There is absolutely nothing like have a sibling. I have an elder brother, and this is our story. When we were younger the 2 yr age difference seemed huge but now in our late 20's not so much. Playing boardgames, attempting anything remotely to do with sports or even arguing is just not the same without him. One of the earliest memories was when I'd barely learnt to speak in English and I strung the words 'Get' and 'Lost', and directed this message to him. And that's where a lifetime bond was forged between us. It was all uphill from there (or so I'd like to think now).
Some random memories that come to mind:
- 'A' made me strong and tough. Being a huge fan of WWF he needed a guinea pig to practice all he learnt from the likes of Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan and who better than yours truly. Though the moves did come in handy when we got into physical fights ourselves! When these fights didn't end we resolved to our very own tie breaker. Got wet towels and made them into sort of a gadda (the kind that bhima used in maahbharata) swung them at each other and first one to fall lost. For those unfamiliar to this trust me it hurts as hell !!
- He made childhood interesting for me. He was an imaginative child who made the most of somewhat limited resources. We used to record narrating agatha christie books in an audio player complete with different voice overs for poirot and ms marple, different sound effects and tried to make it as professional as possible. I now know what we did was merely an audio book but then it seemed like something truly revolutionary and unheard of. Seemed so brilliant that we thought to market it too, that plan was however soon discarded because of lack of funds...sigh.
- Whenever we met up with other cousins over holidays he was always the one to invent new games to play. Plain jane hide-n-seek didn't interest us, it had to be played with higher stakes and wackier rules. I still remember his reinvention of soft ball to become this combination of charades, dog and the bone and whatnot that actually become too complicated to even play. This continued in the kitchen. He was always more interested in cooking than I was, but never in the plain dal sabzi...no siree! He dabbled in the more exotic stuff (seemed exotic enough then) spanish omlettes and mirchi maggi. It's true- Life was anything but dull !
- Taught me some key lessons of life- such as negotiation and enterprise. The different seasons brought different flavours of fun on school campus such as collecting and playing for marbles, trading stickers/trump cards etc. He used to collect his meager possessions and think hard on who to scam and how to complete our collections. I have still not forgiven him for trading my asterix collection for the esteemed tiger marbles.
- Not being extremely bright at studies we were subject to strict TV watching guidelines and restrictions. And when our parents stepped out was the one time we joined hands to become partners in crime. We took turns at watching TV while the other had to stand guard at the different windows to check signs of returning parents. This involved meticulous planning to leave the remote at exactly the same channel and place we had picked it up from. In retrospect this everyday antic of ours brought us closer in our warring times.
- My dread for winters started early but for entirely the different reasons. We used to have this huge quilt put on top of us which made it barely possible to move underneath it. This was the time of the first gulf war when 'A' would fart inside the quilt squealing delightedly, 'George Bush just fired a massive missle' and try to fan the fart airs on me. Pinned under the quilt I couldn't duck and had to endure the smells. I swear this is the kind of stuff that has scarred me for life !
- He was and still is a big fan of all mythology stories especially Ramayana. What made ramayana fun for him was when Ravan came on screen, slapped his thighs and laughed his thundering laugh. He was totally awed and amused by Ravana and used to wait for him in the episode. Younger and not understanding the morale behind the story it took me a while to understand that Ravana is actually the bad guy!
- A had got bit by a white german shepherd and this was around the time I watched my first werewolf movie. I somehow got this notion that my brother will also become a dog, now that he's been bitten by one. I started becoming cautious around him and glancing over my shoulders when he came an inch close to me. Whenever our parents were not around I refused to be in the same room as him and would go hide under the bed. Things got out of control and he went crying to our parents saying, 'Dish doesn't love me anymore and won't play with me'. It took a while for me to fathom difference between reel and real but we spent a happy weekend playing together soon after. This is probably the kind of moronic behavior that has made him the strong resilient character he is today.
- Before you feel sorry for him, let me tell you, he got his own back in his own subtle manner. At a tender age when i was just about understanding what is happening around me he convinced me that the entire world is in my mind and everybody - him, mummy, papa are all figments of my imagination and that they disappear when I exit a room. I used to dart in and out of rooms and breathe a sigh of relief to see everyone still there. I should be given an award for not having to undergo counselling because of this !
So you see, there were great times, and times we wanted to maul each other. This is the stuff that memories are made of.And trauma.
Some random memories that come to mind:
- 'A' made me strong and tough. Being a huge fan of WWF he needed a guinea pig to practice all he learnt from the likes of Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan and who better than yours truly. Though the moves did come in handy when we got into physical fights ourselves! When these fights didn't end we resolved to our very own tie breaker. Got wet towels and made them into sort of a gadda (the kind that bhima used in maahbharata) swung them at each other and first one to fall lost. For those unfamiliar to this trust me it hurts as hell !!
- He made childhood interesting for me. He was an imaginative child who made the most of somewhat limited resources. We used to record narrating agatha christie books in an audio player complete with different voice overs for poirot and ms marple, different sound effects and tried to make it as professional as possible. I now know what we did was merely an audio book but then it seemed like something truly revolutionary and unheard of. Seemed so brilliant that we thought to market it too, that plan was however soon discarded because of lack of funds...sigh.
- Whenever we met up with other cousins over holidays he was always the one to invent new games to play. Plain jane hide-n-seek didn't interest us, it had to be played with higher stakes and wackier rules. I still remember his reinvention of soft ball to become this combination of charades, dog and the bone and whatnot that actually become too complicated to even play. This continued in the kitchen. He was always more interested in cooking than I was, but never in the plain dal sabzi...no siree! He dabbled in the more exotic stuff (seemed exotic enough then) spanish omlettes and mirchi maggi. It's true- Life was anything but dull !
- Taught me some key lessons of life- such as negotiation and enterprise. The different seasons brought different flavours of fun on school campus such as collecting and playing for marbles, trading stickers/trump cards etc. He used to collect his meager possessions and think hard on who to scam and how to complete our collections. I have still not forgiven him for trading my asterix collection for the esteemed tiger marbles.
- Not being extremely bright at studies we were subject to strict TV watching guidelines and restrictions. And when our parents stepped out was the one time we joined hands to become partners in crime. We took turns at watching TV while the other had to stand guard at the different windows to check signs of returning parents. This involved meticulous planning to leave the remote at exactly the same channel and place we had picked it up from. In retrospect this everyday antic of ours brought us closer in our warring times.
- My dread for winters started early but for entirely the different reasons. We used to have this huge quilt put on top of us which made it barely possible to move underneath it. This was the time of the first gulf war when 'A' would fart inside the quilt squealing delightedly, 'George Bush just fired a massive missle' and try to fan the fart airs on me. Pinned under the quilt I couldn't duck and had to endure the smells. I swear this is the kind of stuff that has scarred me for life !
- He was and still is a big fan of all mythology stories especially Ramayana. What made ramayana fun for him was when Ravan came on screen, slapped his thighs and laughed his thundering laugh. He was totally awed and amused by Ravana and used to wait for him in the episode. Younger and not understanding the morale behind the story it took me a while to understand that Ravana is actually the bad guy!
- A had got bit by a white german shepherd and this was around the time I watched my first werewolf movie. I somehow got this notion that my brother will also become a dog, now that he's been bitten by one. I started becoming cautious around him and glancing over my shoulders when he came an inch close to me. Whenever our parents were not around I refused to be in the same room as him and would go hide under the bed. Things got out of control and he went crying to our parents saying, 'Dish doesn't love me anymore and won't play with me'. It took a while for me to fathom difference between reel and real but we spent a happy weekend playing together soon after. This is probably the kind of moronic behavior that has made him the strong resilient character he is today.
- Before you feel sorry for him, let me tell you, he got his own back in his own subtle manner. At a tender age when i was just about understanding what is happening around me he convinced me that the entire world is in my mind and everybody - him, mummy, papa are all figments of my imagination and that they disappear when I exit a room. I used to dart in and out of rooms and breathe a sigh of relief to see everyone still there. I should be given an award for not having to undergo counselling because of this !
So you see, there were great times, and times we wanted to maul each other. This is the stuff that memories are made of.
5 comments:
I can relate to few of your experiences-the WWF one. We tried fighting with rulers instead of towels.
Nicely written.
So true!! Its a wonderful feeling to have an elder brother, i have one too! :)
@bogglingnotjustblogging - hey thanks!! rulers?? ouchh...that sounds super painful
@Ria- totally!! much older but the madness still continues :)
@Disha: I have a younger sister, and I simply can't imagine how my life would have been without her (though she claims hers would have been much better without me :p). This post reminded me of so many of my own sibling memories :-)
Nice one. I really like your blog. The way you represent all the things good one. Thank you for sharing.
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