Vee is a girl I watched grow up, and who probably watched me grow up a bit as well. I think she's also the closest I’ll ever get to having a daughter.
I first met Vee when she was 6 months old and I was 14. She was this bald little kid with shiny bright eyes and a mouth full of drool. She lived with her grandparents, mother and aunts in the same building as I, so anytime they needed a babysitter they’d dump her with me.
At first, I approached Vee with mild trepidation. I was this angst-ridden teenager, all out to rebel. The last thing I wanted was a crying baby attached to my hip. But I had always loved babies and have been told that even when I was little kid myself I loved anyone tinier than me. I eventually warmed up to Vee; she was such a bundle of energy that I couldn’t ignore her anymore. We forged a great bond, that little kid and I. The older she got the more she idolised me and would follow me wherever I went.

Apart from being bright-eyed and cute, Vee was also a smart little punter. She knew just how to butter me up. If I gave her a bag of potato chips or a bar of Dairymilk she’d sing out loud, "I love you G," and tell my Dad, "You know Uncle, G is my besht frinn."
Like all kids, Vee was prone to catching a cold so her Mom asked me not to give in to her whims and buy her ice creams or colas. One evening, having just gotten over a cough and runny nose, Vee saw the kulfi wallah from the balcony of my apartment. "Kulfi, kulfi, kulfi," she screamed, "Please G, I want kulfi."
"No," I said, "You know you can’t have any. You’ll catch a cold again."
She looked at me for a second and then opened her impish little mouth to say, "But G, what if I wear my sweater and eat the kulfi? Then I won’t catch a cold will I?"
She was so hilarious!

Like all kids, she was full of questions all the time. Sometimes I had to pretend to be asleep just to escape her endless, inexplicable questions. There was this phase she went through when the only words to come out of her mouth would be, "What is this?" She even pointed out to people she was meeting for the first time and asked her trademark question!
Vee was quite affectionate sometimes; she would hold my big face with her little hands and plant a big wet kiss on my mouth. And then I had to kiss her crinkled up nose and tickle her tummy. And she’d laugh and laugh. I used to call her my doll and she loved it. We’d watch cartoons together, especially Tom and Jerry, which was our favourite and remains mine to this day. Vee loved Jerry and would squeal with delight as she watched him bash the living daylights out of Tom.

Vee was so mischievous that her family found it hard to handle her. Once, when she created a big ruckus inside their apartment, her grandfather literally tied her to a leash in the balcony and left her there with all her toys. She could move around all she wanted in the balcony and keep herself amused as long as she didn’t get in. A little while later, when things were too quiet, her granddad popped out to check on her. Guess what Vee had done? She found this can of black oil paint in a corner so she painted all around the balcony, just as high as she could reach!
There are so many more memories; Vee getting her little head tonsured for the first time, her first day of school, the first time she went on a picnic, the first time she went away on holiday and wouldn’t stop crying because she thought we’d never see each other again, the first time she ever entered a cinema hall when I took her to watch Free Willy. She wouldn't keep still and I think I watched her jump more than Willy the Whale!

When Vee was 6, her family moved and I didn’t see her too often. I got busy in my final year at college and Vee settled into her new home. I did bring her home a couple of times and by then her favourite word was garbage or gaabidge as she pronounced it. She used it to describe everything - Her school, her teachers, her homework, her kid brother, new shows on TV. Everyone and everything was gaabidge! She had also learned the dance steps to Humma Humma and performed them for me.
Then Vee’s family moved again and so did we, and we actually ended up living in the opposite ends of the city so years passed before we could meet again. But she’d call me on the phone or chat on MSN sometimes and I’d notice her growing up. She heard about the boy and was really excited about me getting married. She told me she would sing us a song at the wedding.

I finally met her about year and a half before I got married and couldn’t believe how she’d grown up. She was now 13 and as tall as me, and later when I saw her at my wedding, she was even taller!
Vee was really excited to hear about my “boyfriend” and asked me to show her pictures. She giggled like the school girl she was. I asked her if she had any boyfriends of her own and she said, “Yuck, I hate boys!”
She had been participating in a lot of talent shows and singing competitions and she talked about them with a passion. She said she loved Celine Dion and sang The Power of Love for me. I tried telling her that Jennifer Rush sang it years before and a much better version too but Vee wouldn’t budge. She thought Celine was “the best.”

The last time I met Vee was at our wedding reception, where I obviously couldn’t speak much to her. I remember how she hugged me and said, “G you look so pretty. I have never seen you with make-up and your hair done this way.” I couldn’t believe that was my little brat talking!

Today is her birthday and if I remember correctly, she turns 20! It takes me back
to all the birthdays I was there for and the ones that I've missed. Time was when I couldn’t imagine not having Vee in my life, she was like family. Now, it’s been years since I’ve wished her on her birthday or even sent her a card. But I do remember her fondly and in my heart she will always be that soft little kid who clutched at my little finger and smiled whenever she woke up in my arms.