SandCastle - A Story

"Mom!!! you are not listening to me!! Loooooook aaatt myyyy saaaand caaaastle."

I suddenly came back from my siesta. Krish, my 4 year old son was calling me for something. Oh! He wants me to look at his sandcastle, which i know would be exactly the same as he made yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before that. I smiled slowly. He is such a kid! well, 4-year olds are actually called kids. Phew!! From where do they get all the energy from, is still not very apparent to me.

"Mom!!! Come-on, you are soooo laaaaazy. I have taken 2 rounds from my castle towards you and you are still sitting here". My little son was shouting at me and i was watching him speechlessly. I hugged him while he was making those cute little faces while speaking. "Okay, so now will you come? Please! Please! Please!" He said softly in my ear. He probably has learned how to coax me into doing something for him. Somehow he was getting too eager to show me his castle, which i have been watching since the time he learned how to make it.

I took his hand on my palm and started walking with him to his sandcastle. And the instant I lay my eyes on it I knew the reason for his eagerness. He had decorated the sandcastle with shells and hey, there's a starfish too. I saw him with a swelled-up chest, looking at me, waiting for me to say its good.
"Its good, Lets go home now. You deserve a chocolate for all your hard work". I guess chocolate trick might do the works, for i know, from my experience of course, that he doesn't leave the beach quickly.

He kept rattling on. His chats (short)ranging from different colors of shells he collected to how he caught the star fish. I tried remembering what shells did i collect when i was his age.

In this small brain of mine, 28 years of a life are huddled up. Rewinding back by 24 years is not easy. I don't think i remember anything from that time of my life. But i do remember the time i told my parents that i am going to get married to sandeep. Their thought process didn't include letting their daughter get married at her own will. On top of that he was not from our caste. I never could understand what difference does a caste make?

Even though my parents agreed to get us married, they never believed i could be happy in this marriage. They warned me that this marriage is like a sandcastle, it'll wash away with next wave of fights. 5 years have went past since, but my parents attitude is still the same. Today, mom called me up, only to confirm that i am happy. Its so ironic that she wants me to be happy but cannot see the way my heart melts whenever i see sandeep walking towards me. she cannot see how beautiful my life is with two men to pamper me around. Hmm well, that is, if you could call Krish a man too.

And well, If i inspect closely, I see my son making sandcastles everyday, I hear him talk about it every hour. When I watch my husband helping him out on Sundays, I know my marriage finally has become a BIG sandcastle as my parents expected. BUT, It doesn't get washed away, it just get growing in our hearts. I am happy.