‘When you finally go back to your hometown, you realize, it’s not the place that you miss; its your childhood.’

I have so many fond memories of my childhood, which I remember a lot today. That’s natural because I have been away from my home since 8 years. I miss my family, my home a lot. Each thing in my home tells a story of my childhood days. At those rare times when I am able to go home, I look at those things – the colorful walls, the garden, the kitchen, the colorful furniture of my room, the books, the painting books & stationary – and my eyes fill up with tears.

I am the elder one. And the first one of my generation on my mother’s side. I was known as the happy child. Always cheerful with a big smile on my face. I was happy in anyone’s arms. I spent most of time with my grandparents, uncles & aunts. I was a darling for them! We stayed near the sea-shore & I loved shooing away crows from the balcony. As a 2 year old, I loved sweeping. What a unique interest! Photographs show me sweeping… even at neighbours’ & relatives place! My first birthday was joyous occasion for all. My uncles and aunts decorated our home. Mum built a cake in the shape of a cat. She looked beautiful in a red and gold sari. And I was, as usual, happy.

Two and half years later, my sister was born. She was like ball of wool. Always wobbling on her side. She couldn’t sit straight. She would tumble sideways because she was so chubby. She clung to Mum & was scared of Papa! Mum couldn’t leave her even for a minute. If I tried coming near Mum, she pushed me away saying ‘She is my Mum, you go away’. A 10^th Std boy living in our neighbourhood always complained about her whole night wailing. With this, I led a gypsy life. I wandered whole day outside home with neighbourhood kids. We had a 17 year old maid. I spent the whole day watching her wash clothes and utensils & clean the house. I ate with her and forced her to play with me. When it was time for her to leave in the evening, I would bring the house down & not let her go. 

And we grew, I and sis spent all of our time together. She copied everything I did. Aah, those memories; brings a smile on my face when I think about it. We played Teacher-teacher. We drew & painted. We made clay vessels. We played hide-n-seek. We read story books. We ran after butterflies and tried t catch them. We played with puppies and brought them to our house compound.

Sis has always been prone to accidents. She got a deep cut on her forehead on Diwali when she was 2. Fractured her hand as she fell in front of an auto when she was 4. Always burnt her hand on Diwali. She permanently had a band-aid on her knees. Such mishaps with her continue even today.

Those we were poles apart, we were inseparables. We were ALWAYS together. She was obedient; I naughty. She was very studious. Always topped her class; got the ‘Best student’ award. Was an all-rounder. I was least interested in studies. My books were always incomplete. My attendance at school was poor. I was good at dance, music & craft. My hobbies were watching TV and playing with other children.  She never bothered about her looks; I experimented with different clothes & accessories even then. She was and is much brighter than me. Despite these differences, we were ALWAYS together.

I was a big bully. She was so innocent, she agreed everything I said. She did work for me. She lied for me. She always became the student when we played teacher-teacher. She always did balling & ran around for the ball when we played cricket. I sat on the swing & she pushed it. I never let her sit on the tricycle. I always gave her the unattractive pictures to color on.

But not for long. She became smart soon & I could no longer bully her. During secondary & higher secondary, we grew into two different types of personalities. Our hobbies, likes, choices, preferences – everything was so dissimilar. We started fighting a lot with each other. We had too many differences because of our varied natures & also because we were both so immature.

Luckily I moved away from home after school & since then I’m away from her & my family. We didn’t get to spend more than 3 days at a stretch with each other. Many a times, we happened to create a cold war situation amongst each other. I was too talkative & she hardly spoke. She would irritated of my chattering and tell me to shut up. Or simply, walk away. I was too goody-goody; she, blunt. I had many friends; she had none. She couldn’t get along with anyone.

After I started working & got heavy responsibilities at work, I matured. She matured too. In fact, our parents say she is much more mature than me. She would take care of me, if necessary, and not the other way round. The distance between us brought us closer. We are not best of friends. We don’t tell each other all our life’s secrets. We don’t talk often. But there is a strange binding between us. The love for our parents. The times we spent together. Our distance from home & parents & each other. That’s what binds us together. We know that, the whole world against any of us, the other one will definitely be on the other’s side. She got a dog-bite last week. She didn’t know whom to inform. She was unsure whether to inform our parents, as they would get disturbed. And she thought of me. I felt the pain when she informed me. No-one can create any misunderstanding amongst us. I finally won her trust. Finally, I could do justice to my relationship with her. So what if we are so different. She turns to me for advice or when she’s in trouble or wants to share some news. 

We have changed from what we used to be. But we are still different. She is much more social than me. She cares about her looks to and spends her salary on branded clothes. I shop for cheap stuff; she buys only branded stuff. She stays with 5 other room-mates. I stay alone. She watches every movie that comes. I hardly get to see movies because I don’t have anyone to accompany me.

Its amusing when people ask Mum whether we are twins. Well, not surprising that people think like that because we are of the same height, weight & body frame & our names are rhyming. I wonder if they understand us closer, will they still think we are twins??!!