Kavya..Letter! Letter..Kavya!

Dear Kavyakutty,

Its been a long time since I wrote something. But today as i was washing up after dinner i thought why dont i give it a shot again? Actually watching Irffan Khan write to Ila in his bombaiyya english in "The Lunchbox" was also an inspiration. But whenever i sit down to write, what usually happens is that i stare at the screen for hours, fingers ready on the keypad waiting for inspiration to strike. It was excruciatingly laborious that - and one could see that in the prose. But today as soon as I wrote those first 2 words, it just started flowing - u see, its only you who is going to read this no? So No pressure at all. No need to be clever or anything. I could be my cooching-cooing embarassingly-loud little self and you will still love it. Just one of the innumerable pleasures of fatherhood, you see. Anyways I am going to try and make this as talky as i can ( atrocious grammar alert!).

So little one, how does the world seem from 2 feet above the ground? Is it scary by any chaing ? Growing 4 additional feet hasnt made it any less scarier for me. Just joking!! I can see already that you are a fearless little cub. You seem to have inherited your mom's confidence and not my self-doubt. It will stand you in good stead. Honestly - if you ask me - i dont believe in all this inheritance and resemblance and stuff. There are far too many Shyams and Indus in this world to annoy everyone.But you, my darling, were born to be different. So, stay that way!

Anyways what i wanted to ask you was what is it that goes in that little brain of yours - yapping away all to yourself for hours and hours. And that drop-dead-gorgeous smile of yours - why does it flash only when someone is sneezing or coughing? And What is that thing that you do with your legs as if you are a horse about to burst off the starting line. And finally, what is with that song ( you know which one)? Of all the lovely little songs in the world, you had to choose that! YOu are a weird little one - arent you?

Anyways..Just thought to record here that Sachin paaji hung up his boots a few days back..From amongst everything that was written about him - especially that much admired act of benediction at the pitch - I was trying to find something to cherish ( a herculean task considering how many people have made careers out of writing about him). But surprisingly, the insight came from Sachin himself. In the post-match conference When a journalist asked him whether he had reconciled to a cricket-less life, he said "Kahin na kahin toh main khel loonga". A lump rose in the throat!! The sheer longing!!. So its always been just that - a kid who just wanted to keep playing and playing until mom came to fetch him home. And come she did!!

Kavyakutty, You know the thing with Sachin is that you will never understand what the fuss was all about - that privilege is for us chosen few who got to share his best years with him. I think thats something special about him - no amount of statistics or you tube vidoes or articles could come close to really explaining what he meant to all of us - one had to be there.

But dont worry, honey! you will find your Sachin soon.

Cheers,
Appa