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Once you came
I wondered if I had a life before
As it seemed so impossible.

With your first cry
You took over my life
Every moment became enslaved by your thought
To look at you,
To take care of you.
When you went away
It was so hard
As if some one took away a part of me

Like the opening of a flower bud
You grew more and more beautiful
Your giggles got replaced by words
You danced to the rhythms whenever you heard it
Your tiny fingers that used to pull my hair to fight
Became bigger and got colored
Multiple ear rings appeared on your ears.

I could not put you any more on my legs and read
Or need to clean you or bath you
Or put you to sleep by driving around
But listen to you
Talking about the world
You were building around you.

The days became years
The baby girl became a teenager
Womanhood sneaking in scrumptiously
Before I knew you were a woman
A woman who saw the world
By travelling, by talking to people
By reading and experiencing
The mind’s magic wand
and
By seeing through
The constructions of the society

Now you are on your own
Mostly far away but not too far
Still connected in mind
In heart
Also by magic of technology

When we meet
No more pulling my hair to fight
But we talk about happenings and ideas
Beyond roti and chawl
Beyond home work
Beyond being Indians
Beyond being American
Beyond living day to day life
But as friends
Sharing ideas and caring for each other
connected
By love and respect
And connecting the dots
Between parenthood and humanity
And beyond.