Sandy ...

I don't know why, but I never had any special liking towards kids in general. I always thought they looked cute in photos but thought kids to be smelly, messy, crying affairs. I never had a way with kids anyways! The only 2 kids that I ever adored, before moving here, were the daughters of maternal uncle - They were active, cute, intelligent and fast to catch up with things.(I was about 10 when then first of them was born) I used to like them a lot. Now they have grown up. Just like they have grown up I have grown older (not old! :) ) too. There was a long gap. In the last few years I had no chance of getting in touch with any kids in the family. So, no "kidding" around. Moving to Pune was great. But a big surprise has sprung up from the most unexpected quarters and a pleasant one as that! My perspective and out-of-sync ideas about kids were about to be tossed out of the window!

Enter Sandy! My nephew. I was in and out of the city a couple of times last December before finally moving in in January this year. During the whole time he was very playful, cheerful and active. Never seen such kids recently. Incidentally the family had to go on vacation the very next week after I moved in. They were out for a couple of weeks. To my surprise I started to miss Sandy! That "toothless" smile of his, His careless shouts that stem out of his utter happiness, his acrobatics when he tries to stand up (he is till 8 months old) ... I missed all that in those 2 weeks. The apartment seemed terribly boring without those kids. Something changed. My perspective changed. The moment I start playing with him I forget that I am a 25 year-old. All my tensions are gone. He made me discover a part of myself with which I was not familiar with. Suddenly kids don't look messy anymore ... I started to like the little mess they create (no problem - It is not a mess anymore!)