An Open Letter To One of My Dearest Brothers

DISCLAIMER: Most names have been changed for the sake of online privacy.

Hi Andy, this is an open letter to you. By now, you must be wondering what my open letters are like; no, they are not addressed to celebrities 😛 ! Rather, they are dedicated to people very dear to me. Including people like you ❤ . You are among my dearest brothers. I don’t have a male sibling, you and your younger brother Ashley slot in perfectly though  . Well, I will warn you in advance that this will be rather long, though I will do my very best to make it as fascinating as possible 😀 !

Well, Andy, where do I start? I fondly remember us getting our heads shaved at Tirupati when I was a kid and you were just a baby. I think my sister Sarah wasn’t even born then! 😉 You and your family were living in Mandaveli then and visiting you during the weekend was one of the happiest moments of my entire childhood!! We used to play cricket in the car park and you used to joke about your neighbour, a Mr. Agarwal; something like “Agarwal Nagarwal” 😛 !! Your parents, right from those days, have always treated me like their own son and I will forever be grateful for that!! Not to mention, Ron Grandpa and Lucy Grandma have forever been extremely dear to me!!

We had a lot of fun on our trip to Kodaikanal in the summer of 1996, less than a year after Sarah was born. The ending was ruined (at least for me!! 😀 ) because there were very heavy rains, which caused a tree to fall right in the middle of the road and block our path for a few hours; thus, by the time we reached Dindigul station; we saw our train to Chennai already departing!! However, you enjoyed yourself thoroughly during our unplanned stay at Dindigul; while we tried (and obviously failed!!) to book tickets in other trains, ultimately returning to Chennai in a Mahindra Mini-Bus. My Dad said we should be thankful to God that the tree didn’t fall on us; however, you provided comic relief by saying that our bus should have climbed over the tree instead – something that I can’t forget even now!! 😛

In 1997, we had another memorable trip on the Delta route of Tamilnadu; Kumbakonam, Thanjavur and Trichy. On our return to Chennai (this time thankfully we didn’t miss the train at Trichy!! 😉 ); we were talking about Chengalpattu (pronounced “Chengalpet” in Tamil), the first stop of our train in the suburbs of Chennai. You then mentioned Alwarpet, a piece of poetic comedy from you that I can’t forget!! While Sarah, my parents and I shifted to Mumbai in June 1998; you and your family shifted to Adyar. We always came to Chennai during our summer vacations and visiting you all was seldom not our top priority!!

Towards the end of 1999, we had a fantastic trip to Yelagiri. I had a fear of water then and while we were boating on the lake, the boat was shaking a lot more than I expected and I kept screaming that we were going to drown!! Though then the incident was terrifying to me and hilarious to you and most others; now I too can’t help laughing at myself whenever I think of it!! This was also the year the Tamil movie “Alaipayuthey” was released and not only did I love the songs, especially “Pachai Nirame”, “Kadhal Sadugudu” and “Snehidhane” (being a big fan of AR Rahman then); I also became a huge fan of the movie itself (something for which you have always teased me 😛 ) – at that time showing life after marriage was nearly a novel concept in Tamil cinema; most movies would end after the hero and heroine got married, sometimes before the marriage itself!! We would also tease Lucy Grandma for singing “Kadhal Sadugudu” in a wrong tone!!

The new millennium started on a happy note, with you people visiting us at our small home in Bandra. We had a great trip to Mahabaleshwar. Mind you, this trip was just a month before the summer vacations and I knew I was going to visit you in Chennai then – but still I felt sad after you returned to Chennai; so much I had got used to your company!! Anyway, after I came to Chennai; we had an awesome trip to Yercaud, my only second visit. I particularly remember our onward overnight journey to Salem by Yercaud Express in Non-AC First Class; sadly extinct now  . What shocked me was the weather in Yercaud was not very different from that of Chennai; in spite of being a hill station!! :O Nevertheless, it remains one of the best trips we’ve had in our lives.

I will always remember the summer of 2002 (when I visited you in Chennai) for a few funny reasons: I acted as though I had forgotten all about cricket and you had to explain to me the rules of the game all over again; also my high-pitched fake laugh, which was similar to the laughs we often heard from characters in Cartoon Network!! 😛 2003 marked your first long stay in Mumbai, of course during the summer!! It really made my summer, since spending time with you gave me relief from studies; during a very crucial period in my life – my transition from 9^th standard to 10^th std. I had failed in 12 subjects in 9^th std, partly due to my obsession with cricket (mainly during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003); and my principal didn’t demote me only because she felt I had talent and potential. So, I had to work very hard in order to achieve better results in 10^th std; your presence ensured that I didn’t end up like Jack (you know the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” 😀 )!! Playing carrom with you and Grandma Lucy was so much fun; I am sorry that I cheated once though.

Meeting Ashley for the first time (in the summer of 2004) was sweet as well as hilarious; I will never forget his calling me “Uncle” !! 😛 We had a fantastic trip to Bangalore – my 10^th std results came there and never can I forget your praise for my calm reaction – you see some humility in me though I am pompous most of the time!! Your visit to Mumbai later that year brought us the now famous encounter with my neighbour Colonel Ratra whom you called “British” ; for the way he said “No cricket!” and even took our stumps away from where we had placed them!! But yes, his attitude seemed British to me too and initially I too believed he was British!! 😀 Your visit to Mumbai in 2005 was equally memorable; I enjoyed my first read of “Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix” since you brought it! 😉

2005 in fact was the year I transformed from an AR Rahman fan to a Harris Jayaraj fan; thanks to you making me listen to the songs “Oru Maalai” and “Suttum Vizhi”, when I came to Chennai during Deepavali!! 2006 marked the first (and of course last!!) time I burst crackers (including even an atom bomb!!) in my life, when I came to Chennai and visited you during Deepavali!! In the summer of 2007, you and Sarah teased me about the song “Gulmohar Malare” and that ironically made me like it all the more; not to mention, I got introduced to Youtube for the first time!! 😉  We also teased Sarah about her pronouncing “Grimmauld Place” as “Grimmauld Palace”; though, as you said later, it is a mistake anyone can make!! In Jan 2008, you, your Dad and I celebrated at a bar after India’s first ever Test match win at Perth; the occasion was all the more memorable due to my first taste of alcohol (a bit of Whiskey)!! During the summer, we enjoyed watching CSK defeat Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) at the Chepauk Stadium; I particularly remember you teasing me for wearing semi-formals while our big cousin brother Geoff would often come wearing shorts!!

By the way, I had forgotten to mention one important thing: we often played book cricket and hence would often come up with utterly hilarious scorecards: your India scoring 1000+ runs in a 50-over match and South Africa getting bundled out for a mere 32 in reply still cannot be bested by ANYBODY!! We had even more fun playing Cric07; you taught me the “D shot” and we shared a thoroughly hilarious partnership while playing the Ashes for England; as Steve Harmison I did a stonewalling marathon, playing about 400 balls; while you created havoc at the other end!! Even more surreal was the bowling tactics you came up with, which made a mockery of cricket rules; such as pitching the ball on the wicketkeeper’s legs!! 😛 Not to mention, we both couldn’t stop laughing during Richie Benaud’s commentary: “that’s pierced the offside field” whenever we played an onside drive or “Symonds to bowl another over of a long spell” – in a 10-over match where a bowler would get a maximum of 2 overs to bowl!!

When you came to Mumbai in 2009, we really enjoyed watching the movie “Lakshya” and laughed at Hrithik Roshan’s character getting up late and expecting juice to be served to him even after joining the Army!! Also, you, Sarah and I had tremendous fun making prank calls; in the process irritating an Engineering classmate of mine!! Again I forgot to mention something important – we would laugh ourselves hoarse discussing Mohammed Azharuddin’s involvement in the matchfixing scandal and teasing Geoff who would always say “Not proved” !! We also played the game “20 Questions” – involving cricketers and other sportspersons, as well as Harry Potter characters!! I particularly remember almost failing to guess Voldemort right as I grouped him along with his Death Eaters; while you rightly pointed out that only his followers are Death Eaters and he himself is not one!! 😛

In 2010 and early 2011, I enjoyed helping you study subjects like Chemistry and Physics for your 12^th Board exams; though you have often overstated my role in your success. What was absolutely unforgettable, was the day you had your Physics exam – it was the New Zealand vs Pakistan Group match during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and Ross Taylor had the PERFECT birthday gift, in the form of two absolute sitters dropped by the Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (one of them was so easy that it looked suspicious!!); and went on to score a thrilling century!! Before I started my MBA at IFMR, I stayed with you and had the time of my life; especially getting our heads shaved (just like MS Dhoni after he won the World Cup for us!!) at Tirupati and watching the India vs West Indies Test series in HD in your room. The trip itself was fantastic; I particularly remember us watching the movies Endhiran and Indian while travelling in the Tempo Traveller!!

Right, it is already 3 pages in MS Word and I don’t want this to become boring, hence I am sorry but I have to abruptly end this – will cover the remaining experiences with you in another open letter; hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!! Love you Bro, take care!!