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Just a little more….Life!

She found herself running endlessly towards the light
at the end of the tunnel. It was as if she would breathe only if she reached
that light. She looked around just to find pitch darkness; she felt tired at
times but could not stop and kept running. She would look around again and
again but it was too dark to see anything. She did not understand what made her
run; she did not once look behind. The road looked endless, one look at her
made her feel she was feather light. She wore a white satin gown, free flowing,
weightless.  She looked around again and could see her face on the
wall of the tunnel, her face looked radiant, it had the glow she had never seen
and she felt happy like never before and beautiful than ever. Where the light
wrinkles she had seen a couple of days are gone? She thought to herself as she
kept running. She turned her face to the other side of the tunnel and could see
a girl in a mother’s arms; the mother delighted looking at the bundle of joy.

There were people whom she recognised and some she didn’t. She placed her
fingers on her brow and tried to recollect a man standing next to the mother
but just couldn’t. She looked again and saw a young girl in school listening
attentively to her teacher; the image vanished in a jiffy. She could then see
her young self with her best friend laughing and enjoying. When was the last time
she laughed that loud, she wondered? By now the images on the walls of the
tunnel had completely captivated her and she had forgotten of the tunnel, the
run and the distance. She could see her beloved on his knees holding a ring
proposing her, she hadn’t been so happy ever. These flashes would appear and
disappear rapidly and being replaced by the next one. She wanted to think or
say something but was not able to. She saw her husband and daughter sitting on
a dining table praying. She wanted to run towards her daughter but couldn’t
change course of her path.

She closed her eyes but could see the images, the ones
she saw on the wall. Everything was clear when she heard shouts and opened her
eyes startled. She was confounded and looked down; she saw her feet were above
the ground as she ran towards the light. Completely mystified she tried to stop
running but couldn’t stop her feet. She heard shouts again and a big thump on
her chest as if a train in full velocity had hit her chest, she ran faster
towards the light and another big jolt! She couldn’t contain it in herself any
further. She was perplexed at the thought of her running without her feet on
the ground, the light at the end of the tunnel seemed very far now.

The last
one came as a thunderbolt pushing her on her chest so hard that she fell
backwards as if being sucked by the vacuum towards the other side of the light.
She could see being pulled and the light at the end of the tunnel vanishing in
a distance. It was so quick she had no time to react. The ‘pulse is back,
doctor! She is back!’ ….the words sounded like a distant echo….’it’s a miracle,
doctor, the defibrillator worked!’ She opened her eyes at a hazy frame of a man
in a white coat and a young woman standing next to him. 

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A Lost Pillar!

My apologies to all those people who reached out to me and asked me when the next blog is coming, I am sorry for being away for two months…there are two things that I have learnt from life till now. Circumstances and determination! I see them as sides of the same coin. Every time I determine to do or not to do something, such circumstance come up that I fail to keep the promises I have given myself. On the other side circumstances arise at such a short notice and in such a way that they break every bit of determination I have, I again gather myself and be more determined! And that’s the reason Shweta says Life’s like that! So now pick up your ioses and androids and enjoy the read J
‘Look at that, you have one more remark this week from your school and again for your handwriting! How am I supposed to deal with this, you know I hate to face your school teacher as I hardly understand her fluent English.’ Mom was really upset this time, I did tell myself that I will try to avoid remarks in my dairy and help mom avoid embarrassment L Tears rolled off my eyes as I stood at the corner of the sofa looking down on the floor fidgeting with my hands.
Grandpa got up from his chair, I looked at him if he would come and hold me, but he picked the paper that flew tucked it neatly on the board he was holding, went back to the chair and started writing his dairy. My Grandpa a tall frail man would always be seen in white shirt and pants, the shirt would always have ink stains, shiny grey self-cut hair (he never went to a barber in his life), green veins could be seen all over his hands as he would pick up his ink pen and write his dairy.

After crying quietly for 10 minutes, grandpa noticed me and came to me. I revealed every bit of what had happened. And he pampered my cheek and turned ‘everybody come to the living room.’ His authoritative tone echoed all over the house and all the 17 people of the family gathered. He looked at all of them ‘I’ll have an early breakfast; I will go to her school tomorrow.’
I was dressed in neatly ironed school dress and grandpa in his white shirt and pants, he held my hand and we reached school. My heart beat so fast that I was almost trembling. ‘Let’s go to principal’s office.’ He said as he pulled my hand. ‘No grandpa, I promise to improve myself, please avoid this.’
He knocked on the big wooden door of the school principal’s office. ‘Oh, Mr. Dave, please come in!’ exclaimed the principal, Ms Bharucha, a beautiful parsi lady in her early thirties. ‘How can I help you?’ she said as she pulled the chair for my grandpa to sit. ‘I thought it was long we had met and thought of paying a visit. How are you?’ ‘Fine, sir. How about you?’ ‘I am fine too, thank you. I’ll be to the point, what makes a man’s’ character?’ he asked curtly. ‘His conduct, principles and discipline.’ She replied. grandpa removed some pictures from his folder and put them in front of her. I couldn’t recognize most of them. ‘Do you think these men you see in the pictures are examples of good characters?’ He questioned. ‘Beethoven – the selfless musical genius, Albert Einstein, renowned scientist and a great genius ever to walk the earth and Bill Gates – Founder of Microsoft? Of course they are the zenith of geniuses born and exemplary characters.’ 

Now Ms Bharucha looked puzzled. ‘And just one last question, what did they have in common?’ asked grandpa again. ‘I am not getting your point, sir.’ ‘they all had bad handwriting! he exclaimed as he looked around and saw a picture of Mahatma Gandhi. He pulled a letter out of his folder and placed it in front of her. ‘This is a self-written letter of Gandhiji, look at his hand writing. Handwriting does not define a human’s character or destiny. My granddaughter may not write elegant but she will write beautiful. Today I see her skeptical picking up a pen being scared of her handwriting. I would not want that being developed in her. Handwriting cannot be considered as a bad remark! This is all I have to say.’ He rose from his chair, placed his hand on her head, held my hand and walked away.

On my way back, he told me something that I treasure my entire life, ‘be quick, be done and be gone.’ He said and smiled at me. This episode is very clear in my mind even today, I learnt a lot from his ways. He always prepared before making a point, he always talked positively and of course I will never forget be quick, be done and be gone! 
I was very close to him and I remember the smile he would give when I would see his dry feet and apply some moisturizer or he would say ‘I feel so light, will sleep every well tonight.’ When I would give him acupressure points on his back. He inculcated the habit of reading and writing in me. He encouraged me a lot in every step I took, he would see me work long hours and often say ‘you spend 10 hours of your day working and making money for a company that’s not yours. Start something on your own and spend the same time, I am sure it will be more satisfying and fruitful. These words will always remain with me and motivate me to be an entrepreneur one day.


I lost my grandpa a month back, he was 97. He passed away in his sleep. Even today when I close my eyes I see him sitting on his chair writing his dairy….. I feel him with me on every step of my life. I love and miss him a lot.