Dedicated to my brother...

When I think of him, my mind immediately races to memories of being locked out of his room while I stubbornly attempted to bang his door down so I could get in with the older kids, just to give a board game as complicated as monopoly a go. Till this age of 25, I can't get my head wrapped around that game, so what was I thinking?

It was memories of him cutting off the power supply to my room as through my younger delinquent days I decided that having music at a deafening volume was a genius idea. It was also him who threatened to come to my school to bust some poor 11 year old kids balls because I had been accidentally hit at school. More recent memories included the habitual Pepper Lunch routine which was followed by Haagen Daz ice-cream to assist us on our walk home.

A quarter of a century ago, besides my parents, no one could have been as ecstatic to see me come into this family as he was.

He finally had a sibling, a little baby sister.

Through all the writing over the years I haven't dedicated a piece solely for one of the single most important and special male figures in my life, my brother.

What makes us unique is despite having a great childhood together filled with so much love, excitement and just a tad bit of bullying which shan't be ignored, we've spent a grand total of 15 years apart from each other. That inevitably is more than half my life but yet the beauty lies in how growing up and the magical essence of the word family brings about plenty of room for change, improvement, growth, love and closeness. A vivid memory rewinds itself back to when he was in school in the U.K. His flight used to always be extremely late at night and I used to ensure that I was in bed and "sleeping" every single time so that I didn't have to confront our goodbyes. He used to give me a cuddle, a kiss on the forehead and leave for the airport. The second that door closed and there was no hint of light from the outside shining through the door, I used to burst into tears as he was gone, again.

My brother has been someone I've always kept so close to my heart. We made up for a lot of the lost time through his time in Singapore and the many hours of phone conversations and Skype calls between Boston and Singapore, NYC and Singapore, NYC and Sydney, you name it. As we got older I realized, we click so well as siblings and I wouldn't change much about us for the world. Though, I have to admit, he still bullies me, but I let him.

Through the many soul searching, eye opening experiences that have head butted me in the recent year or so, there is absolutely nothing that could change the dynamics of our brother-sister bond. I have never been so sure of the fact that there is no chance in any lifetime that I could ever be blessed with a brother as special as mine.

You must think I have lost the plot completely to be raving about my brother, but in all the years of writing I think it boils down to this present phase in my life where this too has to be voiced in a medium that I use to express myself best, words.

A man of such intelligence, a sharp wit and the most sensitive kind heart has finally met someone who makes him the happiest I've ever seen him. My future sister in law, Una who on her own is the epitome of beauty, generosity, kindness and such poise.

They have built a real, loving relationship in a short time together. They come from completely different walks of this earth and that's the magic. A city like New York City is known to be a multicultural hub but minus that lingo, it's places like this in the world that house the existence of people from all over who meet, discover and fall completely head over heels in love. Besides being absolutely smitten by each other, the both of them share the exact same values and morals on ambition, life and family that binds them together.

A professor, a fashion designer and New York City; Serendipity.