Elder Sister

Today is Santhi's first day in college. She was five years old when we took her to school and she joined in UKG directly.

I still remember my first daughter sreethi's first day at school. She used to tell us how keen she was to go to school. Only few kids are like that. But her sister Santhi was not one like that.



Now eleven long years are gone and Santhi is going to start a new life in her college.



Sreethi is very talkative and smart. Santhi is calm and sweet. Sreethi always has a smile on her face but Santhi cries for every silly thing. But it was only last month that I came to know the person who made Santhi's mouth shut. It was none other than her elder sister, but little did even Sreethi know about this fact.



Santhi's secondary school exams results were announced last month and she scored good marks. Then we had to put her to college, and selecting a college was a big task. I asked her, "Santhi in which college do u want to join?"



"I am ready to join in any college where there is nobody who knows Sreethi. I want the world to realise that I am Santhi.

That is my only condition." She replied.



I stared at her, even my wife looked puzzled. Neither of us nor Sreethi understood what she told.



"It is my greatest wish, to be in a place where I would be known as Santhi and not Sreethi's sister. At school, whenever teachers were not satisfied with my marks they would say that they could not imagine Sreethi's sister getting such marks.

When I got good marks I saw them giving credits to Sreethi telling that there was nothing to wonder since I was Sreethis sister. People around me attached her name in everything I did or said.



Enough enough of it, I want to have my own identity, atleast now or never would it happen later."



Santhi got admission in a good college where everybody would know her as Santhi. Also they would know Sreethi as Santhi's elder sister.