26/11

Its 26/11 again... The date brings a familiar knot in my stomach, hoping it would be the last of its kind. It reduces many others to tears. It leaves some other in a void. A date that left the city of Mumbai completely shattered. A date that left India shattered.

Three years since, lets say :

A silent prayer for the brave hearts Mr Karkare, Mr Salaskar and other officers
A silent prayer for those hundreds of innocent lives lost
A silent prayer for the unknown soldiers who lost their lives
A silent prayer for all the families who lost their loved ones
A silent prayer for the Rabbi and his wife
A silent prayer for Baby Moshe

A silent thank you to the NSG
A silent thank you for the staff of the hospital who put their life at risk to save others
A silent thank you to the staff of various organisations who helped
A silent thank you to the announcer at CST for making that announcement
A silent thank you to the journalists, irrespective of whether what they did was right or not
A silent thank you to the people of Mumbai
A silent thank you to the people of India

Things might not have changed in the three years, but I am not writing  this  post to judge what has changed and what has not! Enough has been said about it already. I'm writing this post to say a small prayer to all those who have lost their lives and a big thank you who saved lives!! 

Thalassophobia

I admit, I have never been too much of a sea person. My mother tells me that my first experience with the sea was a traumatic one for me because till I saw the sea, the only water I had seen was the one running from the tap! I had never seen so much water in my life!! But as I grew up, I enjoyed watching the waves dancing their way to the sea shore. But December 26, 2004 changed that for me! I was never able to look at the sea as something wonderful again! Every time I saw it, I could only think of it as the monstrous sea that took several lives! Since then, I've always been scared of the waves.

I was in Pondicherry during 2005 Christmas and i refused to go anywhere close to the waters. Let alone the water, I refused to even step on the sands. Yes, the Tsunami has somewhere, left a terrible impact on me!

This trip to Orissa was very important to me. I decided to get over this fear of mine. It wasn't easy as with every growing wave, I had the urge to run! I had my mom with me and was clenching her hand till I learnt to relax and get somewhere close to enjoying the waters :)

Here's a picture of my endeavour :)

Grandfather

A tall imposing figure in white dress

A gentle face formed with white curly hair

This is my first memory of him

On his unsteady feet

He guided me thro’ my first steps

Tickled me pink with his shaking hands

Till I shrieked with joy

He played all silly games with me,

His youngest grandchild

His old, nearly blind eyes twinkling with joy

As I scampered around his outstretched hands

A strict and sometimes stern father he was

He could have ruled the house like

an overpowering patriarch

Yet he chose to be a gentle guiding light

To us, his grandchildren

A tall, imposing figure in white dress

He now benignly looks at me from the

framed photograph

This is my everlasting memory of him.

The after effects of a wedding!!!

Our family was really excited!! And rightly so.... There was a wedding to take place!! Today, 5 days after the wedding, I'm having withdrawal symptoms!! Or something of the sorts :P

For months now, there has been so much of activity! So much work to do. So much of excitement. So much of running around... So much shopping! Trips to the parlour with the bride, innumerable trips around the city to finalise my outfit for the wedding! Last minute shopping for things that we had forgotten... Crazy packing of stuffs on the last few days, numerous phone calls to the bride to make she hasn't forgotten to pack 'this' or 'that'.... Clicking crazy pictures all along the way because we wanted to keep those memories with us forever!! I had so much fun during the making of the wedding and the actual wedding!  For maybe the first time in my entire student life, I was not bored during the holidays!! In fact, I enjoyed every bit of it! I loved the fact that I was busy and had something to do than just sit at home doing nothing! That, however was till a few days ago. Today, I am just clueless. I am restless.  I have become so accustomed to all the activity around me that, now, I feel so lost! I will have to figure out what to do for the remaining part of my vacations.  Every time my mother says she's busy, I wonder if it has something to do with a "beesanige" or a "tenginakai", only to realise it's all done! I guess this is what happens when you 'try' to do something after a really long time. You get so involved that once it is done, you are just left staring at a blank wall.

Oh well, I guess it'll just wean off in a few days! Maybe I'll find something else to divert my attention to :)  My  nth congratulations to the newly weds!! Love you! :)

P.S- All our efforts paid off.... The wedding was a really beautiful one!

A dreamer's dream

February 28th, a Monday. It looked like it would be like any other day. Yes, it was the end of the month, I had buck up and study for me boards and it was the last class I would attend this summer before ADC  closed down for summer. I had thought it would be a normal day with cramming and a usual class, where everyone of us were wishing ADC didn't close down for summer. Little did I know that there was something big in store for me!! I was selected for one of ADC's mega productions- RKV!!! I had never in my wildest dreams thought that I be in such a wonderful institution, let alone perform with the people I've always looked up to in total awe!! The show was to be held at Belgaum at the Vishwa Kannada Sammelana. After I got over the initial shock, my next thought was that I would be travelling alone for the first time in my 18 years of life!! That got me super excited!!

Donning the make-up and costume after a really long time got me all excited!!

The show itself was an experience beyond description!! Though I've performed a number of times before, it was nothing like this before! The energy on stage gets your adrenaline pumping!! And that is one of the reasons why their shows are so magical!!

Today, 2 weeks after the performance, I still cant get over the show and I still find it difficult to digest the fact that my dream of being a part of their institution has come true!!