Dear Deepa Aunty

Oh Yes, I love being called Aunty by my friends' children. I do not accept any other way of addressing me, except of course my name.

I insisted that my friend introduces me as 'Deepa Aunty' to her six year old daughter. As is usually the case with me and children together at any given moment, any given time of the day, it did take the child a while to know that she can actually make friends with me.

We spoke about her school, hobbies, interests, achievements, friends.. yes, that is a huge list of topics that only a child can talk to you at the first sight. It is sad to note that as we grow older, we lose this habit of candid talking.. Wonder how? Wonder why??

While I was still marvelling at the very idea of 'being a child', she ran off to fetch a paper and pencil and then found a quiet corner for herself, set rules that no one in the house should try to read her work for the next few minutes. Her sister stood beside her anyway.. Brought smiles immediately as I could relate to the scene. Sisters do have the rights that not many people have.

Then she came over to me with a folded paper addressed to me as :

To:
Deepa Aunty
From:
Samyuktha.K
( I also noticed the semi colon like you just did!!!! How does a six year old know so much??)

Okay, now, the last time I received such a note in my life was way back in college when I used to receive letters from my friends.. After that, there has never been any personal note to me on paper. Thrilled beyond comprehension and expression, I opened the paper to read this:

The Sun and the Moon - By Samyuktha.K

The Sun shines bright,
In the Sky.
In the day,
When we come out and play.

The Moon very white,
In the Sky.
At night,
When we go to bed.

The Sun and the Moon
Together make
The world colorful.

Lovely poem, isn't it?I noticed, creativity, observation skills, writing skills, expression of love in the child.

How much do we as grown ups express affection to people we do not know much?? At which point in life do we change from the child's unconditional loving self to what we are today?? Not sure if I want to get into the what and why of us, but surely the poetry and the very idea of expressing it to a new friend brings smiles.

The child had written this for a school magazine and it didn't get posted. So, I decided to give it an applause on my blog with a post like this. It is a wonderful feeling to receive such a beautiful poem as a gift.