Seventeen years on....

24-aug-2009, on board DXB to GRU
From an enclosed coupe, up in the sky
Its seventeen years to the day today, almost to this very hour, that a journey began. On platform No. 8, Howrah station, Rajdhani Express, 1630 hours IST. And yes, it has been an exciting ride. Like most other exciting rides, this has been full of thrils and spills, of joys and sorrows, of exuberance and despair. Also, like most other exciting rides, its been full of trains and planes, of catamarans and vans, of buses and boats, of bicycles and rickshaws, of walks and a lot of talk.
When i look at it all as a 40000 feet view, literally in this case, and of course, metaphorically, there is an overwhelming sense of feel-good, of positivism. Most importantly the realisation that i continue to be loved and cared for, and in whichever way it was, i have made a positive difference to lives that i have touched along on the way. Maybe a fleeting difference, but for that moment, fulfiling.
These 17 years have been half a lifetime and have seen several transitions:- from someone who lives with his parents to someone who lives as a parent- from someone blissfully ignorant of the world beyond home to someone who is almost always out of home- from someone who is unmarried- from someone who is not from a pedigree institution- from someone who is a student- from someone who has never been on a plane- from someone who thinks India is 'superior' to all other countries- from someone who is unsocial- from someone who is quiet, shy and reserved- from someone who plays good cricket and pitches it up straight- from someone who can pass a Class XII examination- from someone who can't travel alone, can't even cross the road on his own
several others, since that fateful day....
While with the transitions, there are a few things that have remained the same- the sheer fulfilement and purpose in being loved and enjoying the affection of so many. Cliched it sounds, but there's nothing bigger than being loved.
And since i have the advantage of a 40000 feet view, with nothing but the blue waters of the Atlantic down below and a view peppere with tiny clouds somewhere in between, is there anything i want today. No, no..let me rephrase it. What all do i want today....let me put down my wish list, in the order in which it comes to mind-
- to be with the ones i love and the ones who love me- to be a good father, a good son, a good spouse, a good friend, a good sibling- to be famous- to see myself on the TV and in the papers- to hear the applause- to wirte a book (if its a bestseller, the better ;-) )- to do some genuinely meaningful work that impacts the less privileged- to travel a lot more: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, Antarctica, Everest base camp, Trans- siberian railway, Amazonia, and also see the Taj Mahal- to be into public life in India- to bat at the Eden gardens (if a few people can watch, the better. if i can hit a six, still better)- to be a student again, in the company of interesting and capable people- to bring together all my friends- from school, college, work, otherwise, on to a common platform and to have a mega get together (not on the net, though)- to ask meaningful questions and to enrich the debate on fundamental, existential questions
Hey, hello....stop stop.. dont repeat the camel and the Arab story...
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