A touching letter from my brother to my daughter, Navya when she turned One in 2005.

To my darling little niece,

You are EXTREMELY special to me! NO… don’t put that cheeky little tongue out yet. :) I have loads of uncles and aunts and cousins, once removed, twice removed, even several times removed. I am even an uncle to some of my cousins’ children. But YOU, my dear Navya, occupy a verrrrrrrrrrrry special place in my heart.

You are my first ever 100% original niece as the dictionary defines it! And you will always hold that position. :)

It’s a big responsibility, mind it. Mummies and daddies are for doing all the boring stuff like setting a good example and learning to keep your room clean and teaching you the finer points of algebra so that you can score well in your exams. Uncles are meant for higher purposes… adventurous things! J Of course, here I must caution you a bit. Rappelling down mountains or playing with crazy dogs… now THAT is the domain of your other uncles, Ajay and Vijay. I am in charge of ALL things related to an adventure of the mind and spirit! :)

As you grow up, you will definitely come across ideas that will challenge you. I want you to know that at those times or at times when you feel that no one understands you, I will always be available for a heart-to-heart chat no matter where I will be on Planet Earth. I promise NEVER to judge you or treat you like I always know better as adults often tend to do… an action I myself am guilty of indulging in often with other people.

Kahlil Gibran has said about children, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.“.

I hope that you will be part of the generation that will break out of old ways of thinking and doing that have held mankind back. I hope and wish that in the approaching years, as you and other little children discover the world afresh, this planet will become a much safer, cleaner, saner place to live in.

Show us the way, innocent beautiful little girl!

Your loving chittappa,

Vinod :)