Here I am, standing on the shore, holding my world by the hand. Shreya, my li’l princess. Waves are washing away the sand beneath our feet. Shreya’s smile widens with every wave bursting under her feet. She must have picked this fascination about waves from me. It’s been 4 years, she is the nucleus of our lives. Riya’s feelings must be in sync with mine. Riya and I met on this very shore for the first time. I was leading the group of students of the school where I taught, and she was there with her family. It was love at first sight. Sadly, we couldn’t even exchange pleasantries. Therefore knowing names, where we lived, what we did was out of question.

It seems that destiny had it stored in our future. I returned from our trip and got busy, preparing for an exhibition of photographs the students had clicked during the trip. It was a grand one, as it was the 10th year of our school and our first batch of students were graduating.  I had also put some of my clicks in the exhibition. It was a busy evening at the hall. The hall was buzzing with students, parents and patrons of our school. I was busy listening to the praises about the skills that my students had shown. Suddenly in the crowd, my eyes froze on her face. Yes, she was there and this time, alone. She was eagerly waiting for the crowd to disperse. My heart was skipping beats. Our eyes met and I sensed the flair of excitement in her eyes. I excused myself from the group. Our eyes signaled each other and both of us moved to the corner. Only our eyes did the talking.

A year flew by after we met in that corner of the exhibition hall. We got engaged with blessings of her family and cheers of from pals. Within the next 6 months, Miss Riya came in my home as Mrs. Riya Shreyas. I now had a family of my own. Being a lonely soul since birth, having my own family was a very satisfying thing. The bond between us grew like aged wine. Shreya entered our life, and our world started revolving around her.

It’s Shreya’s 4th birthday. Sun has almost set. It’s a starry night and I am sure that the campfire will take it the next level with the background score of bursting waves. I should now get back to setting the campfire. Shreya is going to get her own story of “How I met your mother” by that campfire as her birthday gift.