How did a sibling relationship evolve? By Sonal Jain

My brother’s importance and presence in my life are greater than any other relationship so far. Like every relationship, even this one evolved and as we grew older, I feel currently we are in the best phase of our bond. 

Well, all that I am going to write today is entirely based on what I feel about this siblings’ bond and how has it transformed for the better.

Let’s begin from the beginning-

My brother Mohit is 3 years younger than me. He showed signs of excellence right from the beginning and that has been the same to date. Ever since I understood the real meaning of being siblings, there was never a competition or jealousy, or hard feeling over anything. I would always be the first person to encourage and the first to criticize.

But as we started to grow up and entered our teenage phase, things began to distort. I think it was because of the opposite gender and it brought in the difference of choices, opinions, friends, and interests. 

Individually both of us were enjoying the new phase of our lives by discovering new things but the essence of a sibling’s bond was overshadowed. There were fewer discussions about what is happening in our lives. 

Personal space became more important than a conversation. It went on for quite some time until I entered my adulthood.

Beginning of a new bond

When I entered adulthood, my brother was finishing an NCC camp in his school. Whenever we got a chance to speak, he would tell me the complete deets of his camp. Post finishing the camp when he returned home, one night he randomly brought up a topic, basically an incident that happened in the camp that moved his mental health for the first time in life. 

It felt as if he only needed someone to listen and that someone was me. He chose me to speak about it without asking for anything in return. As a sister I was concerned but that day I felt like a confidant. I believe I was a great listener and that made me much more responsible.

I believe this to be the turning point of my relationship with my brother. It gave him the confidence to speak in front of me about his deepest concerns. It made me more responsible, and I did not have to nag him anymore whenever he wanted to speak. 

Difference of interests-

Since childhood, there have been vast differences in both our choices, interests, and decisions. He was more sporty, upfront, and introvert unlike me. Most of our choices varied so there were not many activities we did together. 

When I was growing, my interest in music developed and I would constantly hear music. He being 3 years younger, would taunt me in front of mom saying why does she always listen to music. Looks like he didn’t like people constantly listening to music. 3 years later I see the same development in him and would then tell my mom, look how quickly things change. Today my brother listens to more music than me in my entire life till now. 

But since I am speaking of interests, I have an interesting story to share, and I consider this the phase of my life and a fantastic point in our relationship. I have always been fond of the camera, mostly being behind the camera. You can see me constantly obsessing over one landscape and clicking at least 20 pictures standing at one spot. It is a mad obsession, but I like it.  

 

On the contrary, is my brother who is exactly the opposite of what I have described. Never did he once try to use a tripod and help me shoot videos or pictures when we traveled.

 

But recently in January 2021, this entirely changed. We traveled post the lockdown and took our trip to Chikmagalur, Karnataka. All I could see is my brother is obsessed with my tripod and shooting all sorts of videos that I wanted. 

It gave me a sense of happiness because it was one common thing, we both could discuss together. This part of our life changed the dynamic of the relationship and now things have become even better when he has learned editing and checkout for trends to shoot.

RAKSHABANDHAN-

Raksha Bandhan is one such festival I truly believe in. The traditional values and thoughts that have been put into this festival, make it more special. My excitement on this day is on cloud nine. 

First Raksha Bandhan

Every year, this festival and its celebrations become better. In 2019, we planned a trip to Varanasi and luckily it was exactly on Raksha Bandhan. Tieing him Rakhi on the banks of river Ganga made it much more special and ever since I have been wanting to celebrate it in such special ways. There is no compulsion, but the heart wants what it wants.

Rakhi on Ganga River

So, this year, 2021 I got another chance to do something special. My brother was in his hostel, and I only hoped he’d be back on Raksha Bandhan, and it happened. He came back for the holidays in August, and we all planned a short vacation. Since I was the one planning, I thought of going to Amritsar and Tieing him Rakhi in front of the Golden Temple. My plan went successful, and this is one such celebration I would never forget in my life. It was calm, peaceful, pious, and full filling.

Rakhi at Golden Temple

A New experience incoming-

Well, this blog was supposed to be a Raksha Bandhan special but there was another experience that I was about to live with my brother, and I felt the need to mention it here. This is entirely a new experience, and we were planning for the month of August. 

Well, it was a trip to LEH-LADAKH all by ourselves, without our parents and it was one of its kind. This was our first trip with each other, and I can say it was the most wonderful one.

Things were different, we were more responsible, took care of each other, tried different ways to shoot videos and pictures there and a lot of that happened. It is a great feeling to be looking out for each other when no one else is around and being there if any problems come in.

In the end, I would only want to say that how do people get through life without a sibling. Well, not that I know how it feels to be a single child, but having a sibling makes it much more fun. There are so many different phases of life that you go through together and still loving a person wholeheartedly where you can go to any limits to make them happy and secure. The beauty of a sibling's bond is always going to be special.