IT happened last Monday. The day had been called off for Guru Gobind Singh’s tricentenary celebrations but time being short, classes were on as usual. Students milling around the lab. – normal, normal day. It was as I was stepping out for my walk at 10.30 in the night that my phone rang. I’m a little puzzled to get a call this late in the night.

The voice at the other end agitatedly confides that Kshaf has not returned home yet. Its Nadir, his brother – worrying over the fact that it is Guru Gobind Singh’s birthday, Kshaf had left the house at 8.0 in the morning and is unreachable on the phone. He is worried.

I have a mental picture of Kshaf – a seventh semester student, lanky young man with an engaging smile. I’ve known him in and out of classes for more than three years. Travels two hours everyday to and fro from his Mayur Vihar home to attend his classes. Brilliant, hard working, a devout muslim - one of the first of his batch to be placed, polite, sweet, caring to a fault.

No – something inside me says – he’ll be all right.

I assure Nadir that I will call back in a minute and get in touch with his classmates – two very smart girls who represent the class with much style. I hear the instant concern in their voices. They’ll get in touch with everyone and find out immediately. Over the next hour, the phone rang continuously and Kshaf’s whereabouts were traced down to the last moment. The entire student group was up and working, calling, asking.

Finally, at 11.30 the phone rang. It was Kshaf – apologizing profusely. His phone had jammed, it takes him so long, he didn’t realize people would be so worried.

In any case, all was well that ended well. Kshaf had his ears boxed and apologized profusely to everyone.

Some questions:

It’s sadness I felt at the statement from Nadir – linking his concern with the occasion at hand. It rang true. Why?

How do the parents of this city send out their children to study and to work?

Some thoughts:

I saw the way the entire class swung into action trying to ascertain Kshaf’s wellbeing. The instant response! Nobody said – why should I care? I never heard - its too late! It felt good.

We don’t really realize, how these students who are coming in and out of classes, asking for favors, classes, projects, marks, evaluations, opinions, advice – we don’t really know when they become so dear. Each one with their plans, dreams, ambitions, requests merges into your life and work.

Some lyrics that I heard and liked from the Movie Django (Pronounced Jango):

Django, have you always been alone?
Django, have you never loved again?
Love will live on,
Life must go on,
For you cannot spend your life regretting.

Django, you must face another day.
Django, now your love has gone away.
Once you loved her,
Now you've lost her,
But you've lost her forever, Django.

When there are clouds in the skies, and they are grey.
You may be sad but remember that love will pass away.
Oh Django!
After the showers is the sun.
Will be shining...
Once you loved her,
Now you've lost her,
But you've lost her forever, Django.

When there are clouds in the skies, and they are grey.
You may be sad but remember that love will pass away.
Oh Django!
After the showers is the sun.
Will be shining...

And then there is the question of Soulmates.

A long time ago, when Sujata and I were talking about this, she said that a Soulmate was the other part part of the puzzle that you were. I found that complete as an explanation and accepted it for a long time.

If you had asked me recently, I would have said a Soulmate was that Soul with whom you were destined to travel with through your journey in life. It is completion, but also a great obligation. For you have to bear all the many difficulties that your Soulmate passes through as well. The journey has many obstacles but there is always the joy of being together - to make things simple.

Someone else had another meaning to it - someone who knows everything about you, a Soulmate. In her search for magic and her Soulmate, Brida asks this question as well. Paulo Coelho explains a Soulmate as a twin Soul - that the Soul divided and entered two individuals - a man and a woman. Paulo says that during the lifetime, you came across the Soulmate if only briefly - that it is required to recognize them or wander restless forever.

Science recognizes the presence of individually functioning parts of a living being - each functioning smoothly by itself from the molecular to the organismal level. Each tiny and large part comes together to form a perfect whole. Science also recognizes the need for the Soul, an energy that binds together the whole in coherence - though it is still hard to define.

Various people, various viewpoints later, I am still looking for an answer to this question: What exactly is a Soulmate?

With Brida, Paulo Coelho has come back to writing what he knows best about - magic.

But this is not a review about Brida. This is a post about the foreword by the author. I had to read it because whatever this author has to say, when he says it, it has to be read from cover to cover.

This is the essence of what he says: There are two types of people in the world. Builders and planters. Builders build walls and buildings. It takes years but then it comes to an end. They find much glory in building. They then get hemmed in by those walls. Life loses its meaning after the building is done.

Planters, on the other hand, have a hard life and not much of the glory. They bear much unrest and the vagaries of the weather. But, unlike the building, a garden never ends growing. The gardener's work never ends. My thoughts took off from there. It can not quiet be predicted what the garden will be. Certainly it will be a reflection of the gardener's spirit.

Having been both a builder and now a planter, I'm doubly blessed. I can't help but agree with the author though. It is more enriching to plant than to build. It is as if you grow with the things that you plant. Life becomes a manifold dream.

This post is dedicated to the person who made me think of myself, of planting, of growing.

It was Saturday, the 13th of September at 11 o’ clock that the Delhi all girls MS meet took off.

Sujata and I reached Barista first and occupied the comfiest sofa in the corner. Almost miraculously for Barista, the place was almost empty! Sujata was looking beautiful as usual and I had to compliment her style. We had hardly started talking when in sailed Swati, full of hugs and smiles. Behind her a trotted a little bundle of energy – Surprise! It was Abhijay!

Swati is a very friendly person and we hit it off almost instantly. Of course, the conversation immediately turned to MS. The new star writers were discussed and Sujata was congratulated. Just then, Sweety and Nidhi walked in together. I had met Sweety earlier but was zapped to see she had changed her hairstyle and was looking wonderful! It was like meeting old friends.

As usual, Barista had no service to talk about. As soon as we had had insisted on being served, the lights went out! And so did the air-conditioning (on this blistering hot summer day). As we waited over the next half an hour in the humid confines, we were informed that the maintenance people were taking a look at things. Wow, wow!

A little 20 minutes down the line, we were told that the drinks we had ordered were out of the question as well. Giving up hope, all of us squeezed in to Swati’s car and headed to South Ex. Part II. Where else, but McD for Abhijay? As expected, it was crowded, cramped but oh yess, cool.

Apart from Abhijay, the surprise was Nidhi. This cool lady who looks like a pretty little girl is anything but. She bonded immediately with Abhijay and had the little lamb eating out of her hands in no time. She was very, very poised and elegant.

So, the conversation was funnee, funnee and scintillating. Suj and Sweety were full of wisecracks. We talked about all the previous meets, the ms members and we had already met. It was over all too soon and Swati had to rush away. I got some wonderful snaps that have been posted to everyone.

Our drive to LN was all too short. We had hardly gotten started and there was so much more to talk about.

But it was a fun outing overall and I really wish we do this again, soon. Are you listening, girls?

Yes I know there is nothing like a grasshopper season. It’s only the rain. BUT here’s my question:

Why do there have to be grasshoppers?

I mean, I know about the insects and the food chain and all that jazz. But surely, even butterflies could eat insects? Why does it have to be grasshoppers - who look so green and creepy?

My second question is thus:

Why do the grasshoppers have to be so hoppy? Why do they have to jump out at you from behind (or in front of) bushes? Why do they have scare you out of your wits by suddenly appearing like a jack-in-the-box? Is it their sole aim in life to make you appear like one possessed by daemons?

And here is the third question:

Why oh why are they to be suddenly found in and on sleeves, chunnis, shirts, ugh, ugh, ugh? Why do they have to make that whirry noise from the inside of the car when you just got in thinking you are rid of the monsters? Why do they crawl, crawl where they are not supposed to? Eeps. This being my main grouse against them.

Having lived and suffered through several grasshopper seasons, looking like an utter fool when these critters descend upon me - and decide to make me the object of their attention for a few memorable moments of the day, I can only shudder.

Brrrr….

Than
k God they have a short life cycle and will be gone sooooon!

I suppose Kiteretsu is a product, but I don't want to treat him like one. Nor can I really do justice to a product review. So off he goes into my diary instead of the review section.

What first attracted me about Kiteretsu was his name. (Does it mean “Kidhar hai tu?” by any chance?) If I had a small friend, I would definitely like to call him “Kidhar hai tu?”, Kiteretsu.

So who is this character Kiteretsu?
Kiteretsu is a cartoon character frequently visiting our TV sets. I think he’s about eight, small, goes to school and pretty normal in about everything except his desire to invent new things.

The second thing that really makes Kiteretsu special is his catchy jingle that describes his penchant for new inventions in the privacy of his room (lab). Kiteretsu thrives on new ideas. He finds them on the roadside, on his way to school and even in his school bag! He has a pretty (girl)friend named Mioko and a robot named Korosuke.

Kiteretsu is no superboy. A pretty lazy character, he often runs short of time, forgets to do his homework, is often jealous of his friends and scared of the bully, Boota Guerrira. He uses his fertile imagination and his faithful friends to meet his problems head on. Kiteretsu has invented everything from a way to slow down time, a vaccum cleaner pet, flying skates, a lie detector jacket and even a clone!

For me, Kiteretsu explores the world in the realm between the possible and impossible, between science and fiction, between imagination and reality.

Everyone has a shadow (from Carl Jung’s theories of the human nature).

The shadow is what you are but do not show to the world. The shadow is part of your real self, nestled within yourself. You may call it the subconscious. It makes those decisions that you cannot consciously make. It whispers its desires to you in the still of the early morning.

Your virtues and correctness is what the world teaches you. Follow the rules and you will be safe. But the shadow is really you – born, as it is of the basic instincts of your inner self. So the shadow is more you than your conscious self is.

Another interesting interpretation of the shadow is “weakness”. The inner forces that make you drag your feet on that job you know has to be done. The writer’s block, the burnout is a manifestation of the shadow self. But the shadow is not weak at all. Like a petulant child, it does induce weakness when you neglect it consistently and for long enough. Just to get even with you. The weakness theory doesn’t hold with me. In fact, you have to know your shadow and merge your real self with it to be completely successful.

My shadow is procrastination, daydreaming. My shadow is flexibility, too much of it. Wanting harmony, peace at all costs, perhaps.

What is your shadow?