Manuka and bedana : The raisins...

When I was a kid I used to spend my time with my then best friend Tanmay. We used to call ourselves by code names :manuka (मनुका)  and bedana (बेदाणा)  , which you may have heard or if  not, mean raisins in marathi - green or golden  and black respectively .Even though I laugh about it now it took me through the memory lane of all the things we did together. We played hundreds of games,went for a sleepover to each others' homes,and even made scrambled egg which was started as an omlette.

      Leaving those things apart, I have now started realizing the hidden meaning of those 2 words - manuka and bedana ,which was senseless for us before. These dried raisins eternally sweet described our innocence at that age and both as in same family of grapes told of our togetherness though from different families suggested by green and black.Now as tanmay was elder than me by just a year he took the name bedana.it also suited his hair color which was a bit golden and his fair skin.And me, though younger, was taller than him and also due to a little of brownish complexion got the name manuka .You must have observed that manuka are bigger bedana by size yet bedana is preferred. The both of them, manuka and bedana are dried yet are expensive than normal grapes, suggests that we were not at all sophisticated yet were jewels at home as we had no siblings.A little taste of sourness in these dried fruits will always be remembered for our mischievousness. At last the raisin's soft texture and smooth feel described that we could be molded by each other and that shows the understanding between us.Thus these 2 words which we felt fantastic and kept as our code names and innoncently laughed using them , now mean a lot for me.

-Anay (Does my name rhyme with tanmay!!)