Ultra's Diary

21 February 2001

"My name is G****** S****. I am fine. I am 12 years 85 days old. I study in seventh standard, Cordial High School. I have studied here from nursery. I live in V*****r, Bangalore. I have a brother who eats more, has a soft stomach and studies in tenth standard. He studies well. I have a sister, but wait I forgot - my brother's name is Sh**** Dont feel bad I am absent minded you know. My sister's name is Ra*****. She studies in PUC and does not have soft stomach... "

These are lines flicked directly out of Ultra's first dairy entry when he was in seventh standard at school. I was in tenth standard then. I happened to read this dairy the other day and immediately my mind lost into my own wonderland of thoughts -

Siblings are the best friends that anybody can get. They help us to shape our personality and play an important role in what we become in life. I have been very lucky to have two siblings - an elder sister and a younger brother, both of whom have influenced me a lot. Most of my friends and relatives, have had siblings and have been influenced by them. Unfortunately these days, due to the "one-child-per-family" norm that is followed by most families, siblings are disappearing fast and the so is the fun in growing up.

As a small child, a large part of your growing up and grasping things happens only through imitation. Usually, it is the mother who imitates actions for us and teaches us new things in life. But this becomes more effective if there is a sibling who is near our age who can imitate this for us. Then the learning process is simplified further. My mother was a working woman and as such it was difficult to watch the three of us all the time. When Panini was young, she was left at our granny's house in the village where she imitated her cousins and learnt. Then it was my turn to imitate her. I used to follow her around and do whatever she did. If she drank milk in a cup, I would also ask for a cup. If she sat on a sofa while watching TV, I would sit too. If she put nail polish on her toes, I would do it too. I wanted long hair like her. I even cried ands got a frock for myself so that I wanted to dress like her :-) but all that was when i was too small to know the difference.

As I grew up, I realised that I could not imitate her all the time. By then, I had learnt most of the things from her and was ready for more. So, adapting to a new teacher became very easy. My mother also found it easy to teach me. Nevertheless, Panini was and has always been my strength. As a elder sister, she has supported me when I needed it, protected me, encouraged me to do better. I have been really lucky to have a sister like her. When mom used to go to work, she used to leave the two of us alone in the house. We used to play nice games together and would spend hours together imagining fantasy situations. We used to talk about what we would do if a thief entered the house at that time - how we would take all the weapons in the house and attack him. We used to talk about what we would do when we grew up - I always wanted to be a bus/train driver and she a home maker. We would talk about how we both would handle the other bullying friends in our neighbourhood. In many ways, all these helped a lot in shaping our minds for the future years.

I always used to wonder how it would feel if I had an elder borther and a sister together. Then it would be more of a learning experience as both of them would guide me. Ultra dint need to wonder about that. He had an elder sister and a brother. I am not sure whether I have handled the responsibility of being an elder brother as well as Panini has done to me. But I have always adored Ultra. When he was a baby, (a real cry baby) I was jealous of him as he was given all the attention. I still dont know why Panini never felt anything of that sort about me. Most of the time, I was the one who used to make him cry. But as time passed, the feeling of jealousy was replaced by some feeling more powerful. I just admired his ability to grasp things soon and his intelligence. Maybe it was because he had two people to imitate and learn. But his ability to relate to things and find out new things was awesome. He. in turn, has always followed my foot steps, trying to learn by imitation. He used to watch me play video games, he mastered it. He used to watch me use the computer, he became a computer expert. When I started writing a diary when I was in tenth standard, he started one too. When i stopped, he too stopped :-)

Ultra is a nice brother to hang out with. Except for the time when a soccer match is going on when he gets a bit hyper, he is fun to be with all the time. He makes fun of my plump body and that is reflected in the way he has drawn my picture (top left corner of this page - blog profile pic) and in the diary entry that he has written. He is a real "Gizmo - Geek" in sense he can master the art of using any gizmo/gadget within minutes. He is humorous too. Panini, Ultra and I spend hours together talking about anything and everything under the sun and manage to have a great time together. Sometimes even a silly discussion can lead to hours of entertainment for all of us.

Ultra and Panini have always been my strengths. They have always been there for me supporting me, cheering me up when I was down, celebrating when I was successful. I guess everyone i know who has a sibling has similar story to tell about theirs brothers and sisters. It is a real gift of God to have been born with siblings. For those who are not that lucky, there is no need to worry or feel sad. You will always get friends who become as close as your siblings. Isn't it ? But just choose yor frineds with care. Bye for now. Will keep posting soon.

Notes:

1. Names are changed to protect identities.

2. I know it is wrong to read someone else's diary and publish it without their consent. But the copyright issue in this context has been taken care of