Today is a very strange day … do I celebrate my friend Arun’s birthday or do I mourn my friend Vandana losing Alam a year back today or do I wish for my mom-in-law to recover quickly from her de-hydration or do I look ahead and work on ShikshaDaan or do I celebrate my blogging ? I guess each day is a conundrum and we choose to prioritise our feelings and work for the day.
My first thought today was of Vandana…. I cannot fathom what she is going through and I have no words of solace for her and Ria. I read the transcript of Sheryl Sandberg’s commencement speech at UC Berkeley and shared it with Vandana. Sheryl has gone through the deep pain of losing her husband suddenly and she has spoken beautifully about it. Allowing herself to be vulnerable and letting many others to learn from how she is coping with this loss is amazing. She has written a book called “Option B” along with her friend and Wharton professor, Adam Grant.
Then I called Krishnan to find out about my mom-in-law and we spoke for some time… Amma is certainly getting better and will be back to her routine soon. Felt a little better and just speaking to Krishnan anyway lights up my day :):):).
From 8 am onwards, I have been in blogging heaven. I redid the theme, customised it and cleaned out the several “categories” that I have ended up creating. I had 22 categories and I have brought it down to 7. I also read some of my old posts and I was in the zone!! I love to write and am so glad that something like blogging has become a reality. Earlier, I would write poems and my thoughts in diaries and notebooks – so difficult to share and so very difficult to store. Technology does make life simpler.
I got interrupted by Raman’s call but it was a welcome interruption as we have to meet … after 27 years tomorrow. Raman and I worked together at NIIT Vizag and both of us have interestingly taken to social development work. We didn’t know this would be our life path while Raman tried teaching me how to drive his bike .. I never learnt though :). I took a break to call Arun and wish him on his birthday and the workaholic cut my conversation short as soon as someone asked him about some formula or some mathematical challenge. I have never worked on my birthday or Krishnan’s :). I have gone for one official party when I was with Pizza Corner and regretted doing even that! Krishnan and I like to celebrate all special days and its not really difficult if you plan ahead.
The evening is already well set, because two of my school buddies Ravi and Viju, will come over for gupshup, gyan and grub… and so another day will go by.
There you go …. feelings and work prioritised and the day nearly sorted. Cannot sort out my feeling a little low and thinking of Vandana. Hang in there, my friend, Alam is right there with you.