Thirty years and 12 days. Yes, that's how old I am today and I feel like screaming that from the top of a mountain, mostly out of relief. I think after I turned 27 or 28, the days around my birthday were getting to be a little less mirthful and a little more introspective. I would catch myself making mental tick marks and filling in the blanks – Am I any better as a daughter, sister, wife, mom, daughter-in-law, friend , research analyst, a human being than I was last year? What have I accomplished this year? Am I growing or just aging? Blah, blah. My husband, who started counting his age backwards since he turned 30, would readily empathize and reassure me that it's all in the game. I dreaded turning 30, because in my mind, that number painted the picture of a middle aged woman, who was wise, mature and accomplished. And I feared that I would be middle aged, sans the wisdom, maturity and accomplishment.

So how did it feel when I actually turned 30 a couple of weeks back? Relieved, blessed and aware! Relieved, at the realization that Thirty was just a number, and that I was attaching way too much importance to it. I did not feel a day older than I was a year or two back. Blessed, because of all the things that I may have been without but have been blessed with. I felt like I wanted to treasure my blessings in the palm of my hands. Aware, that I may not live up to the standards I have set for myself, but overall, I am happy with who I am, where I am and what I do, at this point in life.

Moving on to jollier stuff – the celebration. Atul was slightly unwell that weekend, but that only altered our plans not dismiss them. We ordered a Thai take out, went to temple and ended with  the usual cake cutting. We had some nice quiet family time. All the b'day wishes that poured in from friends and family left me with the warm and fuzzy feeling that one would want to have on a b'day. Needless to say, I was grinning ear to ear all through the week.

The celebration continued the following weekend as well with a surprise trip to Nashville to visit my twin and his wife. My sister-in-law and I plotted it a month in advance and we just couldn't wait to see Arun's reaction. Knock, knock, who's that? is literally how the three of us went to their place. That flabbergasted look on Arun's face was the best b'day present I could have asked for!

I had a super-duper time this past weekend. On Saturday, my twin brother and I celebrated our b'days together after 12 long years.

Very often, people have asked us, what is it like to be twins? pretty much like any brother-sister relationship I guess. But I must confess that after all these years and after giving birth to a son myself, the enormity of what it must have meant in the earlier years is sinking in. Unlike now, when you can find out if you are going to have twins within the first few weeks of pregnancy, my mom was totally clueless until she delivered us. So when the doctor announced the news of our arrival, everyone but my maternal grandpa had tears of joy. My grandpa was worried how his "baby" was going to cope up with the two tiny babies. Fortunately for my mom, both of us turned out to be little angels :-). The truth is, there was an army of people taking care of us. My mom, dad, grandmom, great grand mom and why even the owners of the house that we lived in.

Arun and I were born 4 minutes apart, but he considers himself the "big brother". The notion of being the "younger one" suits me as well, so I never rebel. We are very different from each other - from our physical appearances to our personalities. He is fair and tall. I am not. He is an idealist and I am practical. It's hard to satisfy him but I am easy to please.  Like most brothers and sisters, we have had our share of fights and we are extremely protective of each other. If at all any, there is one disadvantage to being twins. It's easy for people to lose sight of the fact that we are two different individuals with different strengths and weaknesses.

To sum it up, It has been a fabulous journey with Arun, from womb to this day.