Seconds
SecondsBy this I mean not minute-seconds; not the second hole girls have on their ears, but the kids born second to their parents. This is just a random thought that flashed across my mind, and nothing serious, so Anu, don’t mind! :)
Second kids, if they have no more siblings after them, are called kadai kutti in Tamil. They are supposed to be highly spoilt, pampered children. But mind you, that’s rarely true! Seconds are the poor souls who are second in many things, right from that dress you wore when you were three years old, to the cycle you rode when you were a kid. I mean, they mostly get things second hand.
People usually think seconds are children who are just pampered like hell. But no, I guess parents take extra effort not to earn their child this title and are, in fact, extra strict.
Seconds are also the ones subject to a lot of comparison with the older child. “Oh, he is so quiet, look at you…you talk twice as much as him!”, they say. Or it is “Your sister was such a brilliant child, teachers are actually surprised you’re her sister!!”. Thank god, I was never subject to such remarks, as I was silent with all people my sister used to be silent with, and I studied well, too! :P
Also, if you’re the first kid, just count the number of photos of yours, all alone. Guess parents are so proud and happy to have a kid around the home that they just have pictures of the first born in all sorts of poses.
Ah! Ippdi kupparichunta!
Picture.
Anga paaren, sofa-va pudinchundu nikaraan!!
Picture.
Pallu illama sirikardha paaren!
Picture.
Kai-ya epdi vechundrukkaa paren!
Picture.
Nikkaran!
Picture.
Nadakaraan!
Picture.
Sirikaraa!
Picture.
Saapadraan!
Picture.
(Exaggeration intended. You do have that many pictures!)
Also, first borns are usually the pets of grandparents, uncles (especially mama-s and chithi-s) and neighbours too! Most neighbours near our old homes, don’t remember me! :D
But the saddest things are the hand-me-downs. It’s quite easy to tell the innocent little ones that the things they are given are new, because most of the time they don’t remember the older sibling using it. Poor me, I was ‘cheated’ like this with watches, cycles, clothes and well, many other things. The cycles I had were the last straw. My tricycle had been used by a cousin, then my sister, then came to me. My (er, ok…as in used by me…) BSA Champ was Anu’s. The BSA SLR cycle, was, first my mom’s then sister’s, then came to me. But I feel sad for the person I gave away the SLR to, he’s the fourth in line. God only knows if he’s still using it.
But well, being second isn’t always a disadvantage. There are some up sides too. Parents usually are freer with the second one. They are less apprehensive about sending the kid out of home to study, and are more willing, usually to let the kid pursue studies of even off-beat subjects. This doesn’t generally happen with the older kid, I guess parents feel a bit insecure. And another thing, the second kid always has better stuff, say, like a computer, at an earlier age than the older one!
This has been written entirely in good humour. I don’t feel jealous coz we seconds enjoy life too! :P
posted by Vani Viswanathan @ 9:07 PM
13 Comments:
Good one...
Happened with me too,, "second hand cycle, second hand bike"...
eppadikku
Really enjoyed reading this post! :-) But maybe I was supposed to feel bad for you? :-)
Dunno, but your narrative was pretty cute, so it was a good read.
You should update this blog more often than your other one!
vijay ramamurthi,
hehe, thanks...seonds naale ippadi thaan!
vinesh,
oh, thanks! no, no...as i said, we seconds have great times too, so absolutely no need for feeling bad ;)
and this blog should be updated more often? :) ok!!! (uhh, well, because people have rarely come across this blog...and that's because i update it rarely!)
What's there! Keep updating often, and I'll blogroll you! :-)
vinesh,
why otherwise you won't blogroll wad? :P surprising, really...coz the traffic in that blog is like, more!
p_o_p_e_y_e,
(gosh, your name is pretty difficult to type! :) )
lol..nice one...sums it up all beautifully.
:-))) that was nice for a first to hear how would a second feel thro ;-)
keep blogin
vani.. whts that with another blog? didnt knw u had two of them..
hey u r rite to some extent.. seconds get lesser attention than 1st .. atleast the things they get were the ones discarded by 1st.. nice one!!
I am sure Shalini would go nod-nod to this post of yours.
Well, being a first myself, I could come up with a different story. Nevertheless, cute post!
hey...vani never knew this one existed... !....
and bout the post....I can totally relate to this post.... !!....kadai kutti and second naanum thaan !!......
One thing u forgot....the older sibling..one - two yrs before poranthutu....yennamo boss mathiri...order pannuvaanga !!!
gayathri,
hi!! haha, all seconds agree with my post! :)
phobiac,
hmm...yeah,many find this blog pretty late...anyways! bossing around, yeah sure! but i don't remember having really cared for anu's bossing! :P
I really like this line "like a computer, at an earlier age than the older one"
Ask My Younger Bro, and he would say benefits of being seconds.... ...probably you left something....the advise Mazhai....compared to the first i think the seconds get a lot, because the parents already have experience in dealing the first....
keep up the good work chennai girl...
as always
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