My Sunshine Baby-Aarav

  Like almost everything else in our society, the concept of friendship is something which is expected to fit into neat little columns. So, we have childhood friends; the ones we have known forever, the ones who have seen us grow and who have grown with us. Then we have our “official” friends; people whom we started out as knowing as colleagues and who eventually became more. Then come our family friends; people whom we start out with on a formal note but come to accept and admire as our own. As we head into our 40’s we have our mid-life friends; the ones who get to know us after a major portion of our lives is over but who, all the same, have our back. And then of course, there are “mom friends”; people whom we get to know through our kids and who continue to be a part of our lives, even when the kids don’t really recognize each other at all!!! But very seldom, as adults, do we talk about our 3am friends. Now, as someone in their 40s you will probably understand that 3...

I have always grown up with pets. First a rabbit, then birds, and then a succession of dogs, most of them adopted off the street. When I had Ayana, both Sameer and I were in agreement that our kids must also grow up around pets. Bruno entered our lives when Ayana was 1.5 years old and to be completely honest, I wasn’t ready for the added responsibility. I took time to adjust to him and much though it pains me to admit it, I was stricter with him than I should have been. When the incident with Aarav happened and our lives turned topsy-turvy, it was Bruno I turned to for solace. Many a night passed with me sobbing into his fur, unbeknown to anyone. He was Aarav’s favourite from the time Aarav learned how to crawl and it was him I turned to when I felt that life had fallen apart. So when a few months after we returned from the hospital Bruno fell sick and left us, I felt that my heart could take no more sorrow. Thus, it was with great reluctance, at Mom’s urging that Ayana and I wen...