Diary

Tomorrow is my 35th birthday and I was hoping to spend some time with my cousin brother who was scheduled to be in Singapore. He is Chief Engineer on a ship and we met couple of weeks back as well, when he was stopping over in Singapore on his way to China. We were very close and all our childhood we spent lot of time together, but since then the pressures of professional life have kept us apart for a while. Infact I met him couple of weeks back after a gap of almost 5-6 years. He is globe trotting on his ship and I have been out of India for almost 7 years now, so it was difficult to find common spots on calendar. The good thing now is, he will be stopping over by Singapore often and even for few hours we will get a chance to meet and catch up.

But he surprised me today, as his ship was ahead of the planned schedule and he was in town for today. We went out for a lunch together and spent couple of hours before he returned to his ship, set to sail tonight. He gifted me a new shirt on my birthday, an early present. It just feels so nice to have an elder brother; it’s like finding a roof on your head. You feel protected and wanted with the warmth and affection he displayed. It was a very welcome change from fighting it all alone as always.. I was extremely happy to see him around and meet him and spend few moments remembering the family, childhood and fun times we used to have growing together. We all get so caught up in our daily life, we hardly reflect on who we are, how we traveled to today and all the fun we had in past. My journey was full of people, memories, love & affection from the extended family. It all seems to be left behind in this “Rat” race of life. Not that I am no having fun today, it is different from the childhood days and those are golden memories.

It was nice to take a pause just a day before the birthday and reflect. Thanks Bhaiya for stopping by and catching up - it meant a lot. Let me hit the bed now, as when I will get up tomorrow I will be older by a year J Good night.