A letter to my elder brother

Dear Zakir Bhai,

I remember my sister complaining that she wished she had an elder brother. Though I feel insecure hearing this but the fact is, even I wished that I had an elder brother.

And like Eklavya considered guru Drona as his teacher without ever him teaching an alphabet to him in his physical presence, you have taught me lesson along with thousands of Indians, I consider none less than my elder brother I never had a chance to be physically in presence of . And like any younger brother I take your advice and suggestions very seriously. 

You have taught me many things, firstly prioritizing myself a little more. Like all the other male friends and acquaintances I have asked, my life's priority has been the comfort, dreams, respect, and happiness of others. I have had times when I have dreaded spending a rupee on myself despite having enough in my pocket and bank balance, at the same time getting the best of things if I am getting it for others. I was made to believe that my worth lies in making others feel better, whereas my feelings ranked very low on my list, you made me rethink my opinion on that.

The world talks a lot about how difficult is the life of females, but inherently every male is fighting millions of battles inside every day without letting the world know a single one of them. In a world where everyone is busy supporting pseudo-feminism, you are there talking about the ignored gender too. I love the way you help me by acknowledging the sacrifices and difficulties that my gender goes through in the times where it's mostly taken for granted. 

Today, I had a chance to listen to your podcast with Raj Semani, and I loved the way you presented your relationship with your aging parents. There is rarely a person at least in my age group who doesn't stress because of this. Your advice of making them feel important feels so valuable right now. You helped in realize the fact that it's our responsibility to make our loved ones feel valuable. Though it might be as small as letting a five-year-old teach you poems, a teenager explaining board exams are the most worrisome time of human life, or letting a young adult convince you that finding the love of your life is the biggest goal of your life, or letting your mom into believing that you don't know the recipe of making rice and daal every week, and you wouldn't be able to do a thing in the kitchen without her help. Despite having an experience of cooking almost every possible Indian regular cuisine multiple times on your own with the help of YouTube.

I am taking away the lesson, and imbibing the habit of making others feel important in my life, even risking portraying myself as a little dumb at times.

Thank you for being the elder brother, that not only me but the entire India looks up to.

Loads of love, and prayers that you achieve the heights of success that others dread even of dreaming.

Your younger one,

........