Love, actually.

This is a picture of my daughter’s doll. My daughter calls her Sowmya, named after her little cousin who lives in Mumbai. Every day in the morning, my daughter bathes Sowmya, brushes her hair, feeds her delicious food and milk, takes her along wherever she goes, and at night puts her to sleep by her side on the bed. She even takes offence if you address Sowmya by any other name.

She loves her little cousin, Sowmya. She loves her intensely. In fact, she misses Sowmya so much that she expresses her love for her sister through her doll.

The doll is that of a Hippopotamus. My daughter knows what a Hippo is, has seen the creature in the zoo, and knows that the doll looks like one. But she doesn’t care. For her, the doll is her little sister and all her feelings and love towards her little sister are as real as the sun and the stars. For her, the doll is a medium through which her love for her sister is manifested. Not one who witnesses the daily ritual can deny the purity of her love.

One could, of course, mock her childishness or ignorance for showering so much affection on a Hippo doll. One may suggest that she at least ought to get herself a human doll. There will be others, perhaps slightly more "wise", who might claim that expressing love to even a human doll wouldn’t be right. They may suggest that my daughter must get herself a real baby, and only then her love would be true. Even this will be disputed by some who will claim that since my daughter’s love is for her little sister only, no other ‘real human baby’ can take her place, and my daughter must only create a mental image of Sowmya and express her love.

In focusing their attention on the medium through which a feeling is expressed, all the above people will ignore what is the most important thing - the feeling that is being expressed.

It does not matter to me whether my daughter chose a Hippo doll, a human doll, a dog, a piece of paper, or even a piece of stone to channelize her tenderness and fondness for her little sister. What delights me as her father is that she loves her sister so much, and that to me is invaluable.

Many of you have, or may have, children of your own. Many of you will experience your children finding their own paths to express their love for the things and people they like. Many of you will find great pleasure in witnessing such pure expressions of love from your children. And when you do, please remember this… ...it's the same with one's love for God.