Friday, December 31, 2010


The year 2010 has been so eventful and as we enter the New Year I would like to sum up few important events of the last year and keep this for posterity.
1. It was on 21st January, 2010 that I got a call from a stranger called Rajeev who introduced himself as a school mate of mine . He told me that he had a photograph of the school but I was missing in that. May be I was absent. The next day he sent me the photograph through mail. I then sent him back a photograph in which I was there and this was of XB. The one he had was of XA. Then Rajeev and Ramesh visited my house and I challenged them to find Aneeta and I would give a lunch party to who ever discovered her. Well as they say, the rest is history. This was the most beautiful event of last year and I got connected to so many old friends, Rajeev, Ramesh, NSN, Vijay, Skanda, Mani, Aneeta, Manjit, Punkaj , Jay , Nauz, Nanda, Suresh, Shiva, Janak, Venky, Sadhna, lalita and life has been so beautiful. For the first time we understood the meaning of friendship and developed very close bonds and returned back to our teenage. Thank you dear friends for the wonderful moments that we shared and will continue to share. I also need to thank the year 2010 for making this happen.
2. Two of my students completed their Ph.d and one was awarded the degree. Now I only hope and pray they get settled fast in the coming year. It is with mixed feelings that we see these students who had been working with us for the last six to seven years leave but there is a satisfaction that they have completed their studies and can now be independent and stand on their own.
3. I walked up to Visnao devi all alone when I went to Jammu for conducting the entrance exams.
4. My youngest son,Varun also left for the US and I had to suddenly deal with learning to do thinks on my own and get used to loneliness. I was reminded about the poem daffodils which our English Literature teacher in the University, Prof. Manas Mukul Das would explain so well. He had stressed a lot at that time on the difference between loneliness and solitude. When you are alone and feel miserable then it is loneliness but when you enjoy your loneliness then it is solitude. Both are a state of mind. So I must learn to live in solitude.
5. My sixth book saw the light of the day. And was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing and this was a great feeling.
Let’s see what the next year holds.
Wish you all a Very happy New Year 2011. I only hope and prey that Sankalp gets settled in the year 2011 and finds a good life partner.