Babu (Dear Baby):
Yesterday was July 15, 2004. Your mom asked me to write letters to you starting from your first birthday. I immediately liked the idea – it is rather simple for me yet elegant. However, I am not sure at what age you are going to read this! Age makes a whole lot of difference in everything of our life. What appears to be vibrant at one stage can easily turn out to be dull in another part of our life. But I came to realize that life feels a tad more enjoyable when it is simple. I wish that I get to spend a lot of time to tell you about this simplicity when you are grown up!
We all rushed to grow old and to become an individual adult. But it is always heartbreaking for the parents to see their offspring break away from their arm and love! I think heaven is a place where you can have your little baby for the eternity. When you grow as old as I have, you would know exactly what I mean.
It has been about a week since I started this letter and tomorrow is the July 22, 2004. There is a school of thought that we impose an emotion to a particular day – say first or the last day of the year. However, birthday is different from those days and celebrating this day is quite OK – even in my opinion. How you would be celebrating this day is unknown to me and I do not want to hope for something when I will have very little control over a moment. Let it be your choice.
At the end, I do want to say that we have taken an ambitious plan to write to you on your birthdays till you are sixteen. My anxiety is with what I write! It could turn out that my values (which I often refer as simplicity) do not fascinate you (like most around me) in any way. After all, you will have your own perspectives in life. I do hope that somehow I will find enough charisma to ride the tide that awaits me – I will be travelling with you! A simple hope is certainly a graceful part of any celebration.
Signed: Happy Birthday – Abbu (Dad).
Somehow I can picture myself in the moment when she will get this on her 16th birthday. We are sitting down on the floor in a cozy little living room, the television playing on the side silently. We are all staring at this beautiful little 16 year old, wearning a bright white dress. In many ways she resembles how I remember her today. She slowly opens the letters and reads them one at a time, sharing eye contact with everyone as she reads. We all share smiles and memories with her and enjoy this very thoughtful gift.