As I sit down to write this, I can't believe how hard it is to put into words what I feel about the two most important persons in my world. So these words convey only a fraction of how much I actually love you.
When I look back, the last 24 years seem to have gone in a haze of activity that is normal for a growing child – books, exams, new schools, new friends. Only when I dig deeper do I see the moments that were consistent during all these years and yet did not get the importance they deserve in my memory.
Sometimes I regret that I did not take the time to pause some of those moments and watch what was actually happening. Like when I was getting ready to go to school, I did not remember to feel thankful to you daddy, for tying my shoelaces while mummy was pinning a folded handkerchief to my uniform. I did not remember to be thankful for the fact that no matter where we were, my birthday would be a grand celebration with mummy making puri and chole for my hundreds of crazy friends. There are thousands of such moments where I wish someone had tapped on my shoulder and told me how lucky I was.
Every time we shifted to a new place, it brought for me the struggle of adjusting into a new home, a new school, making new friends etc. But when mummy makes the first dinner in the new house, of tomato pappu, and egg burji; and we eat sitting on the floor amid the unpacked boxes of furniture, at that moment I know that not everything has changed. That no matter where I go, those four square feet of space will give me a sense of comfort like no other.
Perhaps I was too young to see my character shape into the person that I am now. And while I was busy studying, playing and living my life, slowly the foundations of my personality were being laid, each brick being placed with careful thought. Today I stand as a testament to your upbringing, filled with lots of kisses and a few, very gentle, bruises! I have learnt how to lead my life by watching you leading yours, and for me it seems very simple to live with peace, truth and integrity.
When children are growing up they are influenced most by two types of people – their friends, and their mentors. Children are lucky if they have a friend they can open their heart to, and an idol who they aspire to be like. I found my best friend in you, mummy, and I don't think I have hesitated to share anything with you. Sometimes in your soothing voice, there would be valuable advice on how to deal with situations. At others, I would be comforted just by hiding my face in your lap knowing that come what may, you will always be there for me.
Daddy, you have been more than just a great father to me. Without even realising it, I tried to copy everything you did, the way you talk, the way you stand, thinking it would make me a person like you. If I am even partly similar to you, I consider it an accomplishment. I must be the luckiest person in the world, because while I have made so many friends throughout my life, my two best friends live with me in my house.
I wish I had another chance to revisit those wonderful childhood moments and inscribe them in my memory forever. Sadly, life is unforgiving and I would have to be satisfied with the memories that I have. Fortunately, many more wonderful times lie ahead and I won't let of any of them slip out of the reach of my unreliable memory this time!
Although for me these 25 years have themselves been a celebration of our family's strength, convention demands that today we celebrate the journey of you two as a couple. When you met for the first time on the steps of Birla Mandir in 1984, little did you know that a new story was being written that was going to shape the destinies of not just two individuals but two whole families. Since then, you have shared happiness and sorrow, raised a daughter who wasn't always the easiest to handle, and made your own special memories.
When I see you both today, I am filled with pride at the comfort that you share with each other. I see that the two souls that came together long ago are no longer separate. They have merged together and it is not possible to see one without the other. More than anything, I am grateful to have seen an example of a wonderful marriage right in my home.
Today as a grown up, I know, well I pretend to know, how to deal with my relationships, my successes and failures. But to tell you a secret, I am still a little girl at heart, who needs her mom to comfort her that everything is fine, and her dad to pick her up in his strong arms and rock her to sleep on his shoulder. My world, my little land of happiness begins and ends in the four square feet of space around you two.
