The Four Year Old Roomie

Incredible moments come into your life at unprecedented times. Such was this event of my life when I shared my room and my life with a little girl of about 4 years.

It was not the relationship of a mother and daughter but that of students, of roommates and friends. Although, we could not neglect the blood bindings that we shared, especially when we went out socially and occasionally. The larger part of it was spent as two sensible people sharing the same roof.

Here is my version of the six months I spent with my 4 year old as my best friends.

I would like to call her as my ideal roommate I could ever live with. She portrayed a little too sensible for her age. The checklist for the roomie was all ticked, she was neat and tidy in her own, and she helped in the kitchen with the dishes and laundry. Most importantly, she had some great bathroom etiquettes. She had been my perfect partner in crime to watch those late night movies over the weekend with ice creams, popcorns and chocolates.

As students, we were both struggling in our areas of learning, yet we did manage to nail things in the end. We shared some common interests in drawing and photography. This really helped us bond more. Turned out, the more I got to know her as a roomie, the more I loved her as a mom.

We both had our space in the small niche of an apartment, which no one bothered to break. Our conversations were not limited to childlike books and stories. We discussed so much sensible stuff that I ended up learning a great deal from her. Once I asked her about her future plans, she disdainfully replied, “Right now I just want to be a Four year old”. This reflected her part of living in the moment. It kind of enlightened my world and I let go of that burden I had been carrying for a long time – The Future. So I decided to move on and started living in the present as well. From that point, life seemed so beautiful and simple. I was reminded of one of my own theories that we as humans are solely responsible for the complexity we bring about in our lives.

We had our own jokes to crack, dancing around in the room like drunks - only with juice n milk. I have had happy high times in my life before, but these were unbelievably special. The innocent mind that dragged me into her world gave the stories of Peter Pan and The little prince a new meaning to my life.

She cooperated with me in every small little thing. She never stopped being a four year old and she never gave away her tantrums. But don’t we all do that even as adults. How often do we give away our habits of a strong head and how often do we forgive accidental incidents. We call the kids stubborn, but for a fact, adults are far more rigid and stubborn than those small little souls can even understand. We are far more scathed and edgy that we invite unreasonable circumstance to surround us.

It surprised me how kids have a solution to every mess they create, very rarely they run away and are most of the time prepared to face life. I wonder how I might have survived those tougher times without her. The result was, a happier me. Keeping complexity at bay, I started finding smaller joyous moments of my life. I began searching for that innocent kid, deep down hidden in me.  Those six months had been an eye opener for me. They were probably the best lesson I could learn from my life and hers as well.

As we become parents, we tend to become those teachers who refuse to learn from their students. On the contrary, it should be both ways.  And, now at 31, I feel this is indeed the elixir of my life. It may not make my heart that of gold but certainly worthy enough of living well.