Today is Mansha's birthday and for the first time ever in my life.. I didn't wish her at 12.. and while normally I would never dream of inflating her ego, this is my tiny way of making up for forgetting this time.
My first memory of Mansha was when she started school ( I was 3). I remember thinking, "Who is this person and why is she getting everything I want?". (It took me twenty years to realize that it was other way.. I wanted anything Mansha touched but it is a segue we don't yet want to take). I remember Mansha from 5-10 years of age as this crazy boisterous tom-boy. One story that our mom loves to tell is how she taught Mansha, "If I boy hits you, you hit him back. In fact, you come home crying, I'll hit you." This style of parenting shocked the building aunties but mummy stood by it, and Mansha stoutly followed it apparently till Class 10 (another segue that begs taking but I can't take). It probably backfired on Mummy in the future. When Mummy threatened to hit me, I would run around the dining table whaling. And I have this distinct picture of Mansha in her funny nighty, all 12 years of her going, "So you'll hit me. It'll hurt for a bit n then what? ". Lol.. I was blown by this brave kid. Stupid but brave.
Funnily, the most distinct thing that I remember about Mansha from the time we were kids is that she had two ponytails. And that she was popular. From age 5-10, my only nickname in school was "Manisha's Sister". And that wasn't helped at all when she became House Captain. Surprisingly enough, I basked in the glory. Thankfully I wasn't bothered by my own lack of identity and enjoyed the popularity as my own. One thing I didn't enjoy as the little sister was hand me downs. The most annoying thing about shopping with Mansha and Mummy was the line, "you can buy it now, if it doesn't fit, Tinu can use it".. ughh... Mansha, if you hadn't made up for that with your stylish hand me downs now, I would have seriously held that against you. I remember another thing. I was scared of the dark for most of my childhood. So every time I felt thirsty in the night, I would wake up Mansha to come with me to the kitchen and she would actually haul her sleepy butt out of bed to accompany me to the kitchen. And she did this for like 10 years before she decided that 15 was probably old enough to get my own water..lol. Another unfortunately childhood memory is also of Mansha being better at everything! I would paint something and she would paint the same thing much better and I would sing and she would sing better. I hated that. But it totally worked out when I got tons of points for class projects that she helped me with.
Our teenage years were not the best as siblings. I was such a goody two shoes and Mansha was everything but that. She practically defined the term rebel. If we had a 6 pm curfew (yes.. our parents gave us a curfew at 6 pm!), I would start panicking at 5.30, but she had the most sound airtight solution to the situation. "Look, we can't make it before 6 anyways. We are gonna get yelled at. Might as well enjoy another few hours and get yelled at then." Though sound in logic, it really didn't impress me n we would always end up bickering. And she was strong and mean. We had the meanest scariest physical fights ever. But the good part was that if anyone except Mansha touched me, she would unleash her Mansha-ness on them like the plague. It was scary trust me. But there was another side to this Mansha-ness that I enjoy even today as a 26 year old. No matter how ugly or dumb anything I made or tried to make was, she was always my biggest fan. I remember showing her a blog post a while ago and she goes.. you should be a writer.. only Mansha can make me feel good about absolutely anything I create.
I can't talk about our teenage years without mentioning her famous aversion to hugging..lol. I would love to snuggle up against her and sleep.. and she would always brush me off saying that it's too hot. I remember this one time I was low about something and Mansha goes, "Ok, I'll let you chipkofy (literally translated means stick to me) tonight." And I was all excited before she continued, "for five mins".. lolll.. I remember how I would try to bribe her for hugs! (Bob btw is EXACTLY the opposite, he jumps on the bed with all 6 feet something of him smothering me till Mummy comes and pushes him scared that I might die. Thankfully Mummy solves the situation by letting Bob and me hug her on either side and Mansha stretches and basks in all her space).
Today, Mansha is a rockstar to me. Nobody can rock an outfit like she can and I still like anything that she possesses. Anything that I hate, the minute Mansha uses it, I feel like I'll buy it back for twice the price. As we've grown older, I know she and I are very different personalities. We've almost switched roles where I am now way more easy going than I was and she's way more responsible. But we are still best friends. I feel like I wanna fill in every cliche ever about siblings being the first friends you make etc. etc. It's all true Mani. You are AWESOME and I am sooooo happy that you are my sis.
Funnily, the most distinct thing that I remember about Mansha from the time we were kids is that she had two ponytails. And that she was popular. From age 5-10, my only nickname in school was "Manisha's Sister". And that wasn't helped at all when she became House Captain. Surprisingly enough, I basked in the glory. Thankfully I wasn't bothered by my own lack of identity and enjoyed the popularity as my own. One thing I didn't enjoy as the little sister was hand me downs. The most annoying thing about shopping with Mansha and Mummy was the line, "you can buy it now, if it doesn't fit, Tinu can use it".. ughh... Mansha, if you hadn't made up for that with your stylish hand me downs now, I would have seriously held that against you. I remember another thing. I was scared of the dark for most of my childhood. So every time I felt thirsty in the night, I would wake up Mansha to come with me to the kitchen and she would actually haul her sleepy butt out of bed to accompany me to the kitchen. And she did this for like 10 years before she decided that 15 was probably old enough to get my own water..lol. Another unfortunately childhood memory is also of Mansha being better at everything! I would paint something and she would paint the same thing much better and I would sing and she would sing better. I hated that. But it totally worked out when I got tons of points for class projects that she helped me with.
 |
| Typical me and typical Mansha |
Our teenage years were not the best as siblings. I was such a goody two shoes and Mansha was everything but that. She practically defined the term rebel. If we had a 6 pm curfew (yes.. our parents gave us a curfew at 6 pm!), I would start panicking at 5.30, but she had the most sound airtight solution to the situation. "Look, we can't make it before 6 anyways. We are gonna get yelled at. Might as well enjoy another few hours and get yelled at then." Though sound in logic, it really didn't impress me n we would always end up bickering. And she was strong and mean. We had the meanest scariest physical fights ever. But the good part was that if anyone except Mansha touched me, she would unleash her Mansha-ness on them like the plague. It was scary trust me. But there was another side to this Mansha-ness that I enjoy even today as a 26 year old. No matter how ugly or dumb anything I made or tried to make was, she was always my biggest fan. I remember showing her a blog post a while ago and she goes.. you should be a writer.. only Mansha can make me feel good about absolutely anything I create.
I can't talk about our teenage years without mentioning her famous aversion to hugging..lol. I would love to snuggle up against her and sleep.. and she would always brush me off saying that it's too hot. I remember this one time I was low about something and Mansha goes, "Ok, I'll let you chipkofy (literally translated means stick to me) tonight." And I was all excited before she continued, "for five mins".. lolll.. I remember how I would try to bribe her for hugs! (Bob btw is EXACTLY the opposite, he jumps on the bed with all 6 feet something of him smothering me till Mummy comes and pushes him scared that I might die. Thankfully Mummy solves the situation by letting Bob and me hug her on either side and Mansha stretches and basks in all her space).
Today, Mansha is a rockstar to me. Nobody can rock an outfit like she can and I still like anything that she possesses. Anything that I hate, the minute Mansha uses it, I feel like I'll buy it back for twice the price. As we've grown older, I know she and I are very different personalities. We've almost switched roles where I am now way more easy going than I was and she's way more responsible. But we are still best friends. I feel like I wanna fill in every cliche ever about siblings being the first friends you make etc. etc. It's all true Mani. You are AWESOME and I am sooooo happy that you are my sis.
No comments:
Post a Comment