Retrouvaille - Experiencing joy of rediscovery.

Have you heard of the word called "retrouvaille". 

Most of us would not have heard though.

Retrouvaille means 'The joy of meeting of finding someone again after a long separation; a kind of rediscovery.

 

I am going through and experiencing retrouvaille. 😊

It’s been 24 hours that I spoke to one of my childhood friend. Just visualize if you are speaking to someone beloved after nearly three decades ~ 30 years. And the emotional delight and fervent fondness wasn’t just in speaking, it was in discovering that the frequency remains the same, the maturity of 30 years of growth is in sync and the ecstasy of warmth is amplified and is playing in perfect harmony.  

Distance has never killed the connection. The time gap has not slayed the correlation. No interaction has not slaughtered the tenderness of our friendship.

It was in early 1991 that I moved out of my elementary school to high school and that was the last time I saw her. We never had phones as what is today, nor emails to be in contact. Things moved on and indeed we did not even realize that we should be in touch. Seems like - what is networking today is got introduced only because of technology and commercialization.

 

Innocent days, Virtuous thought process, pure souls, naïve lifestyle and clear skies above.

We had spent hours together at school. Probably we never understood the word ‘future’ then.

We never knew the definition of the word called ‘Challenge’. All we might have thought was only of the gigantic word called ‘exam’ and ‘tests’. I am sure that it wasn’t as tense setting as today.  What is called ‘responsibility’ today was unstated then.  

 

I still remember that we had played a skit which went ultra-popular and we were told to play and present it multiple times on various platforms. And we were only two of us who played. There was this science day where we did experiments together.  There were days where I went to her home to collect notes if I was absent from school. There was a day where I lost my way to reach her place, and the next consecutive time, she picked me up from a place to take me, and from then on, her home was easy to access. Even today, she might not stay in the same building and road though, but I purposely go in front of her place just to experience that I was once there. Call it nostalgic, sentimental, or yearning.. the sensation is relishing.

 

Currently, she stays in the western world and I am in the east, as we had a video call… I kept on gazing at her same bubbly face, the same affection being showered and I could not control few sparkles from my eyes and as they say – when you are overwhelmed, neither can you express in words nor in any form of language.

 

Language has barriers to express all that you feel. It was yet again that moment for me yesterday that I could not talk, express, or have a tête-à-tête. 😊

 

But, I am sure there is a reason why we are reunited. There is a reason why connexion got reconnected. And more so, with same symmetry.

 

Thank you, Anitha, for bringing in the momentous joy and taking me back to my childhood. Along with a few you predominantly stand out.

 

My heart spoke much more than my tongue.

A Journey to Excellence that never ends!

Excellence is a journey

Excellence is a drive from within

Excellence is a passage embedded within time

Traveling with us thrusting to explore new dimensions

Injecting new thirst, supplementing hunger time and again.

Where do we go in search of excelling ourselves?

Unleashing our unknown potential…

Searching externally, researching internally

Exploring outside, seeking it inside

Motivation from others, but inspire ourselves

It’s never an expedition to have arrived at its destination

But, it is a mission life long

Thriving, refining, cultivating, enriching, and enlightening.

Dial to your memory on Speed dial list!

I have an interesting reflection to share as I was decluttering my phone.

Please pick your phone, go to speed dial. I am sure you will find a few names with photographs or names with initials. This list also has some frequently dialed people’s names as you scroll down.

People who are there on speed dial are one whom you have entitled as favorite numbers, given them a star category and so they appear to be reached out in no time.

Now, some reflective exercise for you – See them all, think about them.

Why did they get into a speed dial pad?

When did they get into that zone?

More importantly – Are they all still in the same zone of STAR category? How often do you reach out and speak regularly?

Or Have they slipped from that precinct or have you flipped??

Summarizing, reasons can be many to contemplate and justify our time and prioritizing. Irrespective of reasons, our speed dial pad changes time and again. It reminds me of reading a profound anecdote – All human actions, however, small have one or more of these roots – chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, or desire.

वैद्यो नारायणो हरिः – And its greater radius.

It was late night and my cousin brother had called in for a personal reason. He serves at Ayurvedic Department of Medicine.

Most of us have personally known people who are relentlessly working at the medical department, and from my own family, there are a couple of them in this ring today.

What I wanted to highlight was – Along with doctors, nurses, there are thousands in the medical department who are untiringly serving at the backend to connect the dots.

My brother is in emergency cell and is suppose to ensure the numbers in quarantine, responsible to facilitate to various departments including police, BBMP, Panchayat offices in Bangalore rural and surrounding departments. He takes care of Infra, Administration, and reports with multitasking on facilitating emergency calls. Beyond it, they need to stand as a backup for any situation.

While he could squeeze some time to talk to me, the entire period was distressing that most of us hardly know the truth. Let me quote a few:

-      They are required to be in PPE’s all the time which is more suffering than anything amidst summer. There are different varieties depending on exposure to the risk.

• It's challenging to eat, drink water and attend to natural calls with PPE’s and every time once they remove, it gets disposed of.
• As the number of PPE's are less, they are managing to use it for a prolonged period for more than eight hours in a stretch.
• He has lost 8kgs in the last 45 days.
• They hardly sleep for 5/6 hours in a day or less than that in a staggered fashion.
•  He has come home only four times in the last 45 days to show his face for 15minutes and he did not get inside.
• Everybody working in the department is required to undergo a test for themselves once a week.

-      Post all this, as things would come in control, they would be quarantined for 21days before they can get back to normal life.

This is just not the story of someone, but everyone who is working front end and back end.

Think about it. If we had any of our family members or a friend serving so tenaciously for the better good – can we even think of hurting them in our wildest of dreams??

Note: This article was penned during corona pandemic hit starting from December 2019 in China, spread across the globe. In India, the things started getting bad since April 2020 and it is been long chaos in the history of humankind in spite of being so technologically advanced compared to all previous centuries. 

Thappad - Is it just a movie slap?

I just completed watching the movie ‘Thappad’ on amazon prime. It is 1:40 am and bells are ringing in my mind, thoughts are flowing relentlessly. Feels like a gush of emotions are storming my brain. Memories from my childhood – those lessons of social studies thirty springs ago which I read on female feticide, infanticide, inequality for a girl child, biased in education, discernment at the workplace,….  & even today I teach my son the same chapters – discrimination & biasing.  I looked at the mirror adjacent to my study table and said -  Have we really changed ??

As I stepped into my adolescence  - there was this time I witnessed a series of dowry based movies. Women being burnt, abused, tortured and the list is countless across all Indian languages.  Not far – the recent ‘Jabariya Jodi’ is as well based on dowry reflecting that it still exists, and we all know it does.  So – Have we really changed ??

I have been a very obliging daughter to my parents. I was also told to compromise, adapt, digest, and succumb to demands. I am still expected to be tolerant irrespective of preferences. And when there was a juncture in my life to be vocal about my choices – I had to go through both external and internal struggles and strifes. When I recall it today, I had a few pillars who gave their shoulders to lean on. But eventually who listened to my woes, came to rescue, stood with me were females.  Probably females connect to emotions than a male brain. Point is - there are exceptionally countable few men who can stand for women. Even today – they prefer to stand a mile away.

I have been reading this book ‘Lady you’re the boss’ - & I love this author, she almost makes me feel that she was witnessing snippets of my life secretly from a career-oriented and audacious working women standpoint.  She is able to write and I am able to relate – because both of us are connecting - either have experienced or witnessed an experience. What she narrates a decade ago is valid even today.

• Women are paid less and are evaluated to be delivered below the mark
• Women need to ask for proper hikes, else it just isn’t given
• Women are judged on her looks and appearance
• And if you have been in senior management, you have assorted combats.

Everyday struggles against biasing, demand for promotions & pays, domestic balancing, motherhood guilt – she is still expected to keep up the equity as it is her choice to be career-oriented. Her perpetual war is on from decades.

It makes me think – Have we really changed ??

Let me state as is – from Financial Express dated December 2019 – It is less than 3% of global VC who invest in women-led teams. Isn’t this a Thappad as well?

As an entrepreneur – let me assert – even today many of my friends, particularly males don’t believe in what I do. There are few who outrightly ask ‘Oh! Are you still running your business?’ And there are some silent spectators whispering within – Let’s see what will she do? And those words ‘Oh! & Let’s see’ carry the feelings of either insecurity or animosity.  Yet again, have we really changed?

Women quench her thirst feeling the feel that she is sacred wanted and she is an embodiment of earth & nature to hold all the pains and pangs. On the contrary, men are bought up with the sense that they are protectors & providers.  Changes seem erstwhile and ephemeral. 

If you have reached here, irrespective of gender, drill deep and be fair to ask yourself – Have we changed?? Or Can we change ??

Concept of Friends forever ?

Who comes, who goes, who knows?

There was this beloved pal around twelve springs ago   

Locations were far off, operating points were never on the way.

But, we had the world’s time to talk from zero to quantum physics

Time was made, resting reasons aside.    

Autumns pass, people and priorities switch

But, I often feel ambiguous – ‘Should few treasured bonds’

Be comprised of it ???

Yes, what we fail to comprehend is –

Valued by us no more is valuable from another end

Expectations come true only when it is two ways           

Today, we are in the neighbourhood    

Exchanging few familiar face wishes

There was a time – We were far, minds were adjacent.

Ironically, today – We are adjacent, minds are far.

Who comes, who goes … who knows??

Moments pass, memories stay.

Just cherish as the best days of life