World's Best Maama

Fall 2005 - A week before my expected due date.

Of the many gifts that we had been showered, there was this doll, that would laugh like a baby. I called my brother and without saying a word, I pressed the doll's tummy. The minute he heard the sound, he was jumping all over the place, shouting "I'm an uncle, I'm an uncle"... The silly guy couldn't even question, how can a newborn laugh that hard? He always tickled our funny bones, when he was around his nephew... you could see that expression on his face, that every man who's yet-to-become a father, would have when handling a baby.

But soon he grew out of the feeling and got pretty comfortable with Vishwa. Comfortable to the extent that, he's done everything for him. From burping, to changing his diaper to feeding him and putting him to sleep - You name it and he's done it!

Out of an array of silly names that he had for Vishwa, "Bubbly Banana" is my favourite...

When I had been to my brother's place last summer, Vishwa was 6 months old and had started experimenting his motor skills. He had just learned to roll over and was using his new found skill to get around places. Anna, the Monk of our family, went hysterical that Vishwa was able to get his hands on all corners of the home. So, every evening, after work, he would come home and vacuum-kill germs- whiten-brighten-clean-disinfect-deodorise. One of his trade secrets was, after vacuuming he would use a lint remover to remove all the hairs from the carpet and
Vishwa's bedding

That much, he celebrated his nephew! It was anna's unconditional love, to people around him that earned him a lot of friends. He was kind, loving, tolerant and forgiving. That's why he was always taken for granted, by us, his siblings.

He was not a super-hero or a magician or the action-adventure animal rescuer "Diego". But still, Vishwa was always nuts about his uncle.

Vishwa has started saying his maama's name. He says "Veyyay maama to office". If only Life was that simple for the all of us...

Miss you Anna - Valli.