“Priya… Priya… What are you up to?” I yell at the top of my voice. I am half-scared that my 6-year-old niece is writing my brother’s lab-assignments (!!!) , like she did a month back. She stops whatever she was doing, and runs up to me with a notebook in her hand. Thankfully, it was not his physics record! She thrusts the notebook into my hand, and prompts me to read. I could see that she is all excited about it. She says in a cute but anxious voice, “I have written down the names of my family members” I could sense that she wants my approval, and with a smile, I nod at her and take a look at her notebook.
It was a four-lined notebook; the ones we used to practice handwriting when we were kids. Her handwriting was just like any other kid, but I did notice that she had taken all pains to keep her letters within the lines.
“Happy Family” I read out her title. She nodded.
Then, I read out the names one by one, as she looked on.
“C Raja” I said.
“My Father”, she eagerly said.
I gave a pat on her back and continued, “R Uma”.
“My mother”, she smiled & I could see the excitement building in her eyes. I knew her name was coming.
“R Priya”, and before I could complete she started jumping up and down, “That’s me. That’s me…”
I smiled & kept reading, “R Suryakumar”
“My little brother”, she made a gesture with her hands to indicate “little”. I could not help but smile.
As I took a look at the next name, I paused and looked at her. Confused I asked, “Who is R Mani?”
“Our dog”, she gleefully said.
Happy family, indeed!
