Why did it happen so?

I'd mentioned earlier that I've two birthdays - one by the English calendar, which is 24 Nov and the other as per the Malayalam calendar, which turns up anywhere between the third week of November and the second week of December. Lekha is the only person who wishes me on both the dates and insists on giving me gifts on both occasions!

This year, however, it did not turn out to be so. Lekha has been going through a rough patch insofar as her illness is concerned and has been visiting the doctor for over the last four months for medical management. Probably it's because of her physical discomfort and this time, she was surprised herself that she'd missed out on 24 Nov and was very, very apologetic.

And today was my birthday as per the Malayalam calendar. She'd over the past few days bought a card, some clothes as gifts and had ordered for a cake! But early this morning I'd got up hearing her cry because of excruciating pain all over her body. It took some time to manage her discomfort and she was feeling guilty that my birthday had kicked off on this note. It took all my powers of conviction to put her at ease and to convey to her that her good health was the best birthday gift for me.

I think that the resurgence of her old ailment(SLE) and an early setting in of winter in Delhi have made matters worse for her this year. It's my fervent hope that once she reaches home and her dad on Tuesday, things will turn around for the better. She'd join up with me here, at Delhi, sometime during the third week of Feb '11 after the winter has receded.

And therefore, it's gonna be a long lonely winter!