Tomboyishly Girly!

It was a cousin's birthday. And we were all invited. I knew it was themed around cricket and around 20 other boys had also been asked. Vaibhav was super excited to say the least and was looking forward to a fun evening with his Dad, cousins and Uncle.

Now, I had no idea how Shriya or I would fit into all this. I tried to politely decline but was very nicely told off and asked to just get there on time. Shriya said she would finish her music lesson and then head to the party, 'afterall, I'm not into cricket, ma'!

She had picked a pretty cotton dress with a delicate organza overcoat, asked me to do her hair in a french plait and borrowed a bit of my kohl for her eyes. I felt terrible that she was making so much of an effort when deep down I knew she was probably going to get utterly bored out of her mind.

When we reached, the game was nearly done and the other guests- filthy, sweaty, starving eleven year olds (and some even older) piled in and grabbed their seats around the table. Some of them stared at her as if she had ended up at the wrong party while others whispered that it was Vaibhav's sister and the birthday boy's cousin. My little girl sat demurely at one end and delicately nibbled on a piece of garlic bread while all around her pizza was being devoured at great speed. The meal being done, all the boys headed out for more games and play. And before I knew it, Shriya had left with them.

Thought to be old enough, the boys were left unsupervised which left this little knot at the pit of my stomach. What if one of those fellas bullied my girl? What if she felt very sad at being left out of their play? What if one of them had been rough during a game and knocked my little girl down?

Enough! I rushed down to protect my little girl and assure her that she had company in me for the evening. I panicked when I could not find her amidst those loud boys. And then I caught a glimpse of purple kicking a ball. She threw her wispy coat to me and screamed she did not want it to tear. Lots of cheering, laughing and backpatting later, a bunch of boys came up to me and asked if Shriya and Vaibhav could please stay back for the movie!

They did. And the movie that the boys chose was ' Jurassic Park'. Not my favourite and I was more concerned that it might be too scary for my little one. But she insisted she would be fine and went and plonked herself on a few of those dirty laps, mindless to the fact that they had all completely taken over the couch. ' Please move and make me some space or you can be my seat'! Whoa, the girl had some spunk, I thought. But to my surprise, the boys just giggled and moved to make space.

After a gory 2 hours, during which Shriya neither screamed nor seemed even a bit perturbed, we left to a lot of warm goodbyes and goodnights. Looked like they had a great time. I casually asked Shriya if she had enjoyed herself. She said that it had been a super party and the boys had even asked her to join them in the field for a round of soccer, the next time she visited her cousins.

I am amazed at how a little girl with a pink bedroom, tiara and a secret diary can transform and play like a boy and be one of them with absolute, complete ease. I loved how confidently she found her place with those boys, least bothered about their size or age. And, I have learned that Shriya can be as much a girly girl as she can strike a neat goal. Even in a pretty pink dress.