As Swadha turns five.

My Swadha has completed five whole revolutions around the sun - she is now a five-year old girl. I wear my motherhood with confidence and pride that is an order of magnitude greater than anything else that I am now or have the ability to be in the future. 

As I sit down to write about this big event in my journals - in Hindi (in my dairy using a pen and a surprised set of muscles in my right hand and wrist); and in English (in this virtual infinite space where the delete button has blunted my sense of frugality with words and offers the luxury of refining a sentence till I hear resonance), I am reminded of this video where a parent expresses the gratitude he feels for his son reaching five years of age by traversing the path to the village temple on his hands. A city girl wonders about the reason for this fuss and is told of its significance. And she nods in understanding. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vZzIjSCoQ

Life has the ability to be so chaotic, noisy and rushed. Swadha changes the aperture and the scene transforms into one of joy, beauty and music. I marvel about how completely she experiences emotions - any emotion she encounters: the happy-hop for her banana shake (with a twisty straw) or her sense of accomplishment for riding her bicycle without her daddy holding the seat, or her annoyance on the three-game limit on a newspaper website or her distress about the flavor of her toothpaste.  

As she opened her birthday gifts, she found her brand new digital camera and a protective case (in her favorite colors). She processed what this meant ("I am now free to take as many photos and videos as I want!" "I don't need to ask about borrowing a phone to take pictures!") and waited patiently while the battery was plugged-in for charging. Then she taught herself the functionalities of her camera within the next hour, with little help from her parents. Her delight as she explores this new medium of self expression is like the rainbow. 

And I sit and watch, and join her in her thrill of discovery. And feel so much gratitude for the chance.