A very happy 10th to you...

As I start writing this letter to you, am very conscious of the words I am using to express myself. I will need to use thesaurus to live upto your level, lest you will say “Mamma, your vocab is ‘pitiable’” !! I have been generally alleged by others that I use complex English in my blogs, but if they speak to you or read your stories, they for sure will free me off such charges.. Just 10 years old today you are, and the phrases you use in your normal course of talk are so non-conversational, even for me… but all the very entertaining… so let me try to wish you your way… Here’s to a splendid birthday today and happiness for the plenteous eons ahead…😊

You will remember this birthday for many reasons, most of them unusual…

This is the special 10th we have been waiting for and were to make some grand plans but could not. The planet is going through Corona-crisis for a few months now, and we are required to stay indoors, maintain distance from people, stay safe and protect ourselves from the deadly virus. Your school premises didn’t open this year, and you have moved to online learning. I keep thinking if you are able to understand what is being taught, are you able to participate, are you able to manage the online tools… my thinking is ofcourse not as evolved as you are… your teacher says that you are the coolest girl in the class, hands-on with every tool and technique available to you… the siris, the translators, the hangouts, shared-drives, design and presentation apps, everything.. infact a step ahead I would say. The other day you were looking up for some meanings on google and when you were not satisfied with them, you actually sent out a ‘suggestion’ to google to include the right meaning ! (I was not aware one could do that !)…

So this quarantined birthday, going by the trend, we also celebrated online with our family… from across India, UK and US… and what fun we had coming together, chatting up and playing games… the best part is, I didn’t have to do much, Nithila managed it all backstage 😊 the highlight of the party, the icing on the cake, was the cake itself. In your words – the best cake in the world, made by none other than our homegrown baker, Nithila..

You missed Polo immensely today… we lost him about a month back, to a freak road accident. There are times, you sit quietly in a corner, holding Popcorn close to you, staring blankly ahead of you… I can feel your pain Niky, in each of those times… this is the first time you have experienced someone very close, going away.. you loved Polo the most, he has been your companion throughout last 7 years, waiting for you to wake up and hug him, listening to your laughs and sobs, obeying to every command you taught him, seeing you fall asleep next to him… his eyes would shine up just on seeing you… he is indeed that brightest twinkling star up there… for now in our imaginings, but soon in your story that you have set out to write on that twinkling star – Polo.

Of all the gifts that poured in, the most special was your book, “Collection of short stories, by Niharika Malviya”… your first book, with stories and poems written by you… you were extremely thrilled on seeing it, I am falling short of words to describe your expression… and since then you have held it close to you all day through… For the past couple of years, you have been intrigued with the concept of publishing a book… you have dreamt about it every single day… you have been quizzing Papa about it time and again.. your bedtime conversations with Papa are all about books, stories, characters, authors… latest one was – you asked Papa “if Enid Blyton was also born on 2nd Oct, will Google choose to make a doodle on Gandhiji or Enid Blyton?”… such and more questions just show how you live a ‘famous author’s life’ deep inside you… in one such conversations couple of years ago, you got Papa to promise you that he will publish your first book once you have written enough stories… and here today, he fulfilled it… like he says, he has kept his side of the bargain… now your turn to keep yours… so write and write, and keep writing… all that you imagine, all that you visualize… I know this book marks the beginning of many more…

Me: What kind of books do you want to write Niky?

You: Interesting books, that the person reading does not want to end. Infact I will write an unending book

Me: But all books and all stories have an end, even if you write a series, you have to end it

You: But I will not end my books, they will end on their own..

Me: Really? How can a book end on its own?

You: Mumma, I will start with the end… and end with a start.. so book will end on its own in the start… but it will actually end with a start of another book…

Me: (after asking you to repeat what you just said) that’s a brilliant idea Niky  (and then to myself) cmon Gauri, fasten your seat belt, this is going to be a ride through a whirlwind.. but a joyful ride nevertheless…

You wake up with new stories, through the day you keep adding scenes and scripts to them, you sleep thinking about your characters and detailing them… Your imaginations are like raindrops… tiny, subtle and imperceptible… just the way continuous falling of raindrops make a river overflow, your bountiful imaginations come together, swelling up into these stories… and seeing this first book of your stories taking shape, I feel immensely proud of you… this will remain a priceless treasure !

Your dream of becoming an author is now a dream for all of us… you have made it almost a purpose of your life (for now!) and hope it does continue in the coming years… always remember, in a chase between the lion and the deer, many a times the deer wins, because the lion runs for food, and the deer for life.. a purpose is always more momentous than the need..

Yours Mumma.