Tuesday, November 16, 2004

sisters act

To prove that I meant no nonsense, I scaled our bookshelf to the last millimetre chalked it and told her to use her own side. We fought like cats and dogs and when dad in anger said, " I will marry you two sisters one to the south-pole and the other to the north-pole" I was terribly happy.
I thought that I would be relieved of her poking her nose everywhere, where it did not belong. My privacy, my room, my life was under her scrutiny always. Infact there was nothing called mine and mine alone in the house. We shared a double bed, two study tables, which she joined again to make them one, cupboards, brothers, mummy, daddy.

I hated the fact that I had to pick her discarded dresses sometimes even when they were pretty and still new or that I had to play with her used dolls other than my Barbie. I waited for the day when I would grow taller than her and look down on her but Gods and the entire universe seem to have a cosmic conspiracy against me and it has never happened:-)
Her way of reducing me to a mule was by uttering,"You kiddo, don't act smart. I saw the sun and the moon much before you" There, I was insulted and would lament for hours. The higher authorities like my big brothers and parents often left my appeal or my cry for SOS unheard. She even told me that I was adopted as I came floating in the river. I really thought it was the truth and asked everybody. My brothers played along and said, it was the truth. I had to wait the whole day for parents to come home and ask if I was adopted.
She was someone I didn’t want to be. I wanted to do everything my brothers did. Wanted to wear bermudas, ride BMX cycles or stand behind one, gell my hair or fix it and play cricket with them even if the only time they allowed me was to run and fetch a stray ball, (injustice here again :-< )come back and sleep without having a wash. She would beat me and I would cry sometimes till someone else scolded her.

She laughed at my chapattis, which looked like the Indian Map or tasted like papad while hers would be a perfect full moon. She forced me to take turns and do the morning puja and other religious obligations. She ran behind me in the big compound tirelessly and taught me to ride the bicycle. She knew my Maths and finished all my SUPW assignments too.

Once she gave me her new dress to wear for a birthday party even before she wore it once. Seldom ate without me and somehow knew what upset me even when parents failed. I don’t know what was there in us; somehow we always took sides when we were at war with other siblings. She loved showing me off to her friends too and got me lots of gifts.

With all the nagging and scolding, my sister taught me to be a girl and what it was to share.

Yesterday, we argued for half an hour over the phone. I laughed to myself later and missed the old times.

37 comments:

Unknown said...

It is nice to have sisters.Atleast have someone to fight,play, talk about,Go shopping, endless task :).Many time we shy to discuss, share moments with brothers. Shopping with brothers, No never.

I always dreamt I had one sister. fought with mom too :)). Story of adoption is very common in every family.

Sathish N said...

cool down Aru..

y do u take ur sis/bro seriously.. it's fun to hav sis n bro... Talk 2 a guy/gal whoz single in his/her family.. U'ill know d value of sis n bros ;)

Stone said...

poignant!!
loved the SUPW assigments part :-)

Arunima said...

oi Satz, I cherish my siblings. I never wanted to be an only child. I am just recalling those feelings i harnessed when i was a kid with sweet nostalgia.

Anbu said...

wonderful post.real tribute to ur sis.incidents mentioned sp adoption one were quite interesting.

shub said...

:((
i know how that feeks...i miss TWO siters, buddies....soulmates..evrything!

Anonymous said...

Hi.
Thanks for dropping by my blog. Glad you liked it. And I like yours, too. :-)
There - a footprint of mine, to go with yours. :-)

Non-Sensei

Akruti said...

Hi arunima,nice post,SUPW,went back to the memory lane,and all the relations with brothers and sis r like what u feel dear.i can just say there r 100's of times when i say i hate my brother but i love him the most in this world.and that adopted wala part brought back my childhood memories,good way dear,can i add u to my list of fav.
keep smiling

Anonymous said...

hi arunim,

i still fight with my bro somehow we dont get along well, nothing like the last paragraph of ur post that would actually erase all the fights many physical...dunno y but it was much more than sibling rivalry....

thanks for dropping by my page
s i am from bangalore...
studying near mangalore

sathya
techwiz.rediffblogs.com

Surinder said...

beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful :) ...

and me miss my sis too :( ..

now ... me go meet her .. and my twin nieces :D

Srini said...

So So beautiful ! :) I fight a lot with my bro too ! And there are so many such stories also !

Srini

Dreamcatcher said...

Hey read your post ..deja vu huh we do think the same...
my sis left last saturday and ur post makes me miss her even more..
:)

Dreamcatcher said...

Hey read your post ..deja vu huh we do think the same...
my sis left last saturday and ur post makes me miss her even more..
:)

Ubermensch said...

ah sisterssssssss

Calvin said...

well, you only love her all the more now for all that she did then?! :-))

Oneirodynic said...

Hm...i found myself thinking about the times with my brother....good post.

I still think its harder to make a 'Indian Map' chappathi than a 'Full Moon' chappathi :-)

Arunima said...

Neelima, it would be an honour. please do it:-)

@vishnu: yes, I am extremely talented. Indian Map chapattis are more difficult to make. why didn't i know this before? ;-)

Hemanshu, you are gonna make me feel like crying buddy. Think it this way, your parents were really concerned about the socio-economic development of the country and did their part. They made a big sacrifice for the country;-)

manuscrypts said...

you also floated down a river!! i was slightly more sadistic..hehe.. used the 'sewer' for my sis!! LOL

Romila said...

Nostalgic one, the delightful post coupled with the equally delightful comments made interesting reading. I say ur blog has transformed from just Arunima's blog to "Arunima's & frens blog". Great vivacious place like ur own self.

Arunima said...

thanks Sudarshan.

Yep, Manu, they said so:-) thank God it was the river n not the sewer.

Romila, I thrive on the comments sometimes when I am really down n need to cheer up. Tanks to you too for dropping by:-)

RS said...

And where is your sister now? And I know Prasanna too. Yay, we have common friends!

Pallavi said...

I will not know this and I shall always have this regret of being the only child... sure nice to have someone to fight and laugh with !!!

Yours Truly said...

Arunima,
What a post. I too am very close to my sister, and missed her like hell, when she went to hostel. While reading your blog, everything came rushing back. Good that you are using the best possible use of telephone. :-) Keep it up! ;-)

Arunima said...

yup Hemanshu, friends sort of make up for it.

ok, another shot. u got the best of everything. I had to make do with second hand stuffs too ;-)

ok, may you have many kids! lol

Thanks Alka, I make good use of the phone.

John said...

Nice post .. It reminds me of my Diwali fight with my Sis .

-Kevin

Calvin said...

yup, gotta agree there.. friends come into the picture when one doesn't have any siblings!

Arunima said...

me got lotta frens and lotta siblings yayy yaaay !

Anonymous said...

hey! wht abt the punishment types homework- 100 lines of " i will not talk in class" done surreptiously? and the indulgent over the top gift from the first salary?
you brought back a lot of memories! great post!
austere
n thanks for droppin by :)

josh said...

Will you be my sis? No, serious.

Arunima said...

oh yes, Joshua.

josh said...

Thanks and first hugs! Well this is what I posted to your August entry you sent me : The joy of being a woman. I guess men need to respect the feeling. I admire your sensitivity, Aroo. (Hello Anonymous, saw your advice on blogging too. Does one need to blog short? Well, read this : http://pjnet.org/weblogs/pjnettoday/archives/000472.html Your expression matters most, Anonymous. Not the stupid rules. Ethics? Now I'm smiling, Anon.) Your entry: http://arunima.blogspot.com/2004/08/bangalore-to-hyderabadand-god-made-us.html

Calvin said...

hey arunima.. you have a lot of blogging to do!! how are things looking on your career-change front? and how about the 'kama-salsa' classes? :-))

Arunima said...

Joshua, thanks a lot. I never follow any ethics anyway.
Saurabh, u gave me ideas buddy, yaaay!

Hemanshu, :-) new post loading...

Braveheart said...

Now thats a nice post. I wish you start with fiction. Fiction helps you get over yourself and cross those boundaries you were born with. It helps to discover yourself.

And dont make me remind you that you have the potential to do that :D

Well, do you also happen to be a scorpio by sunsign like all other good female bloggers? Well, I know Hima stands very tall for the taureans, but she is quite lonely ;)

Akshaya

Arunima said...

braveheart, I am capricornian. Smart and practical:-)

I don't know if the definition of the above two words has changed after i became a capri.

Braveheart said...

No definition can change because of one person. Sunsigns anyway dont rule your complete personality. They only define your soul.

Btw, as I dont lie, let me tell you that I am yet to meet a capri girl whom I like in any way. But I never let the sunsign rule my affinity to anyone either ;)

So now I know one good female caapri blogger :p

Akshaya

Crush said...

that was sweeeeeet! really!!!
i still do it...its fun...too bad you are missin it :p