Letter to Medha

This feature is inspired by Elise at eliseblaha.typepad.com. I plan to write a letter each to Medha and Madhav once every month.

Dear Medha,

You always have a bag slung across your shoulder, no matter where you go, just like I do, but I think mine is way too lighter than yours. It has to be!

As I sit here, taking an inventory of your bag, there’s not an inch of space on the couch, that isn’t covered with its contents…

While mine has –

• Some cash
• a Debit card
• a Library Card
• a couple of Business cards
• an Extra diaper for Madhav
• a Phone
• my Samsung Tablet
• an Eye-liner
• a Lipstick
• a comb
• a couple of candies for Madhav and you

You have the whole world in your bag!

It contains-

• a few keepsake 10 rupee notes we bought at Iskcon (that supposedly brings good luck!)
• a pack of tissue paper
• an empty box of mints
• 2 bunches of keys
• a lock
• an unidentifiable object that acts as a magnet and has a pin-like protrusion that poked my palm as I examined it!
• a water-color box
• an empty box of chewing gums containing two empty Lip Balms
• a spinning top
• a box of chalks
• a 4 GB memory card
• USB cord
• a whistle
• 3 phones (Toy phones obviously.)
• a hair clip
• a couple of toys
• a bubble maker
• dozens of Business Cards
• Receipts
• a couple of handkerchiefs
• a teeny tiny bottle of Pond’s cream
• a couple of mirrors
• pieces of wood
• dried leaves
• (Taking a deep breath…) a snail’s shell

Yup! You carry all that and more. Whenever we go out of station or to a place that requires us to do a lot of walking, your papa and I go through your bag (without your approval, of course. It is hard for you to let go!) to decide on what can be carried, what stays back at home and what needs to be tossed in the dustbin right away (Out you go magnet-like-thingy-that-poked-me!)

But a fresh pile of knickknacks adds on, by the time we reach home. Cleaning that bag of yours is a futile exercise, but watching you carry it around everywhere you go, asking me to keep it safe when you need to play, pulling out a little something for Madhav to cheer him up when he’s crying, brings a big smile on my face!

By the way, I must thank you for a jolly time I had going through the contents of your bag and thinking of the joy this simple act of collecting and protecting such tiny (and weird) “treasures” as the shell of a snail brings to you…. Thank you!

Love,

Mama.