TO THE MOON THAT WATCHES OVER ME

Hey there,

I may not say it always but you do mean the world to me. Had you not been there with me during those nights of despair, I would have ended up doing something really wrong.

You know everything about me. Don’t you? How often you saw me sitting aloof, fearing the failure, losing my trust over friendship, bidding goodbye to the one I had always looked up to? Messy hairs, teary eyes and red face is how you caught the glimpses of mine when I used to visit the terrace at 3o’clock in the morning. I wish cuddling your own self could have been as pleasant as gazing at you.

Unlike the people I am attached to, you don’t force me to share what is it that hurts me or what is it that makes me laugh. For you know that I can laugh for absolutely no reason and can cry too. You never judge me for whatever I do. After all, you understand the silence of mine. I need not think if what I am going to share might hurt you or put any of us in trouble I just share. I need you at every phase of mine not just to vent my pent up emotions but also be saved from the selfish world of us. With you, I find solace and share the dark secrets, worries and sorrows of my life. With you, I rejoice and decipher the boundless beauty of nature. 

More than just a friend you have been a life saviour to me. I wonder had you not been into existence, how the things might go? Could I ever believe that there is something so beautiful even in the darkness?

Truly yours,
Vipra.

CAN NEVER THANK ENOUGH

Dear Babai & Pinni,

There are days when you simply can’t express yourself good enough. There are only two reasons for that situation, either nothing much to say or so much to say that you find yourself amidst rare numbness and words simply don’t find their way from heart to mouth. I identify myself with the second reason. And I feel I will be in this situation till the end of my life : Can never thank you both enough for how you impacted my life at different stages and phases.

Babai, I have never seen a person as emotional and straight forward as you are. I have always been in awe of how far you have gone for the people you care for. Since the time I started understanding relationships and their beauty & importance in human life, I have seen you as a rock who stood by your brother (my father) in his thick and thin. At the times when relationships are motivated, made, twisted and broken by money, thanks to you we never saw such moments in our family. I saw how you would never take it lying down whenever people hinted disrespect towards my father. Your sibling love gave our generation sibling goals – to love, support and respect our siblings unconditionally. Thanks for making our family an epitome of brotherly love for the world to see, it isn’t an exaggeration.

It’s a popular belief that to make or break a family, the responsibility lies with the lady of the house. And I can proudly say that I belong to a family that got amazing women who no matter what makes sure that family bonds are not severed. And leading from the front is you, Pinni (Chachi/aunt). Babai’s (uncle’s) love for us can be understood by the linear nature of relationship we had – brotherly love. But you are the support system of Babai who always stood by his decisions. You embraced us as your own kids. You have always been my idol when I think about strong, independent woman. A woman with strong values who values family, wisdom being your second name, love and compassion is your identity. I am fortunate enough to share the same date of birth (same date, same month) with you. You have an immense impact on how a woman has to take charge of her family and bind it. After 11 years of marriage if I can relate to happiness and sorrows of my extended family from my husband’s side, its because of a wonderful lady like you. Thank you so much for all the love, motivation and inspiration you have showered on me and still doing it. And before I forget to mention, it’s always great to spend time with you, it’s fun second to none.

Both of you have cared for me and my brother like your own children, a rarity in these selfish times we are living. You hold the same place as our parents in our hearts.

And it would be so insensitive and wrong on many accounts if here I don’t mention about my sweet little sister, Divya. As a child she used to be our favourite for she used to be super cute and we used to look quite lean (famished wouldn’t be appropriate😂😂). I will always be grateful to God for giving me such a wonderful person as my sister. She is an exact replica of Babai when it comes to emotions. The way she cares for people and bonds, so invested in them wholeheartedly I have never seen anyone else in this practical world. I have a great camaraderie with her and my brother. Summer vacations, late night talks under star lit sky, silly fights, sharing clothes, dancing till we dropped, watching movies in the front row of cinema hall, keeping secrets, breaking down, building up each other – I can literally go on. Technically we were in nuclear families but literally we grew up together (with and on each other). Thank you is a small word for the support you have been to me.

I may not have vast materialistic fortunes but very fortunate to have you in my life, it’s a blessing to have such a loving family, wonderful strong people guiding me at every step, shaping up the right ideology to look at life in a positive perspective, heaping up treasure of memories. Though I don’t like to repeat myself but can’t help today – can never thank you all enough.

Yours lovingly,

Daughter .

AN UNPOSTED LETTER TO A MAN OF FEW WORDS

Dear Dad!

I don’t know what to write and how to express my feelings for you. The number of lessons that you have taught me when you were amidst us was unexplainable in this letter. But they are all so rooted within me that I can train myself as well as the people around me.

You had slapped me only once in my whole life. And I wept so bitterly as I wasn’t expecting it ever from you. I took you for granted that this man can be teased and bullied in any manner but he won’t say a word. I know, you never had touched me afterwards till the end. I was a kid that time and that slap was a souvenir for me. 🙂

But I am sorry, I could not be like you who always had stayed quiet, wearing that gentle smile on your face when you were teased. I don’t know how you must have been feeling, how much pain you hid it behind that beautiful smile of yours. I retaliated at times and bashed those who tried to tease me or bully me.

I am sorry, I could not be as happy as you were when you had very little. You were happy even when you had earned a small salary, ate whatever was given to you, and led a very simple life. You never demanded, as I sometimes demand.

I am sorry, I could not tolerate like you did whenever you suffered physically. You endured all the time till the pain becomes unbearable and the wounds are visible or prominent to someone else other than you. I am no match for your endurance.

I am sorry, I could not be as aloof and peaceful as you were when you were not included in any one of the important discussions. You never flaunt around announcing your presence amidst all. You either sat or walked away quietly.

I am sorry, I could not share my belongings with others as you did in your lifetime. You never said that – “this is mine”. You always used to share what was yours with us and others; whether it is your share of food or anything else. I miss this the most when you used to share your food with us and we used to scold you to take your food back.

The amount of patience and resilience that you had taught me through your life that I could not learn from any school or college or from anyone else. It is because of your gene and your blood I stay strong and be patient against all the taunts, insults and bullying in the name of this and that.

You taught me the simple way of growing in Christ’s likeness which sometimes I find so difficult to follow in my life. Our saviour did more than saying a lot of words. You followed Him as best as you could have with all your simplicities.

Dad! I was sorry about many things that I could not practice what you showed through your life when you were in your physical body but I am so very grateful for being an example as my father. I thank you so much for the lessons you left for me in stacks to understand, learn and practice them one after the other till I mature more in His ways.

I hope to meet you soon 🙂

Your apologetic son,
Chiradeep

A NOTE OF GRATITUDE TO MY ALMA MATER

My dear Alma Mater,

I entered inside your huge gates as a tiny tot of three and a half, holding my parents’ hands. The sudden familiarity and comforts of the home were soon replaced by strange faces all around. I never could understand why my parents had to leave me with you every day and then pick me up after some time. As the A-B-C-Ds and the 1-2-3-4s started sinking into my mind, I realised that it wasn’t that bad after all to spend some time in the company of strangers!

Within a year, I was made to understand that you were to be a part of my life for many more years. Though it was difficult to fathom what that actually meant at that time, the picture became pretty clear when I saw the Report Card at the end of each year.

I am grateful to you for all the sweet and sour memories that I have had with you that have played a crucial role of shaping me into what I am today. It goes without saying that I am grateful to you for having such expert teachers who instilled the subject knowledge into me. I still remember some of those difficult formulae of Maths and those experiments in the Chemistry lab which would invariably end up with someone breaking a test tube resulting in severe reprimanding.

And yes, these days when I see people going crazy for physical fitness regimens, I often remember the compulsory PT (Physical Training) classes each week, which we would often look for convincing excuses to skip (but could hardly ever succeed to escape from the vigilante team that were assigned the task of exposing such escapists). I find many of those exercises I did at school then, in the fitness training modules today. A salute for incorporating such ageless fitness regimens!

I am grateful to you dear school, for training me in three languages so well. I can vouch for every student that our English, Odia and Hindi speaking, writing and reading abilities are among the best. It is such a misconception in our country that English-medium schools compromise with regional languages training. But, a school like you wonderfully dispels such doubts by churning up multi-lingual scions.

I am grateful to you for the discipline and values that you have imparted, that actually made you one of the best in the city. Rules were a bit too harsh, I must admit. But, they have moulded and made me.

As I am grateful to you, I am so much more grateful to my parents for introducing me to you – one of the best decisions they have taken for me!

I can go on writing letters running into pages to express my gratitude, dear School, for what you have been to me. But, more on it when I meet you in person in the Alumni Meets!

Gratefully yours,

Rajnandini

MERCI BEAUCOUP MON AMIE!

Dearest Shruti,

Hi. Won’t ask you about your well-being and the quintessential things people ask in a letter; we have smartphones for that. But I would say things that are difficult to speak on the call, but they are simpler to write.

We are school friends and are still going strong, despite the miles spread out between us, you are closer to my heart than most people living near me. I am writing today to thank you for being my friend.

We don’t call each other for months on end, but your welfare and well-being are always on my mind. I know the same goes for you. We belong to the era when we didn’t need FB or Insta or WhatsApp to stay in touch. We used to visit each other.

You have stood by me through my thick and thin. You were always so easy to like, love, be around and me, just the opposite. You are still an outgoing, extrovert, people’s person. I am still the same shy, introvert, loner person. We were poles apart; I think that is what pulled us together like a magnet.

I still remember your dog, Fuzzy. And your wacko but awesome dance at your birthday party. You always kept me close, making me a part of your world. I was so thrilled to have you as my friend that a couple of girls from our school asked me if I had a crush on you.

It sounded indignant at that point of time, but today, I can say, if not crush, at least I had always admired, adored and loved you so much.  Maybe I wanted to be like you, lighting up the entire room with your energy and vibrant aura, pulling everyone in the current of my cyclone, making them a part of your joyride.

You made those years special with your pranks and practical jokes, sassy humour, and bold words. I still laugh at the lizard prank you pulled on me. The week you spent at my place was one of the very best times of my life.

You are a gifted and talented person. Your art always represents the wild child in you. You are such an enigma. Multi-tasking and doing several things at one time. I look up to you, your brushes add colour to every life you touch.

The most beautiful thing about our bond is our mothers. Mine loves you and yours loves me. Your family has always been my extended family, and I miss it all. Whenever I see something bold, colourful and out of the box, I think of you. You are the beautiful mess that gives an order to my chaotic soul.

But the thing I cherish most is your faith in me. You never lost faith in me. Thank you so much, my friend, for always believing in me. Thank you for carrying me in your heart and making me feel special, even it was two days late. :))

Thank You, Sweetheart!

Your Friend,
Saakshi

P.S.: Coffee never tastes the same without you.