Whispering Thoughts

“Dad, please remember to get the eggless date muffins from Sai Tara” I shouted as I waved him goodbye. He mumbled a “If I can remember what you want” and picked up his bags. “I won’t forget to remind you when you call me” I smiled and hurried back to my room. He called. I reminded. He said they might get spoiled on the way back to Mandi. I told him not to buy them in that case. He bought them anyways. I relished each morsel, every tidbit. Mum saw me through. “You really love these. Don’t you?” I just smiled and digged my spoon yet again into the little yummy muffin. “Mum? Can we make these at home? I mean these are just like cakes or rather cupcakes, I should say.” “Why don’t you find out? Your Google will tell you all, I guess.” This is her way of getting me interested in handling ladles and woks. And this usually works. As do all her ideas. I obediently Googled the “eggless date cake recipe” and discussed with her all the requirements and procedures. The re...

Dear Ruby, Hope this last letter of mine finds you hale and hearty. By the time you will receive this letter, I will have gone far away. Back in the lap of the elements that created me. I still remember when I saw you the last time. I was standing silently in a corner of that big terrace of yours. You came running up the stairs (I know you were running. The music of your anklets said so. Your short, quick breath also told it.) You ran your daily errands and left silently. Did not spare a glance for me. This morning, you did not come for your daily walk. And by noon, it was time for me to go. I am glad you were not there at that time. For, I still remember the curious look on that 7 year old face of yours when your grandmother, along with other lady from your neighbourhood, was setting me up in that corner. The mud plasters on my walls … your first experience of shaping a structure out of clay, mud and water. Few years later, you grasped that this ...

Of late, life has become simpler. Simpler and monotonous. Simple is good and welcome. Monotony threatening. So, permutations and combinations. To break the routine. To find challenges. To learn. To evolve. Some work out. Some don’t. But every travail leaves behind the same lesson. “Life is the most spectacular show on this earth.”

80GB of data .. lost all of it .. was not able to retrieve even 1 bit. And I mean it. Not a tiny, single bit left. So these days, I am guilt ridden and also these days, I am coping with a huge loss. A huge, huge data loss. Every time, I called up the vendor in the last few days, he asked me if whatever data I had was important. A simple yes no question … just that it left me speechless. I tried to remember what all I had in it. The more I remembered, the more it hurt. Generously helped by friends and colleagues, I had been able to lay my hands on some complete discographies. Are they important? Then there were e-books. The ones that I had read and the ones that I was planning to read. Are they important? The audio and textual versions of the Punjabi and Hindi sacred texts. Some of them were rare. Some of them were favourites. Can I risk losing those? The study material. The presentations, the minor and major project reports, the survey results. Th...