Who's the copy cat???

The tuning between my young ones often leaves me wondering who is learning from whom and who is copying the other... At a glance, anyone would concede that it is Darsh who follows Vasu like Lakshmana pursued Shri Ram... When Vasu says 'Wow!', Darsh has to say the word with equal excitment and emphasis... When Vasu declines to taste something, Darsh does not bother to touch it either... The other day Vasu was relishing his tomato soup and asked me,

"Mama...Is tomato soup healthy?" Darsh sitting beside him immediately looked around in my direction for my response...

"Yes, it is healthy.", I said.

Then Vasu succeeded the query, "Are chips healthy?" This time Darsh looked around at me and spoke, "Mama..Chis?"...

"No, they are not healthy.", I replied. Vasu asked yet again, "Is Maggi healthy?". Darsh immediately looked around to snap, "Aggi?" "No", I replied. "Ummnn... Choclate?" "Chocate?" "No..!"

"Horlicks?"

"Hollic?"

"Yes."

"Kurkure?"

"Kudku?" "No."

Each time Darsh who sat facing Vasu wheeled his neck around in my direction to pose me the same question as Vasu... A fine instance of how Darsh tends to copy Vasu and idolizes him. But what would we call it when Vasu learns a few tricks and tips from Darsh... There are many instances to this effect. For one, Vasu has learnt from Darsh to be more open and casual with people and enjoy his surroundings light-heartedly. Vasu had this hitch that has gradually diluted significantly eversince he has been having Darsh's company in a proper way. Recently at the New Delhi railway station on our way to Sonagirji, Bhanu instructed the two of them to stay behind the yellow line on the platform, lest they would be left at the station as a punishment. While Vasu instinctively stayed well behind the yellow line in strict obedience of Bhanu's instruction, Darsh went ahead to stand on the outer end of the yellow line such that barely touching it, yet could not be termed as violating the direction. Of course, Vasu learnt the tactic instantaneously and followed Darsh. Isn't it a fine instance of Darsh stepping outside the shadow of his elder brother and proving that he is not a typical mindless copycat?

Well for me this was one of those few occasions when Darsh illustrated that he does not always copy Vasu, and knows when to follow and when to lead.