I cried, cried and cried till i realised that she was separating from me for a brief moment and before i would know it we would be together again, like we always have been!!

This was my emotional state on the day my sister got married. For me, as a kid, my sister meant the world to me. Till standard 5th i did not have many friends because with my sister around i never felt the need to have them. She was my confidant, my guide, my philosopher blah blah blah!And then when (after struggling really hard with scores) i reached class 6th, life took an amazing turn. I changed school. Since earlier we were reading together at Carmel Convent, Lucknow, all the nuns and sisters knew me as Ashima's sister. Thanks to my sister, who by the way was a very brilliant and well known student, half of the school knew me like that and the other half did not even know that i existed. It did irritate me a lot but the memories of those days are not very fresh so i cannot recollect if it turned me into some sort of a rebel.But never mind with the change of school i thought i can be myself and create an identity of my own but worst was instored for the poor me. The identity i hated ( being adressed as ahsima's sister) had left me and a new one had taken upon me which i felt was like a nightmare coming true. My new identity was that of an anonymus.I hated it but accepted it without any indulging my self into any sort of extreme reactions. I realised that this was the time for me to prove my meteal as an individual and tell the world that there is more to me than being someone's younger sister.The fight was already on and i was working hard on improving my personality. But deep down, in the middle of my gooey heart i was missing being compared to my sister. I was longing to be called her shadow, i was wanting to be identified as her sister.

Flash forward to today...when i look back at those old days all i can remember of is the time my sister and i had happily spend together. The times when we would conspire to hide a secret from mom and dad, when we would stand for each other (and always it was and still is me who becomes the target of mom's anger), the times when we would blackmail each other and swear on each others life if either of us was caught wearing each other's clothes.All these little then scary but now sweet memories are atill vivid in my mind. Thankfully the memories of the time when i was struggling hard to walk away from my sister's shadow has completely faded for had i allowed myself to succed in that battle of mine, i believe i would have lost my most precious thing in my entire life. My sister, my life!For all the people who have a younger or elder sibling/s it is very important to remember that when the whole world turns its back on you its not your friends but your blood that would support you.And it is not because you don't have any real friends but it is simply because there is no one else who understands you better than them. They are the people who have grown up with you, known your weakness and strenght and also stood by you in times when your chips were really down. These are the people who have influenced you to stive for better things in life and also inspired the human side of your personality. Thank God for i realised this early in my life and saved myself from destroying one of the most wonderful and unconditional relation in my life. So, today when people tell me that i resemble my sister a lot or that i should try and be nice to people, like she is, neither do i go mad pulling my hair nor do brood i take pride in being suggested these things because after all we are of the same blood and there is absolutely no harm in being known as the shadow of the best sister in the world.

We guys are not living together anymore (unless and untill her my brother-in-law decides to officially adopt me)but the bond that we share is even stronger than before.Our relationship has had its share of ups and downs but i am glad that it has weathered every storm it faced.Internet, phone sms are all there to keep us connected with each other 24x7 buts its this really strong soul connection that we have that makes our bonding special.Wether we meet on a weekly basis or not our heart still goes out to each other and even the slightest gossip that anyone of us comes across is shared at the speed of light.Even though we live separetely our thoughts, our memories, our emotions and sentiments and most importantly our love resides in each others heart and that is what i think is the fuel for our survival.

To my most precious asset in the world and to my only soulmate all i would want to say is always keep similing...keep shining...knowing you can always count on me...for sure...that's what sisters are for...in good times and bad times...i'll be on your side forever more...that's what sisters are for!!

Love you always!