Kathmandu:

I never knew that time would flow this fast. I wish if I could hold it tight and make it stand still! Yes, I am talking about time! But I know I can’t do so and the wishes get fulfilled in movies and books only. I still remember when my daughter was pretty young. She looked like a princess at the time but now she looks like a queen. I used to make an issue when she did something really intelligent. When she first said “Mom,” I felt as if I would cry out. And when she started walking, I thought, one day the whole world would walk after her. But these days, I see her walking with the world and that gives me even more pleasure. I have preserved all the memories of her childhood. The little frock which I bought for her for the first time, the bracelets and anklets that her grandmother gifted her and even the marksheets and answersheets of her junior classes are still with me! That was the time when she wrote essays on the topics like “My Mom”, “My Family” and so on. But nowadays she prefers writing love stories than any other thing. I never knew when she started going for “MTV” instead of “Cartoon Network” and never noticed when she inculcated the habit of learning by herself. Rather than going to her relatives, she prefers getting together with her friends. She used to request me to cook for her on her birthdays but these days she wants to celebrate it with her friends in restaurants.

Neither am I “conservative” nor do I want to hold her within myself but still I feel that something has changed. When I get ready to go out, she asks me to wear this and not wear that. I feel good! I know she cares for me. But when the same comes to me, she thinks I am interfering with her freedom. But I am very happy that when I point out her mistakes, she instantly realises them and apologises for them. My daughter has grown up at last.