Memoirs of a Brahmin boy

well I just had a small little argument with my little one (my sister) and we just patched up...i guess its the culmination of a long 5 day ordeal that we have been going through. Right from preparing for the Poonal to getting the guests out of the way its been one long and tiring weekend/vacation.

Ok! so the Srinivasan family had gathered over the past 5 days for the poonal of Chi Neeraj Ravi. As in for the threading ceremony of my cousin. The holy thread called the poonal is like an ID proof of your brahmin/Iyer boy status. It also is a abstinence belt in the sense that you have to abstain from alcohol, Non vegetarian food, and in general normal human behavior once you take this up....its like a cage which you are put in, BUT I have always been a rebel and see this thread as not more than a easy way to scratch your back lol. The core importance of the thread is that as per hindu shastras (or atleast TamBram Shastras) you are not allowed to light the pyre of your parents if you are not threaded...thats one crazy thing...

coming back to the three days of madness and mayhem, I met all my extended family after a really long time. By Extended I really mean Extended...All my relatives that I haven't seen in the past 10 years came around for this and it was one great ocassion. I admit, I was sceptical about wanting to see all of them but then the scepticism lasted only as long as I saw the faces of the first set of relatives to arrive... Thats the first lesson I learnt!

Lesson#1 : You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape their love!

I realized how happy i was to see them, How much I had missed talking to them and how engrossed we all had become in our mundane lives! The first person that came to my mind when i met my relatives was a dear friend of mine who has sooo many relatives she always tells me that it is so much fun chilling with the folks but i realized it when I met my own after a while......too much fun....thanks to that friend for leading me to trust my folks... :).....

Amongst one of my relatives was my Grand dad's younger brother...my grand pa is 87 and his brother is 86.... WOW! now...why am i saying this??? its becoz when I saw them meet each other..i realized how important or beautiful sibling bonding can be...

lesson #2: Enjoy every minute with your siblings...you might not live upto 87 to continue this phase ;)

I could see how happy my grand pa was to see his brother and i realized how wonderful their bond was...they are 80 something and barely meet now due to his brother staying in jabalpur but then they still care! I was just savoring that moment when a little boy came in and intruded my thoughts...this bugger was the son of my cousin/uncle Shankar...his name Vignesh....

I started talking to him and chilling with him and I realized that I love this guy...ok now stop racing your horses...this young guy is all of 3 years in age and is a darling....It was love at first sight with this kid and we hit it off like a house on fire...I pampered my nephew/brother as much as I could and he enjoyed it too...i felt like a proud parent and I thought he was my son...atleast I loved him like my own :D... everytime he would call my bro "appa" i would feel happy! thats when it dawned...

Lesson #3: Every human being has a parent hidden somewhere inside...you just need some1 to get it out ;)

..however our meeting lasted only for 3 days...i dropped him off at the station and thats when I realized..I missed him already while I was just outside the station....it hurt...it pained..his smiile and his laugh would trouble me for a while..it still is as I write this blog but I love him and I am already hoping I can see him again! I neve rthought I would be attached to a kid so much!!!! this is the most important leasson

Lesson #4: Seperation in any form is painful!!

I never realized it till this boy! I lost my dad it hurt and I learned to live with it. Sooner than I had expected...I didn't think this boy would get me addicted....but I know that I will eventually move on....I have to so that I can lead a normal life...eventually he will become just another boy! but a special one!

Lesson #5: Life is all about moving on....cherish old memories nad create newer ones every second for you to cherish in the future....

I am sure that this realization will dawn upon each one of us sooner or later and we will all learn to live in peace with ourselves without trying to contest stark realities of life for no use!