Me the "machhi"

Large dark eyes, silky short hair, chubby cheeks… meet my cute and adorable niece, all of two and a half years, a walking talking Japanese doll. But do not, I repeat do not underestimate her!! She is very much a matured, young lady (well, lady may be stretching it a little too far), who can’t yet read or write, but who shows off as she solemnly sits with a book and a marker, who goes to her “Butterfly” school in her green and yellow butterfly uniform, who runs in the opposite direction during her event and proudly declares she reached the finishing line before everybody else, who dances with complete strangers in Goa, who walks very fast and politely wishes people “good morning” on her way, who takes care of her appearance as she dresses herself in her short skirts and Shoppers Stop tunics and puts on hideous lipstick and big bangles, who firmly occupies the drivers’ seat in the car and fastens her seatbelt all ready to drive, who tries to make herself useful around the house as she runs errands and who dismisses her little sister as a helpless “baby”…

My weekend trip to the picturesque township of Haldia Petrochemicals (3 hours from Kolkata) to my sister’s place was spent in complete awe of my niece as I went back a couple of decades and found myself reciting nursery rhymes (it never fails to surprise me how well I remember Humpty Dumpty learnt twenty years back, while I struggle to memorize HR basics learnt in the last semester) with full enthusiasm, as I chased her down in the open lawns, as I took her for piggy back rides, as we fought for the last bite of the Kit Kat bar and as we cried together when it was time to leave…

She is my little angel, and I am a sucker for the way she calls me, “machhi”, the cuter version of “mashi” (aunt)