sense of deep relief. their old age has been lit up bright with yashita and it makes me love her even more.

her presence has also made me look at my brother as a father. my kid brother is now a father and it amuses me to see him play with his child as  if he always knew how to like the back of his hand.there is no inherent awkwardness of a new father; either in his affection nor in his responses to the child’s changing moods. it seems to come naturally to him.

little tender hands and feet,  innocent eyes, gurgling sounds…the world of a child brings alive the world of us adults, re-shaping it with a new flavour and leaves it changed forever. isn’t it?

till next time

take care