ISD-er!

I think it's a new advertisement on TV that has triggered off this post. A little girl loses a milk tooth and between her sobs and sniffles, she conveys the message to her elder brother. The brother consoles her and gets her smiling again. Those few seconds accurately capture the kind of bond I share with my sibling.

My brother is 4.5 years older than I am. My mum says that when I was born, he was probably the happiest of them all. No, not because he finally had someone to torture and kick around. I guess it was more about having a complete family. I've heard some scary stories about sibling rivalry and pangs of jealousy the first child goes through when the parents dote on the little one. I don't think we ever had a tale like that. He was thrilled that there was a baby in the house. While I was the mischievous, short tempered brat and everything I asked for was given to me, my brother was perhaps a lot easier to bring up. He hardly had any demands, never lost his cool, laughed things off and was incapable of being mean to anybody. Family functions, parties, gatherings and everyone only talked about what a nice boy he was. I could never understand why! According to my logic, since I was the more talented child, better at school, more expressive, it only made sense that I should have been the all time favourite and not him. Nah, never happened! Looking back, I know that in those moments of frustration, I said some really horrid stuff to him and could never bring myself to be nice to him. What infuriated me the most was that even after all the times I would yell at him, throw things at him, squeal on him, IT JUST NEVER GOT TO HIM! He continued to be as caring as ever and laughed at my silly attempts to hurt him. The funny part is that though I subjected him to my wicked side and spoke to him very rudely, I was always ready to bash up anyone who said a word against him. If my parents screamed at him, I would defend him, fight with them and stand up for him. There were times when our fights would get out of hand. Instead of portraying aggression or violence, he would just stop talking to me. Aargh! I still remember how miserable I felt! I would follow him around the house hoping that one li'l word would escape or I'd just sulk in my room till he came up and said something. Oh and if I was upset about anything and couldn't stop crying, he was the first person I would run to for some "cheering up".

As we grew up, things changed drastically. We started hanging out with each other a lot more and realised that we could have fun together. The punching and hitting (Violent me!) turned into verbal arguments which almost always ended in a "what are we fighting about?" or peals of laughter. We began understanding each other. As individuals, my brother and I are extremely different and at times we can't see eye to eye. But what is important is that along the way, we learned to respect each others views and opinions. And now, I can't make a single decision without listening to what he has to say. Yeah, there are days when I wish he was not so messy, inexpressive or tried doing things on an impulse. But even with all his flaws and habits that drive me up the wall, I wouldn't exchange him for anything in the world!

It is impossible for me to list all the things I have to thank you for so I am not even going to try. Quite honestly, you're one of the biggest reasons why I am spoiled to the core.... buying me gifts at the drop of a hat, taking me for countless movies, lunches, drinking sessions and dinners, playing all my inane games, letting me be the co owner of our comic collection (without asking me to shell out a penny), trying to pacify the folks everytime I've had a tiff with them... you pampered me all the while. But it is from you that I have learned to be kind to people, treat them with respect and use my freedom responsibly. I dunno why I was so rotten to the person who named me. Maybe because growing up with someone like you wasn't the simplest task for me. I always had to try harder to beat you at everything you did (often forgetting that there wasn't a competition on). Finally, after all these years, I figured out why you had things easy.... You have always been a far nicer person than I am.. or will ever be. Now get back from that foreign land ASAP. Our signature song has been unsung for a while now.

P.S. - If you ever find this post, I never wrote it. Honest :P