:)

For the annoying jokes and all the fond cuddles… For shouting at each other and smiling secretly across the room… For making me go ‘Ugh. I hate you’ to ‘Wow, couldn’t ask for better’… For giving me dirty looks during a midnight birthday bash… For the time and the freedom I got to figure out what I wanted to do… For the painful ear tweaks for bad math and a pat on the back for something done right…. For showing me what true strength really meant in times of trouble… For all the warm welcome hugs, no matter how sweaty or dirty I was… For giving me time to nurse a heartache…For being cheerful and funny, no matter what part of the day… For being irritatingly judgmental…For being freakishly right about some things…For being open about mistakes made and the points scored…For all the efforts taken to give me a perfect childhood…

Happy father’s day… :) For the man who makes me want to kill him sometimes; hug him tight and never leave him at others - You are the best I could ever ask for…

I just realized....

...that I love myself :)

I was just clearing out my old mail from a long forgotten email ID and - wow what surprises it threw up. I was such a different person three years back. College projects that I so strongly believed that they would change the world, playing peacemaker between warring people in class, fighting depression myself… wow, somehow I seem to have lost that youthful stupidity now. The highly judgmental, bookish, biased opinions that I had a few years back make me cringe but also smile

I also happened to see a few mails I had forwarded to myself from my official ID when I resigned last year. All the congratulatory emails, awards, and praises that made me swell up like a bullfrog now make me laugh. I have always believed in hard work. Just as I used to burn the midnight oil for a 5 mark assignment in college, I still cannot sleep in peace, if I know I had turned in a crappy article at work. Now when I realize that all my efforts are now probably in some project manager's docket that is lying in the attic - I am forced to rethink.

So many emails and letters, flying back and forth between so many important and no so important people in my life - lashing out harsh judgments, counseling people, an occasional birthday wish, unmentionable crushes, the start of a new friendship, the sad ending….and each one of those emails made me smile. Smile and reflect on all the wise and stupid decisions I had made in the past. To cut the monologue short - Yes. I was uptight and serious, but that’s what I was and still am.

I may have given half a limb for an office assignment that meant nothing, but at least I tried. When I did get the credit, I knew I fully deserved it. I do have my weaknesses and a considerable share of mistakes, but these little imperfections define me more than my successes. Yes, I love myself :)