It's a hot day. The breeze is entering through the window to my left and I can hear my Amma busy in her little converted balcony kitchen cooking the mid-day meal. The aromas interest me ever so slightly. I just want milk still. I've just been fed and so I feel only the slight movement of the cradle when I move and the wind which is coming in through the window.
I'm now a couple of months old. I lay enveloped in a loose swaddle cloth in a cradle custom-made by my Amma's blue saree. When I open my eyes, I can see the two ends of the saree that envelop me pass through a ring on the white ceiling. No one else seems to be in the house.
I've been enjoying getting to know my Daddy and my siblings. I have an older sister and two older brothers. My brother Raj has just finished his exams at boarding school and is back home on vacation. He's fourteen years old and is a handsome young man. He was informed about my arrival through a letter and he seems happy to see me or maybe he's just happy that he's back home. My sister Latha thinks of me as one of her dolls. She carts me around and tries to feed me. My brother Venu is next in line. He is very mischievous and Amma usually tells him to go play in the other room, scared that he may hurt me without wanting to.
My Daddy is the sweetest. He coos each time he picks me up. His words and warmth before leaving for work, during his lunch break and after work all signal the same thing to me. Adoration & Love.
But my Amma, I can’t talk about enough! She’s like an extension of me. Her skin is the softest as she holds me against her. Her face and smile are what I want and need constantly and all the distractions the others offer while she is constantly busy don't satisfy my hunger to be held by her.
I have decided I like this place and its people. The adults around me seem to think I will be gone soon as my Amma was very unwell when I was in her tummy and they worry because I can't keep any food down for any length of time. I heard someone saying I was not even 2 kgs at birth. They say I am all skin and bones and am very weak.
I hear all of it and still decide to think of this as my home.
#olderparents #thechroniclesoftheyoungestchild #motherslove #unconditionallove
Like this story? You may like the first chapter hereunder too
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