Turning seventeen is a unique milestone. If you have ever gone to a hill top to see a sun rise (read Darjeeling Tiger hill for my friends from Kolkata) , it is that moment just before the sun pops into the horizon but not there yet. It is that brink of adulthood, yet still holding onto the remnants of childhood.
It’s a year of growth, self-discovery, making new choices and newfound independence all of which will shape your future.
As parents, it is an exciting mix of anticipation and nostalgia as you reflect on the past while eagerly looking forward to what’s to come. So with that nostalgia a short rhyme of words ( can’t do the audacity of calling it a poem) celebrating 17 years for Vyom . Where better to start but the very first set of words I wrote for you . Happy 17th birthday Vyom . Remain the good human you are
“Children” a question many ask
Answer probably a difficult task.
Your parents asked the same a couple years back,
Then God came with you as a gift sack.Seventeen years, my boy, how time has flown,
From that bright sunny August in Munich, where you were born.
Joy that filled the room, with the first breath you took,
That moment of happiness , our world forever shook.The light of our lives, so small and bright,
Perched on my shoulders, Marineplatz or Mannheim reaching new heights.
Wide-eyed and always with a smile you saw the world full of dreams
Nothing would make you happier than licking those ice creams.Oh, the days when “Mauji hi Mauja” would play,
In the backseat, you’d dance the worries away.
Now here you are, behind the wheel with pride,
Driving your own path, no longer needing a guide.Your last year of high school, a journey near its end,
But the man you’ve become, my son, my friend,
Fills me with pride, more than words can say,
A Mukerjee through and through, in every way.Keep carrying our name with honor, my dear,
But more than that, stay true, sincere.
For it’s your heart that makes you who you are,
A good human being, our brightest star.So here’s to you, Vyom, at seventeen,
For all that you are, and all you’ve been.
May the road ahead be as bright as you,
With love, pride, and blessings, in all you do.
