Shall I? he thinks.

Without knowing what he is going to speak, he takes out his mobile and calls Shami. Every ring doubles his pulse rate. He closes his eyes, and then…

bhOndOO opens eyes and keeps looking at the unanswered call message.

Has she gone to the mess? Or… has she gone out for celebrating thesis submission? But she should have taken her mobile. Then, where must she be?

bhOndOO comes out of the lab. He forgets to greet the security person as he usually does.

“Good night, Sir.”

“Oh! Good night, Vaidyaji.”.

He leaves the CSA department and his feet show him the way. He walks past Instrumentation, MCBL and BioChemistry. The vehicles disappear and the tarred road is left behind. The sky spreads its wings, glistening with golden pearls. The just arisen full moon winks at bhOndOO. A chilly breeze runs around announcing, “He has arrived.”.

The miss of a pulse makes him aware that she is there, standing right at the feet of J N Tata statue. He tries hard to control his expressions while walking towards the statue, and fails miserably. The waves within him want to reach the moon.

She sees him and doesn’t get surprised. A smile does make an entry though.

And here they are, standing in front of J N Tata, almost in a church, awaiting, “I do.”.

She is looking straight into his eyes and, despite his tries, is able to see the expanse of all the waves within him.

The silence between them starts killing. He doesn’t know whether to kill the silence with “Hello.”, “Congrats.” or “Have you bought railway tickets?”, and he hasn’t even rehearsed anything this time. Her gaze keeps him occupied.

“Shami…”.

He doesn’t, but she knows that he never utters her name. The softness in his voice reveals everything. She can’t help close her eyes.

She opens her eyes to see her friend, lover, future. She knows he cares for her. She knows he exists for her. She knows he would die for her. But she wants him to say it. She wants to hear those three magic words. She wants him to embrace.

She is madly in love with him. Despite Gullu’s warnings, despite bhOndOO’s failures, despite he being the topic of laughter, within the last few years, he has encompassed her mind completely. Not seeing him troubles her. Seeing him troubles her more. She searches for him everywhere in campus, despite knowing he is nowhere nearby. Her day starts with his thought, goes watching him and ends dreaming of him. She has not remained her own; she has completely become his mistress.

Her expectant look and the echo of the most beautiful word in his own voice startles him. He gasps for breath. He gasps for words. He gasps for an “I do.”.

He knows he has to do it. It is his chance, it is his time and it is his life. It is now or never.

“Shami… I… I…”.

“Go on.”.

Her words surprise and encourage him at the same time. He continues.

“I thought about it umpteen number of times. I am not the smartest person you know. I am not the richest person around. Nor am I the most eligible bachelor.”.

She is listening.

“I may not be as warm as your parents, but I care for you. I may not be your best friend, but I respect your feelings. I may not be the most revered person around, but I am true to you. I am not omnipresent, but I am always there for you. I may not know what to say when you are sad, but I will be able to offer you a listening ear. I may not know how to make you smile, but I will smile with you. I may not be the best person around, but I will be good to you. And until recently, I used to believe that I will be able to convince you by showing how much I… how much… I love you.”.

Two storms in two hearts, and yet the duo is stand-still. Those who have experienced it know that it is difficult to say it the first time, and equally difficult when you hear it. A few moments pass in silence.

“However, I realized that I am not the only person who loves you so much. All your friends do. Your relatives do. Your parents do. Perhaps much more than what I can.”.

She is looking at him, with her big eyes, now watery.

“They all can support you emotionally, financially, psychologically. They can give you anything you want. They can make you smile. They can keep you happy. They can create the best world for you.”.

His voice saddens, “So I have nothing special or more or better to offer than anyone else. Neither more intelligence, nor more wealth, nor more love. Nothing.”.

A tiny drop settles on the lower eyelid of her left eye. It glistens in the moon-light, innocently, unaware of the reason of its existence. It saddens him further; he is not yet strong enough to be responsible for her tears. How can he bring her back? How can he make her smile? What should he say? Didn’t he want to propose her? And what has he done? He can’t leave her like this. This can’t be the end of the story?

Despite all his limitations, bhOndOO is b-O-n-d, and he cannot stop being one at this critical juncture of his life. He has to do it! He must.

And he does, with a faint mischievous smile on his face, “There is only one way I can become special.”.

She is trying to gather the meaning of the sudden change of his facial expressions, simultaneously trying to predict his future words. bhOndOO pauses a little allowing her to try. She fails.

“And I would be special only if… you love me.”.

bhOndOO smiles, relaxing himself. Shami smiles, understanding the googly and clearly appreciating the argumentative Indian’s argument.

bhOndOO asks, “There is no one else who has that special ability and I can attain it, only if you tell me. So now, do you love me?”.

bhOndOO’s googly turns the scene by 180 degrees. It was him who had to say it, but he is making her say it! Shami is too shy to say it in words. She looks down.

bhOndOO leans forward and asks in a whisperous voice, “Shami… do you love me?”.

Shami smiles and nods.

The waves have silenced, the moon is brighter, the wind is smiling, the two souls are happy.

bhOndOO steps closer to Shami. For the first time, her blood pressure is higher than that of bhOndOO. But she makes no attempt to step back. bhOndOO is standing very close to her; she doesn’t know what he is going to do. bhOndOO leans forward and holds her hand. She gasps for breathe.

But before bhOndOO could experience Rajendra Kumar’s “Meri rag rag mein koi bark si lahrayi thi, jab tere marmari hathon ko chchua tha maine”, J N Tata starts blowing a whistle. Shami quickly takes away her hand. When bhOndOO comes to senses, he realizes that the security guard at the main building, who has so far been watching them suspiciously, has taken offense. bhOndOO looks at him angrily — because the guard cannot see bhOndOO’s facial expressions in the dark. But he sees that the guard is actually standing quietly. Then who is blowing the whistle?

It is Gullu, and along with him come running BenJi, Lili, Chunna, Munna, Tingi, Mungi. Shami steps back smiling. bhOndOO steps back thinking, And I call them friends!

Everyone gathers around and joyously congratulates bhOndOO and Shami.

“You guys heard everything?”, bhOndOO’s question in disappointment.

“Not everything.”, Gullu replies and his smile troubles bhOndOO more.

BenJi, “Now, can we all go for dinner? I am very hungry.”.

“Sure, where should we go?”, Tingi.

“Let’s go to some exotic place.”, Chunna suggests looking at Shami.

“No, no. I don’t have much money.”, Munna.

“You don’t have to pay today.”, Mungi suggests looking at bhOndOO.

bhOndOO checks his wallet and gets disappointed to see the credit card there.

“Okay, let’s go. Let’s take the bus to Malleshwaram.”.

bhOndOO curses his friends, but is now relaxed. Shami is not able to speak, nor is she able to stop smiling.

At the bus stop, as they see the bus coming, Gullu turns towards bhOndOO and Shami, “Well, some of you can take an auto.”.

BenJi entered the computing lab to witness the gloomy environment: bhOndOO seated at a corner chair looking down, his computer screen at Shami’s facebook page and his face competing with Dilip Kumar’s tragedy king roles.

“Hmm… what’s the plan?”.

“I am not coming for dinner.”, bhOndOO without looking up and without any efforts of hiding his mental state from his best friend.

“I am not asking about dinner.”.

bhOndOO looked up.

BenJi looked at him without uttering a word, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe, which required no explanation.

bhOndOO understood, shrugged and again looked down, “I don’t know.”.

“bhOndOO!”, BenJi was serious, “You can’t sit like this! This is the time to act. She submitted her thesis today and is leaving for home in a week.”.

BenJi struck the right chord. bhOndOO got up furiously and shouted, “I know, but what can I do! It’s all over!”.

“But why don’t you talk to her?”.

“She doesn’t like me. She… she likes Gullu.”.

“Have you talked to her?”.

“There is nothing to talk.”.

BenJi didn’t know what to say. bhOndOO was not in a state of listening. At this eventful juncture, someone entered the lab — no, not Shami.

“Hey, guys!”.

“Hello Gullu.”, who else, of course, BenJi greeted.

“Looks like a tensed environment.”.

Nobody spoke a word.

“So, bhOndOO!”, Gullu attacked, “Shami will be leaving next week.”.

Several phrases came to bhOndOO’s mind at once: “Go to hell!”, “I don’t care!”, “Mind your own business!” and he kept mum.

“I have asked her to talk to her parents about marriage.”.

bhOndOO got furious, but he knew he was a loser, he could only utter, “Congratulations.”.

“Hmm… Well, you see, you need not congratulate me. I am not getting married to Shami.”.

In mind, “What?”, bhOndOO felt he misheard, then felt of dreaming. Without his knowledge, a faint smile appeared on his face, “Sorry?”.

“You heard it right. I am not getting married to Shami. In fact, I cannot get married to her.”.

bhOndOO thought of options, “Gullu loves someone else, Gullu is impotent, Gullu is gay, …”.

“We belong to the same gotra. And we don’t marry within a gotra.”.

bhOndOO in mind, “Gotra? In 21st century?”, but he felt happy that there are people in the world who believe in gotras.

“Oh! When did you come to know of this gotra business?”

“It was clear long ago, within the first month of meeting Shami.”.

“And she knows it too?”, bhOndOO was curious.

“Yes, all along.”.

“Oh!”, and bhOndOO started thinking about all the previous encounters with Shami in the new light. His profound thinking was disturbed by Gullu’s gotra-mantra.

“Since we belong to the same gotra”, Gullu continued, “I treat her like a sister…”.

bhOndOO could not stop smiling.

“… And I considered it to be my moral responsibility that she doesn’t fall for a bhOndOO like you.”.

bhOndOO’s smile stopped.

“I always wanted her to look for a person of intellect, maturity and status, and I told this to her umpteen number of times. But she doesn’t listen.”.

“And she likes you.”, BenJi stepped in.

bhOndOO, puzzled, “Likes whom?”.

“She like you.”.

“How do you know? She said it?”, then suddenly bhOndOO sensed the bigger picture, “Wait! BenJi, did you also know about this gotra episode all along?”.

“Yes, I did.”, BenJi smiled, wickedly.

“And I thought you were my best friend!”.

BenJi giggled.

“Who else has been a part of this plan?”.

“Gullu, myself, Lili, Tingi, Mungi, actually, everyone knew of this, except you.”.

In Munna Bhai style, “Tum sab ne milke mujhe mamu banaya.” (you all played tricks with me).

Gullu was not interested in bhOndOO-BenJi friendship. He started preaching, “This is not the time to settle scores. This is the time to rise to the situation. Uttishthata, Jagrata, and stop not till the goal is reached.”.

“What do you mean?”, bhOndOO is a bhOndOO.

Gullu was serious, “It is time.”.

The Indian Institute of Science, in its 102nd year brings to you the third edition of the Science and Technology Run on March 6th 2011 jointly organized by IISC Alumni Association and Students’ Council. In keeping with the spirit of science and being a front runner in science and technology development in the country, it takes this opportunity to bring together the IISc fraternity and invite the student community to participate in this run for science. This run is symbolic to strengthen the support for science and technology and ties to the Institute from the people of Bangalore.

CSA computing labs printer usage statistics.

Some points:

• Printers print over 1 lakh pages per year.
• As expected Feb/Mar and Sep/Oct are the months of highest printing rates.
• Around INR 20–25 thousand is spent on reams every year.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought permission to prosecute a professor at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for allegedly giving false inspection report to start an engineering college in Tamil Nadu 13 years ago.

[...]

AICTE has asked IISc to take disciplinary action against a retired professor of computer science department for allegedly giving a false report regarding the facilities at an engineering college in Palakkad.

Gary Locke’s remarks at IISc.

To spur the new technologies India needs to grow its economy and help solve the world’s problems, we hope India will continue working to create a commercial environment that is more open and more friendly to competition and innovation.

 

Civil: http://civil.iisc.ernet.in/~summer/

CSA, SERC: http://www.serc.iisc.ernet.in/sip/

Here are the most read pages. And a big Thank You to all of you.

So in order to help students beat the stress, IISc has come up with peer counselling apart from the professional counsellors, where two students from every department will be chosen. They in turn will speak to students who are in need of help. They meet the counsellor frequently and take aid from her.

I am the student representative from the Department of Computer Science and Automation for CCS since my name was nominated by the department in early 2009 (since the department found nobody else). Till date, I have received no communication from CCS about what needs to be done as a student representative. I have met not a single person from CCS yet and have visited CCS zero number of times.

Every year since I joined, I have been hearing about at least one student death. In such a scenario, the role of CCS is very important (of course, CCS should not be blamed for a student death or a suicide attempt). The idea of peer counselling (heard it first time in the above ToI report) is great, but should it be done only to show the administration that CCS is doing something? With respect to the actual work done as part of the peer counselling, I am unsure how CCS has performed.

bhOndOO looked up at BenJi with an angry face.

“Okay, okay. What happened?”.
“I was chatting with Lili.”.
“There is nothing wrong in chatting with Lili.”.
“Will you listen?”.
“Okay, sorry.”.
“I didn’t know that Shami was also with her.”.
“Oh! Okay…”.
“We had a small argument about boys versus girls.”.
“We meaning?”.
“Lili and myself.”.
“During the chat?”.
“Yes.”.
“And?”.
“And we both got angry with each other.”.
“And?”.
“And she called me an idiot.”.
“That should not have bothered you. You should be accustomed to it by now.”.

bhOndOO said nothing.

“Okay, you abused her and Shami was reading everything, right?”.
“No. That would have been a less complicated case.”.
“Then? What did you do?”, BenJi was clearly interested.
“I sent her an angry smiley.”.
“What?”.
“Yes, I wrote an angry smiley in the chat window.”.
“You mean ex-hyphen-opening parenthesis?”.
“Yes, x-(. At least that is what I wanted to write.”.
“Meaning?”.
“Meaning, in the anger, I wrote something else.”.
“What?”.
“colon-hyphen-ex.”.
“What smiley does it create?”.
“a kiss .”.

bhOndOO caught cold in the train while going home. By the time he reached home, his nose had started raining more than the monsoon. The condition was pathetic and bhOndOO decided not to take any medicines. He had forgotten that he was home.

His father brought him two tablets, his sister brought vicks, his mother dozed him with ginger kaadha, his cousin suggested him to wear sweater, his cousin’s wife suggested to use monkey cap and his cousin’s wife’s son (the Mundan fame) suggested him to wear socks and gloves. As more guests arrived, there were a few more, but mostly contradictory. For instance, bathing versus not bathing, bathing in cold versus hot water, going to a doctor versus to a baba, etc. With all the suggestions implemented, bhOndOO was now completely packed with only eyes visible. In order to save the monkey cap, he had to adjust it a bit to let his running nose perform its operations smoothly.

For the ceremony, the monkey cap was forced to be removed by bhOndOO’s mother. “It doesn’t create a good impression.”, was her remark. The Mundan was in the morning, but turned out to be a nightmare. bhOndOO’s nephew Bittu managed to be awake during the whole function and created all the possible troubles. It all started with Bittu sitting with his parents along with the Pandit around a havan. Bittu initially tried to imitate his parents by putting ghee into the aahuti, but it spilled and fell onto a lamp that extinguished. With the sophisticated Indian mindset, everyone did a hassh-hussh and continued looking at the pandit, since untimely lamp extinguishing is considered a bad omen. The pandit, equally unaware of controlling his fear, tried to pacify the crowd by chanting more mantras and a bit more loudly. When he realized that he can actually receive more dakshina for taking the family out of the trouble, he stood up and started whirling around himself with eyes closed chanting something (which anyway one never understands).

Meanwhile, as everyone was busy worrying, Bittu managed to pull out a small burning wood from the aahuti. As the pandit was performing his rounds, Bittu tried to move the wood to-and-fro, imitating him. When his father tried to snatch it from him, he resented and in the attempt, the wood swung into air and fell right onto the bottom part of the pandit’s dhoti. The spectators shouted and tried to warn the pandit, but he was busy chanting and whirling. Fortunately, before he looked inappropriate, the dhoti was extinguished and he was brought to senses by our dear bhOndOO, by throwing water on him. The pandit was sure unimpressed.

Bittu continued his attempts but were turned futile by his parents’ strategy of finishing the pooja as early as possible which almost all the pandits are well capable of. Poojas are the best examples of scalable algorithms. You decide the time and money and the pandit can do the same pooja in that time. Quite amazing.

As the pooja and the mundan ceremony got over, Bittu, not finding anything interesting, started feeling sleepy. Since his parents were busy looking after the guests, bhOndOO was given the responsibility of putting Bittu to sleep. Bittu initially resisted a foreign face, but when he found himself sleeping on a fleshy shoulder without any signs of bones, he allowed himself to be settled.

bhOndOO was told to sing some song in order to put Bittu to deep sleep. But bhOndOO was not in a mood. After he took over Bittu, he realized that he should go to the bathroom. He was in a dilemma what to do, but thought of controlling himself until Bittu slept. This reminded himself to check if Bittu had worn a diper and, to his relief, he was safe.

As Bittu started some movement on his shoulder, bhOndOO had to start singing. He tried all kinds of Hindi songs he knew, like Dheere se aaja re akhiyan me nindiya, Surmai akhiyon mein nanna munna ek sapana de ja re, but finally, Bittu went to sleep after hearing Dhoom machale dhoom machale dhoom, being played on a taperecorder.

bhOndOO’s next job was to, no no, not to go to the bathroom, but to keep the sleeping Bittu on his bed. bhOndOO was happy, as he would then be able to respect the nature’s call. At this thought, bhOndOO sneezed heavily and Bittu partly woke up. bhOndOO skillfully put him to sleep again. But calamities never leave bhOndOO. As he reached Bittu’s room, he heard someone playing a loud music of Kaala kanwaa kaat khayegaa. It was his mobile. Now bhOndOO was in a strange situation. He had held Bittu cautiously on his left hand and the mobile was in the left pocket of his jeans. Moving Bittu to the right hand would have been risky as he would wake up. Hence the only remedy was to try to pick up the mobile in the left pocket using right hand.

It was difficult. I mean, it is difficult. The reader should try it, with a baby in the left hand. Tension was piling up as his hand was not getting hold of the target and the target was simply ringing. And at this sweet timing, bhOndOO realized something.

He felt a small cold moving sensation in his nose. The sneezing a few moments ago had done its job. The vigour with which bhOndOO’s right hand started penetrating in the left pocket was now doubled, since bhOndOO’s handkerchief was also in the same pocket, below the mobile.

Let me summarize the situation. Bittu sleeping on left hand, eagerly waiting for the nature’s call, unending ringtone that could wake Bittu up anytime, the awkward posture of taking out the mobile+handkerchief using right hand and the drop running steadily down the nostril. Only an octopus can take care of all these activities in such a situation. But our bhOndOO is b-O-n-d, he finally managed to take out his mobile and … well, sneezed six times on its screen.

When the onslaught of the sneezing was over, bhOndOO realized that the call was missed and the younger male was looking at him with not a frightened, but a very curious face. The well-awake Bittu raised his hand to slowly move in the direction of bhOndOO’s mouth. bhOndOO was worried about his waking up and could not fathom the meaning of the act. Only when Bittu touched bhOndOO’s lips did bhOndOO realized that a lot of viscous fluid from his nose was encroaching on the mouth area of his face. Bittu found the jelly quite interesting to play with and he got enough time to make maps of various countries on bhOndOO’s face before bhOndOO shifted him to the right hand and took out his handkerchief.

bhOndOO did not bother about the missed call, but he definitely thought of rushing to a bathroom attached to the same room. He was not sure how since he could not take Bittu along. Handing him over to someone outside would be too insulting. Hence, bhOndOO decided to keep Bittu on the bed, instruct him not to move and then perform the ritual. Bittu listened to the instructions carefully. bhOndOO finally went inside the attached bathroom and relieved himself.

The extent of relief was quite comparable to that after a comprehensive examination.

As happy bhOndOO came out, as you guessed, Bittu had disappeared. bhOndOO went out running and the first person he encountered was Bittu’s father JoJo.

“Oh! Slept?”.

“Umm… well… yes…”.

“Great! You would become a good father.” and went away.

bhOndOO realized that Bittu had not gone out. He rushed in again and searched the rooms more carefully. He went panic to find no signs of Bittu.

“I think I should tell his parents. But what will they think of me! And what reason should I tell that I went to the bathroom leaving him alone! This sounds so silly. They will call me a stupid! But searching Bittu is more important than being tagged of stupidity. Anyway, this won’t be the first time someone would call me stupid. Yes, I should tell his parents. I must.”.

bhOndOO made up his mind and came out. He looked around to see some familiar faces.

“Bittu’s mother would panic. I better talk to Bittu’s father.”.

bhOndOO went to Bittu’s father, JoJo. JoJo was talking to some guests.

“Excuse me, JoJo?”.

“Yes, bhOndOO?”.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”.

“Yes, please go on.”.

“Can I talk to you for a minute in private?”.

JoJo got serious, looked around at the guests, then at bhOndOO and “Please excuse me.” and came to a side along with bhOndOO.

“What’s the matter, bhOndOO? Anything serious?”.

“Actually, JoJo…”.

“Am I disturbing?”, Bittu’s mother JiJi approached.

Both bhOndOO and JoJo did not answer.

“Bittu slept?”, JiJi asked without waiting for the answer to her first question.

“Ummm… Yes…”, bhOndOO replied.

“You were saying something.”, JoJo enquired bhOndOO.

“Ummm… No, nothing… really. Just… just asking whether there is enough food for the guests.”.

“Oh! Don’t worry about that. Our caterer is very experienced. And this is a very small function for him.”.

JiJi put her hand around JoJo’s and almost pulled him away, “I want you to meet my…”.

bhOndOO was left alone, disappointed and more worried. His pulse rate was continually increasing at the thought of losing Bittu and not informing it to his parents.

“I need to be brave. I must tell it to JoJo and JiJi. Who knows, Bittu may have been kidnapped!”.

The last thought made bhOndOO miss a pulse. He dreaded thinking about the consequences of kidnapping, shrugged and rushed towards JiJi and JoJo.

“JoJo, JiJi, I want to say something.”.

Both of them turned, questioning.

“Actually, … Bittu is kid…”, bhOndOO could not utter further.

“Ofcourse he is a kid. What do you mean!”, JiJi.

“No, I mean, he is a kid and he is a sweet kid, but currently, he is not…”.

“What’s the matter, bhOndOO?”, JoJo got serious again.

“JoJo, please don’t misunderstand me, but Bittu…”.

“Is here.”, a familiar sweet voice was heard.

bhOndOO missed another pulse at the voice and when he saw her. Bittu was comfortably asleep in her hands. bhOndOO’s face suddenly started glowing with surprise and pleasure. For a moment, he forgot the whole world and he did not even bother how she was there.

“She… is…?”, JiJi asked looking at JoJo.

“She… is…?”, JoJo asked looking at smiling bhOndOO.

“She… is…”, bhOndOO doesn’t utter her name.

“I am Shami, bhOndOO’s colleague from IISc.”.

“Oh! Nice to meet you.”, JoJo said shifting his notorious gaze towards bhOndOO.

“Please give him to me.” and JiJi came forward to take Bittu from Shami. Bittu opened his eyes and slept again.

“Okay, then. Enjoy yourself.”, JiJi and JoJo left the love-birds.

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. bhOndOO was so pleasantly surprised that he did not even care for knowing the reason behind the surprise. But to break the silence, that was the only normal way.

“So,… how come… here?”.

“Main bulaye rahi.”, bhOndOO’s Daadi entered the non-conversation. I invited her.

“Oh!” and bhOndOO could not question further.

Shami touched Daadi’s feet.

“Khush raho.”, Daadi blessed with her right hand on Shami’s head and her eyes on bhOndOO. Be happy.

“Safar thik raha?”. The journey was okay?

“Haan Daadi.”. Yes, Daadi.

“Thik hai. Tum log baat karo. Main jara mehamaanon se milke aati hoon.”. I will be back after meeting the guests.

The love-birds were silently alone again. The awkwardness pushed bhOndOO to senses.

“So, where did you find Bittu?”

“In that room, below the cot.”.

“Oh! But why did you go to that room?”.

“I called you, but you didn’t pick up the phone. So I asked people here for your whereabouts. Someone directed me to the room. I didn’t find you, but found Bittu.”.

“Oh! It was you whom I missed!”.

The statement made Shami look down and bhOndOO hold his tongue in teeth. He added, “I mean… on the phone call.”.

Shami did not say a word. But bhOndOO continued.

“You don’t know, you just saved me from a big trouble.”.

Shami smiled. bhOndOO did not understand the meaning of the smile: I will always be there whenever you find yourself in trouble.

“So…, what’s the plan?”, bhOndOO asked.

“Lunch! And then you are showing me your city.”.

They both smiled… a little longer.

“Sure.”, bhOndOO said joyously.

Looking after the guests, Daadi kept an eye on the two colleagues from IISc.

Heck, they have age bars on movies and voting, how come there isn’t any minimum age for leaving the world ? How could a 22 year old be allowed in heaven or wherever it is that souls go after this life, when you had your whole life yet to be lived ? How I wish I could go back in time and steal your ticket to the other world (just like you said you’d like to get hold of my train tickets so I wouldn’t leave home to get back to college/work after vacations). But that isn’t possible, is it ?

So, here’s the real reason why I am writing all this today. It has been four years since we lost you, and sadly nothing really changed. Every once in a while the newspaper or TV reminds me that the age bar still doesn’t apply. Why, oh why, must tragic stories of young lives lost in meaningless ways be so common ? The slippery rock, the deceptive current of that apparently harmless stream, the split second error leading to a traffic mishap, the random bullet or aimless fight, a sudden powerful wave that proved too strong, a slight mistake in judgement during that “easy” jump, the despondancy from so called failure to confirm to perceived expectations, a moment of diverted attention during a group activity … causes all so trivial in the face of the magnitude of the irreverible loss.

I can’t help but wonder: If only those involved really knew how supremely precious their lives were (just like yours was), if only they were conscious of it every single moment, would things have been different ? Would that have changed the odds by raising cognizance of avoidable dangers ? Knowing that they were making a difference just by being there (much like the joy you brought us), would that have helped ? Realizing the permanent hole that their loss would leave behind in the hearts of those near and dear (like the pain that we still find so hard to bear even as we try our best to remember you with smiles as we know you would want us to) – would that awareness have saved at least some of these lives ?

If that is so, then today I’d like to dedicate the rakhi wishes I have for you, towards protecting every such precious young life that can be saved from now on – I want to say to each one “Please be safe, be alert, be happy, please take care of yourself – you have no idea how much your life means; trust me, as a sister missing her little brother who will never come back, I know”.