Dud Sea Scrawls The Writing, clearly, is not on the wall!

Nothing specific
Of late subconsciously I had come to a conclusion that relationship with cousins fall into a pre determined pattern. During our school days, we used to meet up at some one’s place for few days and play all sort of games, get hurt in the process at times, fight for anything and everything, roam around the whole village/town, eat whatever we can get hold of (edible of course), fight for the same sports page as soon as paper comes and sleep at night without bothering about how the life will be the next day. Slowly we grew up together. Discussions ranged examination patterns to course contents in Engineering/Medical courses to life at work place.

Yes, we did find time to have agreements and disagreements on few things and play cricket in the evening but we were getting conscious about our manners, interest in selected few topics of discussion and importantly agreeing to disagree by speaking through mouth and not through hands/legs.

We did grow up and we do meet even now. Most of the time we just plan to meet without actually finding time to meet. When we do meet, we are interested in Global economics or Indian cricket strategies or National politics or sometimes cinema. We don’t shout, we don’t want to win the arguments, we exactly know when to put our ideas across and when to nod our heads and how to excuse ourselves out of boring conversations. We are after all adults and child in us is almost gone. Mind you, the group is almost the same except few additions in the name of spouse, age gap is obviously the same but the mental age has grown beyond the actual age. After all we are growing up in our respective professions, have traveled far and wide, have had ups and downs in life and learnt too many things or so we assume.

As I first said, I had concluded without even thinking too much that this is what Life is all about - the child in us will slowly die ‘coz we rarely want to be a child.

G happens to be the eldest amongst her cousins and youngest happens to a middle school kid and all her cousins make it a point to meet whenever they get holidays. I had forgotten that when cousins meet they can shout, fight, argue etc and make it feel it’s not a house but some sort of a mental hospital. After all I had ‘grown up’ quite some time back and all these were almost out of memory. When I once met her in her aunt’s place, I had to remind myself again and again that it’s perfectly okay to be kid with a kid irrespective of one’s age and not actually follow rule by rule the unwritten rules of behaviorism.

For us it’s unthinkable to talk loudly when some one is on phone. We feels its good manners to reduce the TV volume and pause our conversations if anyone’s mobile rings. If G is at her cousins’ place and if I happen to call, they surround her and shout at the top of their voice to make sure whatever I say is not heard to her. I just can’t speak with her till she drags everyone to a room and bolts it. Though it was irritating at first to call her and keep on repeating whatever I said , I soon understood its just a game those people play and after all I am their would be brother-in-law. I can always ask G to keep those troubling kids away when she speaks to me but that would kill the fun those guys have and will always put me into the category of serious types. Of course I am not one. I was a kid once and have played these kinds of games again and again but how would they know we put the mask of an adult now-a-days. Am happy that atleast G knows how to be a kid with a kid and hopefully I will relearn in the course of time.