The one and only expert in all things ME.

1995:

This was the year I turned nine and my parents threw me a fairy tale themed birthday party. To say I wasn't pleased would be an understatement. After all, fairy tales were for little girls and I was starting high school the next week. So while Maa supervised the kitchen staff and Baba put up fairy lights around the garden, I decided to do what any infuriated nine year old would do, I decided to run away!
But even before anyone had realized I had run away, I was on my way home, with a scrapped knee and a muddy blue dress. Long story short, Subho, the neighbor’s son was playing a solitary game of Robin Hood and I, an unwitting victim, tripped and fell into a big old puddle while the heroic outlaw gave chase.

It was a good hot bath and a patched knee later that I found myself looking at the mirror dressed in a beautiful princess dress while Maa fussed over my hair. I refused to give in to my urges to smile. Fairy tales are for little girls not me. “I am not going to smile at a single guest or even say thank you.” I told Maa solemnly. She wasn’t angry or sad, she just smiled her dimpled smile and without a single word placed a tiara on my head. And just like that I was no longer the sulky birthday girl I wanted to be; all rebellious thoughts firmly banished by the sparkling tiara of crystals and rhinestones.

Needless to say, it turned out to be my Best Birthday Ever!

Thank you Maa for being an excellent party planner.

Thank you for always knowing what is best for me long before I ever do. Thank you for being an EXPERT in all things me.

2005:

I was nineteen when I suffered my first heart break. Rahul was my first serious relationship. We literally bumped into each other on our first day in college and in true movie tradition we fell for each other. It was the “can’t-eat, can’t-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of love” that the Olsen twins talk about in It Takes Two. We talked unceasingly, of our hopes, our dreams, of our weddings, of our kids. We agreed we were forever and everyone around us agreed with us.

But fate had other plans, Rahul and I broke up on the last day of our fifth semester. It wasn’t as if I did not see it coming, but that did not make it less painful.

After a gloomy train ride home, I arrived home late in the afternoon to find Maa was at the gate waiting for me. She did not comment on my bloodshot eyes or blotchy face. She just welcomed me with the warmest hug and said, “So glad that you are home. Baba and I missed you so much.” Maa did not make a fuss or pester me to open up to her. She gave me space to mourn my first heart break, to indulge my sadness so that the healing could begin.

Thank you Maa for being my unwavering rock.

Thank you for always being there for me no questions asked. Thank you for being an EXPERT in all things me.

2015:

I just recovered from a nasty long spell of jaundice. Maa had flown across the country to nurse me back to health. I am due back in office next week. “I don’t want to go to work,” I whine. I lost weight while I was sick, which is awesome but I have also gained dark circles, a gaunt face and worst of all, my lovely locks have streaks of gray. “No one else can know I have gray hair. No one but you Maa, coz you are an excellent secret keeper,” I say.

“This will keep your secret too,” Maa says, as she places a packet of Godrej Expert Rich Crème in my hands. “No ammonia. Long Lasting color” I read off the packet. “Come on Maa, you don’t actually believe it is as good as it claims! Do you?” I laugh. Maa smiles her dimpled smile and says, “You don’t actually believe I still have naturally black hair! Do you?”

Thank you Maa for being the best problem solver and trusted secret keeper.

Thank you for having a solution for all my many problems. Thank you for being an EXPERT in all things me.

Thank you GodrejExpert Rich Crème for being an EXPERT secret keeper (like my own Maa)!


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This post is my entry for a contest organised by Indiblogger and Godrej Expert.

Photo Credit: Baba (edited by Yours Truly)