My sister Dolly...

This post is about a person whom I loved as a child and who was very special; my elder sister Usha whom we lovingly called 'Dolly' which actually later became 'Daally' in daily usage. Just like her name, she was like the first gentle rays of the morning sun. Unfortunately, she passed away in 1988 in a mishap when I was in my 3rd grade. To this day, I still regret that I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I should have. These are the memories of a 7 year old...

I was very young to remember everything about her but there a few things about her which are still fresh in my mind to this day. She was very good at writing absolutely beautiful and unique doodles of exquisite women faces. I used to admire them so much and also had saved some of them for quite a number of years. I tried mimicking her sketches myself but couldn't get it as good as her. The features of the women in her sketches would be Oh-so-delicate, just like my sister. She was one of the softest and gentlest person you could find. Also given the fact that she was almost 21 years older to me (yes, I know, I know!) she was more like a second Mother to me. I know of her more as a mother than a sister since I was so young. Maybe if she was around now I could have had a heart-to-heart sister chat with her and could have understood better of who she was as a person and what her deepest desires were.

She used to be just a little over 5 feet but she had loooong, thick, jet black hair which went all the way and below her waist. She was a very simple lady with very simple desires. While leaving for office she used to dress in a very simple manner but still she managed to look very pretty and elegant. I remember she used to always wear a violet colored, single stranded crystal beads necklace which I used to love. I used to think that the necklace represented my sister in many ways, as it was simple and short but at the same time unique, elegant and gently radiant just like my sister's personality.

She used to help me with my homework everyday evening and teach me Maths. Her handwriting was round and beautiful just like pearls. I remember spending hours together just admiring her handwriting. The same cannot be said about my handwriting though... :-) I also remember that I had a batty problem at school in LKG. I somehow couldn't bring myself to write the small letter 'f', weird isn't it! My teacher was very impatient with me since I used to always make a mistake. But Dolly corrected my mistake in a jiffy by patiently teaching me the right technique. I used to feel that with her as my teacher I could master anything very easily.

Back then itself she had done a course in COBOL programming and she used to tell me that she was good at it. She used to really enjoy her computer classes. I used to peek into her notes, just to admire her handwriting though. My Mother also used to tell me that she was very good at her studies but she was painfully shy. She had very few friends and one Kalpana was her best friend since childhood with whom she shared all her secrets. She also loved to eat raw rice while it was being cleaned. My mother used to berate her saying that it would rain during her wedding if she ate too much of raw rice and true to her words it did rain cats and dogs on her wedding night.

This brings me to her wedding day. I was literally everywhere. I was so excited with the happenings. The main episode that I remember was her reception during which my sis was looking soooooo gorgeous, just like the women in her doodles. She was so beautiful that evening that I just couldn't keep my eyes off her. That is the day I realized that my sister was a beautiful person not only on the inside but on the outside as well! I also cried so much that night after she left. I was mainly worried about who would help me with my homework going forward!!! I also remember that I cried even more on the day she left us which was just 3 months after her wedding but that is something I do not want to remember.

When I come to think of it today, I am literally opposite to her in nature as well as physical appearance. She was short while I am quite tall, she had a perfectly round face while I have an oval face, she had thick long hair while I have messy curly hair, she had big beautiful eyes while I have medium eyes, she was gentle as a lamb while I was quite tomboyish, and we had so many years separating us hmmm....but nevertheless the face remains that we were sisters :-)

Daally, these are some tattered memories I have of you. I just wish I got to know more of you but nevertheless I am happy that I did know a warm and sweet person like you atleast to some extent.