Sorry : This relation is currently Disconnected

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUU DEAR SISTER!”

Now imitate that in the voice of a 4-year old girl who just started going to school a few months back. My little cousin from thousands of miles away called to chime in one of the countles birthday messages that I heard throughout the day. Even though that call woke me up from my much-needed sleep, it brought this biggest smile on my face! But along with that, there were constant pangs of guilt as I continued my conversation with her.

Family - one of the many aspects of our everyday life that we seem to take for granted. Excuses are plenty - either you don’t have the time, the energy, the state of mind, or whatsoever. And family always understand; its kinda like their duty of course. But the fact is, there’s no such thing as “being busy”. Its actually all about priorities. And that’s where we ALWAYS go wrong.

I talk to this little cousin of mine once in 6 months maybe. Then once a year when I head back to my country, we live in the same house. Every 3 months this little girl awaits the arrival of an aunt/uncle with their kids to come to their house and become their family for a month. My mistake here is, after that one month, I tend to completely disconnect myself from that part of the world. Don’t shake your head in disapproval; we’ve all done something on the same line! This cousin of mine, filled with all her innocence, tells me that she’s waiting for me to come so that I can help her do her nails and play hide-and-seek and dress up! And right now while writing this blog, I feel like a complete jerk. This little girl has obviously done no wrong in her life. But yet I choose to get so distracted and engrossed in my own world, that I cannot spend 2 minutes to pick up the phone, dial her number, and talk to her about whatever it is that little girls want to talk about!

I am fully aware that I have bruised many relations this way. I am dreading the moment my grandmother pops a question about this, because I know then that I probably will not be able to look into those eyes and say “I was busy”. So this time, I am making myself a promise that it is high time I paid more attention to the rest of my family. I think I still have a little cash left from my birthday money. Maybe its time I visited the toy store.