Brother and Sister are supposed to fight

Toyna and me squatted on the floor trying to get some Hindi revision in order. Yog feeling left out, tried different means to get our attention. From scribbling on the books, snatching pencils and trying to tear the books, he tried his best to rescue Toyna from me.

When everything failed, he came to his last tried and tested technique – Hitting and Scratching. He caught hold of Toynas arm and pinched and scratched her. I turned to give him my dirtest possible look, trying to tell him it is not OK to hurt others. He acknowledged my look with one of sweetest smiles, maintained the eye contact with me and proceeded to hit Toyna on the arm again. I scowled at him. Toyna looked at me and then at her brother and figured that her mother was no longer in control of the situation. She decided it was time for her to take action.

She pushed Yog back from her and gave him a tight one on his arm. My jaw literally dropped as I realised this was really out of hand now. Toyna, till date, had never hit back at Yog. However, this shock was nothing compared to what was lined up ahead. Even though he was hurt, Yog giggled, picked himself up together and ran towards Toyna to throw himself at her with as much force he could garner. Toyna, in return, caught him before he could fall and proceeded to tickle him.

As Yog giggled and rolled in her arms, Toyna looked at me and said, “Don’t worry about us Mama! Just like you and Papa keep fighting, Yog and me are also supposed to fight. After all, we are brother and sister! ”

Once more, I was short of words to express my thoughts to this beautiful girl. Love, pride, wonder, and above all respect for Toyna could only be summarised by a big hug. But then, Yog had, by now, made sure that Toyna was far away from the clutches of her mother. A hug was not possible to either of the two parts of the rolling and laughing bundle. I left them alone to soak in their childhood and give myself time to soak in my blessings.