Luck: when your burst of energy doesn't run afoul of someone else's. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Date : Sep 16th 2005.

It all started with a simple sms that I received a couple of days ago.
"I had an accident and almost killed a tatha.Windshield broke into a  million pieces "

Vc: What happened?

Dee: I was thinking of Mr. A (She's been married just over a month and Mr. A packed his bags and went off to Swiss .The minute his flight was in the air, she was throwing a kitty party ... I'm sure she'll make it into the upcoming edition of the local PAGE 3.)

Dee: And suddenly this old tatha came out of nowhere and I had to apply brakes.I think I hit him( it seems she closed her eyes, typical). The windshield shattered (How? that cannot be explained, Ripley's believe it or not have been contacted). I really thought I killed him. A crowd gathered and I was so afraid.

Vc: Is he? I mean did you?

Dee: No he was all right, the people were so understanding they consoled me and told me it was not my fault. The old man was all right but still I took him to the nearest hospital in an auto. I was crying and the old man was screaming " Narayana Narayana " .I thought his hip was fractured. At the Hospital I was advised by the auto driver not to mention that it was an accident. I looked at the old man and he understood what he had to do. You know he told the doctor that he fell down. (Sniff sniff). That &@#** Doctor kept asking if it was an accident .He kept giving me shady glances. You know what he said?

Vc: What??

Dee: Why are you so nervous? Did you run him down? #$%#$ Doctors.
Vc: Uhahahhahaa then what happened?

Dee: Thank God, he just had a bruise and the doctor gave a couple of painkillers. I then took him home and he consoled me (it seems she just couldn't stop crying) and told me that he had a feeling that something was going to go wrong today. He was so nice; you know he is 71 years old. Sniff. He promised me that he wouldn't lodge a case with the police. No complaints no case.( was she smiling ?? )

Vc: What happened to the car?

Dee: Oh my FIL and me went to the police station and the Inspector asked me to get a No Objection Certificate from the Iyer tatha. Did I tell you that he was an Iyer ? You know I wanted to stay back and look after him, it seems his wife was visiting relatives in Chennai and he was all-alone. Later as we( FIL and me) were walking towards the accident spot, this roadside vendor approached us and said " Madam it was not your fault, I saw the whole accident. If required I will come to court as a witness" .That was so touching.

Vc: What was he selling ?

Dee: I think he owned a roadside bhonda bhajji shop.( Similar to Bhaaji of the pav bhaaji fame)

Vc: Wow .. Dee how come you have all the fun ?
Dee: Because I am hip and Happening .
Vc: Yeah right !! and people come running to help you ??? what's the funda there?
Dee: Oh they recognize an Angel when they see one..
Vc: @##@$@#$# Angel … Hmmm Dee.. did the tatha have a charming and beautiful granddaughter ? ( Vc smiles ).

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

When I was 4 I wanted to be Farmer – well sort of a tractor driver- when I grew up. Maybe I was influenced by the farm  in front of my house . As time went by I dreamed of becoming a pilot.

I remember writing this in reply to one of our essays in school- What is your ambition in life ?  Air force Pilot.

 25 years later am I a pilot, Nope. It was close, especially when I was onboard a KF flight and they had given 2 people the same seat number and I was left stranded. The flustered air hostess asked me to sit in any vacant seat. I was angry and said “Maybe the pilot seat’s vacant”. Grr.

 I knew someone who wanted to be a true hero helping people, he is now head of a Customer Support team – helping real people. As times change, reality sets in and not many have the urge to go where no man has gone before.  

I am sure all  my classmates have done something different , unique and extraordinary in life : An archaeologist , A nun, A detective, An Artist or even a life saving surgeon. 

Hanging by a moment

It was the year when India successfully launched APPLE – not the iphone but- Airline Passenger Payload Experiment ,India's first three-axis stabilized experimental communication satellite, using ARIANE launcher.
The year which saw the release of- Raiders of the Lost Ark and the nomination of M*A*S*H to the Emmy's. It was also the year when MS-DOS was invented.

I on the other hand  was getting ready to be photographed with my LKG classmates.

 I am trying to remember all my classmates who danced, sang and learnt the fundamentals of life with me and also how to make that lollypop last 30 minutes. I call this mission - Memory of Light ( as a tribute to Robert Jordan and the final book of the Wheel of Time series) and hope to touch-base, talk , email or chat with 25 of them before the end of the Mayan Calendar ( Yikes). Its funny that you can recollect all their first names but not the  vital and important last name.Arrrgh.

I will be using Facebook and Linkedin to make this happen.

Maybe I will get a chance to say thank you to Ajith for sharing his egg curry and to Machiah for the guavas, Rahul for teaching me how to play scarbble or even Shaheen for influencing me to change my handwriting, Ruben and Nishad for helping me learn how to ride the bicyle.

Geet ,Nitesh, Anand, Roger,Joseph,Sachin ( he ran like a gazelle) Lokesh,Ceema,Julie,Naresh,Ashok,Gopi,Manjunath,Sara,Malavika,Smitha,Maheshwari,Harish,
Ajay,PraveenP,Yogamani, Rathi,Smitha,Vidya,Sreeja,Gayathri,Mahesh,Padmini.

The impossible - what nobody can do until somebody does.