Last night I experienced Sweet Pain

Since Friday afternoon till yesterday morning I was really unwell. Cough, cold, body ache, fever, sneezing and resulting fatigue. There was no question of traveling and so I was resting at home.

And since his dad was home, my boy who will turn 3 in October, wanted to play with me. The tiger wanted to bite me, his 'King' fu Panda wanted to snuggle down in my bed, Batman, Superman and Spiderman were all combined in one and they had one common enemy; poor man resting.

And I was doing all that could to keep all these guys away as I didn't want them to catch cold. Initially I was doing it nicely. But this guy is pretty adamant and has now learned to tackle things.

"का लांब राहू बाबा" (why should I keep away, dad?),

"मी तुमच्याकडे नाही येतेय, मी तर तिकडे चाललोय." (I'm not coming near you, I'm going that way...).

But all this while, he was lingering around my bed.

Then I pulled out a leather belt.

Hold on...

Chiding this guy by showing him leather belt is like placing a scarecrow in front of those stubborn birds who eventually build their nests in its hollow chest as they know this thing never bites and never will.

But with my overacting I somehow managed to keep him away. For three days.

I told him that I will let him near me when MY COLD GOES AWAY (माझी सर्दी गेल्यावर तुला जवळ घेणार).

Three days went by.

Yesterday, after I finished my dinner, I was washing my dish. My wife was getting him ready to go to bed when she heard the 'sink' sound and said, "stop that, you will catch cold again...".

I replied,”अगं गेलीय माझी सर्दी, डोंट वरी” (“cold is gone, don't worry...").

And the moment I finished my sentence, I heard my boy running towards the kitchen.

He stood at the door and said,"आता तुम्ही मला जवळ घेणार बाबा? आता मी तुमच्या जवळ येऊ शकतो?" (Will you hold me close now Baba; may I come near you now?).

...

The feeling that followed instantly, when you jaw become heavy without having a cardiac arrest, your eyes become moist, little choking feeling in your throat and despite all this physical discomfort, you feel blessed for experiencing the moment, real special feeling, when you know someone loves you just for being you irrespective of anything and everything else..., when you know your passing statement is being registered so sincerely and means so much to someone… and that someone is so so so sweet! … is called "sweet pain".

You don't need to be Nostradamus to predict how tightly I held him yesterday!

May God keep you all blessing with little sweet pain once in a while, stay blessed!   

Regards,

Saumitra Salunke Thursday, 16th June 2016