Big brother, little sister

It’s already mid-October, and the days seem to be outdoing each other, as they run a mad race towards the end of the year.

With every room at home occupied by family members, who are engaged in the virtual world, I find it a challenge to eke out time for a cosy, long chat with my sisters.

I had a sudden free hour this weekend, and decided to video call my sister. Needless to say, it was a rejuvenating call! Midway through the call, my sister turned her phone camera towards my niece, who was sitting on the balcony floor and babbling away, as she played with cloth pegs and a clothes hanger.

As we continued our chat, my sister exclaimed sharply! The skies had suddenly opened up, and it had started raining. My sister asked my niece to come indoors. But the little lady would have none of it. She continued sitting there, her head turned skyward, as she revelled in the feel of raindrops on her face.

My sister tried to lift her physically, but that brought on a loud bawl. As my sister and I laughed, and wondered how we would get her indoors, my nephew happened to pass by.

And, when he realized that his little sister was sitting in the rain and getting wet, he did a very smart thing. He ran to get an umbrella and sat down, holding it over both their heads.

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My heart just melted as I watched this simple act of love. And as I hung up, the big brother continued to talk to his little sister about the rain, and she babbled away in response.

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Little brother, big brother

My little nephew, all of six, keeps his four older cousins on their toes, whenever the whole family meets up during the holidays.

It is fun to watch these four teenagers drop all their eye-rolling and headphone wearing behaviour to play games that my nephew wants. Games that mostly involve buses, cars, airplanes and a lot of role-playing and running around.

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He demands and gets their undivided attention, from the moment he is up everyday till he decides that he’s had enough.

And woe betide the cousin, who slinks away to do teen things. He goes after them and ensures that they get back to being drivers or pilots. But the older kids indulge their little brother every single time. They call him ‘their bundle of cuteness.’

When we all met up during the December holidays last year, my son and my nephew were engaged in playing games the entire morning. By lunch time, my son wanted a break. He pleaded with my nephew, who would not let go, and the boys ended up squabbling.

In just a few minutes, my son walked out and sat down on the couch, with a loud sigh.

My nephew came to me, clutching the right side of his chest and said, “Periamma, you know he (pointing at my son) punched me on my heart.”

My son jumped up to retaliate, “I did not” and then with his eyes narrowed my son said, “By the way your heart is on the left of your body, not the right, so this proves that I did no wrong.”

My nephew looked slightly taken aback, but was not going to back down. Very quickly he shifted his palm and placed it slightly below his right chest and said, “Ok, not my heart, but he punched my right lung.”

The entire household burst out laughing.

And very soon the two brothers made up and disappeared to play.

How quickly time flies.

And, just this week, my little nephew has a baby sister in his life. A tiny, pretty doll, whom he adores.

He has transitioned smoothly from being a little brother to being a big brother. He spends all his free time looking after her, cooing to her and generally showering her with love.

Time flies, kids grow, but our love only gets deeper for little, big brothers and their even tinier sisters.