THREE LETTERS
I Miss You
15-7
2012
My dear Son ,
No work to do on Sunday evening ,. It’s raining outside.
No work to do on Sunday evening ,. It’s raining outside.
Had coffee in evening, papa having slight cough and headache so
taking rest .
Just thinking about your future ( u
know what do I mean ) and then going back to past…to your childhood days
You say u don't have any good memories of past
but we do , specially your father, have many . He says as a child he loved
u much much more and used to take u to every park in the town on every Sunday ……but the way every person
shows his love keeps on varying .. his too much of love turned in to over
protectiveness and I suppose my
concern for your well being circled around in making you bright student.
Our financial conditions did not allow us to pampering but see the
brighter side.. that made you quite a sensible person and if u compare yourself
with others you are too good in all respects ( like far far
far away from spoiled brats)
Regarding wasting your time in
unnecessarily studying and studying without any fun .. I agree u should
have enjoyed a bit more .. but still u are today what u are only because of
your academic sincerity and performance .U
may think scoring marks in athwale was
useless but that was the process of moulding and shaping your
intelligence and that is why u studied in and topped Georgia Tech . Now
its time to enjoy the fruits of hardwork u have put in to achieve what u wanted. But as I have said earlier
always be grounded and be good to others.
That's enough for today
How is your life
going on in USA ?. Are you happy ? Be cheerful , share your feelings with
someone .. if no one then I am always there for u..
.. mummy
Dear Amitabh Bachchan
20 - 5 - 2013
Dear Amitabh
Bachchan,
My son is such a huge fan of yours
that he was hesitant to go to USA to take admission in Georgia Tech University
as it would mean putting an end to his dream to participate in KBC.
Now having finished his studies ,I
reminded him, “come home , KBC is still going on , Don’t you want to meet the legendary
man Amitabh Bachchan? “
Waving in air and laughing carelessly
he says, “Here it’s heaven mom. What’s there apart from Amitabh Bachchan“
Dear Amitabh sir, he is such a huge fan of yours that he would
definitely come back , come to homeland , come to me only if you call him.
I want you to tell him “ if a
neighboring aunty is too beautiful ,
would a child love that aunty more than his mother ?
What if you are enjoying all the
luxuries there in USA , it’s just like a luxurious hotel without your dear ones
and how long one can be happy in a hotel..one’s real happiness is at his home
.. however small it may be . “
How I wish I come to the sets of KBC
and when you ask “ Mataji , aapki kya
ichcha hai ? “.. without wasting a moment I would wish , “Bas , US se dekh rahe
mere bête ko Hi kar dijiye aur kahiye “bête , ghar aa jao , hum sab aapka
intajar kar rahe hai . “ Bas aapse mere bête tak yaha sandesh pahoche isiliye
mai yaha aai. “
Dear
Amitabh sir, my son is such a huge fan of yours , I am sure , he will
definitely obey you and come back .
A mother
Where Mind Is Without Fear
15- 3- 2016
My Dear Son ,
How are you ? We are fine here . The span of six years you being away appears
long , though you visited us every year.
I vividly remember those days of your arrival when I kept looking at the
door from where you would appear and hug me & also everytime
you left , how I wished to hold you close & not let you go.
Son , ..now I think … your decision of going to USA was not only
practical but also a wise one. .but now
a days..many times .. you talk about returning to India.
But .. my son ….wait a while….hold back
for now . come to India only when India awakes to become a place where
Where mind is without fear
At this moment just something is not
right and all is not well… Let … let when I heard a Banglore news of a 4 year old daughter of a
software professional ( like you )
falling in an open drain and dying , I shivered as face of our khusboo
flashed in front of my eyes.
Here , my son .. children fall in pits
regularly . Frequently kids are attacked by stray dogs ...... unfortunate but true.
No one is bothered about such issues
even if human life is at stake but they
do bother about what you eat and what you wear .. as now they feel culture and religion is at stake..
So my son … come to India only when it becomes
a place
Where tireless striving stretches its
arms towards perfection and safety.
In our house many times we don’t have water for a week . Frequency of
water shut down notices is increasing. Do you know ..in Marathwada ..water is
supplied only twice a month?
If this is not enough , you don’t get
pure air to breathe in cities like Banglore and Delhi. Instead of acting on
factories and other pollutant sources they ask common man not to drive on
particular days . It is always the common man who has to bear the brunt .
Instead of acting on criminals , they choose the softest target “common man” …
“the mango man “
Once I thought , we the common man
lack courage . We must exercise our right to demand our rights. So I went to
university office like a brave lioness to
demand your degree certificate (
we were not getting it even after three years of declaration of results and
your career was at stake for the want of degree certificate). Do you remember
what did they say, “You can not get the
certificate as our printing machine is out of order .” How funny ! I became
furious , I quarreled , I argued but I was attacked back . I had to return like
a wounded sparrow with bleeding heart.
Such is the plight of common man .Whenever someone raises his voice ,a “Mr Nobody” comes
and kills that voice . You know well who were Dabholkar , Pansare, Manjunath ,
Styendre Dubey …..
Despite this a ripe mango man
decided to unite all common men . Hopes were raised and he was hailed as “……aandhi……aaj
ka Gandhi ……..”. But what happened ? . They put all mangoes in
mixer including that ripe mango ….. squeezed….. prepared mango shake … and …
gulped down……….now seating on chairs …….moving their hands on … mango shake filled tummies.
So my son … here … unlike in your US …common man has no rights…, he has
only taxes to pay and only rules to follow .
The common man can only keep wondering about, rules, law, justice ….as the law can not find … “who was driving the
car ? “ ; … as they say …”No one killed Jessica……”
; as offenders flee the country duping
the whole country of crores of rupees and police keep on beating the bush (
common man )
But in general ,there is no denying of
the fact that crime is increasing because many a times , it turns out that ….protectors are predators … law is twisted
….and ….courts are helpless.
So my
son …. Hold back …. Come only when ..India becomes a place where
Where mind is without fear
Where words come out from the depth of
truth
Where tireless striving stretches its
Arms towards perfection
Where clear stream of reason has
Not lost its way .
( for now stream of reasons for Vyapam , Herald , Ishrat has lost its
way . )
My son… looking at the ongoing protests for reservations , I don’t think
any seat will be left for our Khushboo if you come back . ……….I still remember
your face seething in anger as you were denied the seat in a college being open
caste .and the same seat was snatched away by your wealthy friend who scored 20
marks less than you but had his particular caste in his armour.
So my son … come back only when ….the day arises when your credibility
not the caste becomes stepping stone to your success. Come back when India
awakes to become a place
Where people forget low caste …high
caste…but recognize only one caste …..caste of humanity.
Where the mind is without fear
And the head is held high
Where knowledge is free…….( free of caste if not cost )
Not only caste but issues relating to
religion are also making our environment turbulent . For so many years , I had
a strong belief ( still it is ) … that 99.99% Indians have nothing to do with
Hindu-Muslim issue. The simple people do not want to make their complex lives more complicated by adding
hindu-muslim problem to already existing
long list of routine problems. There are numerous examples of Hindu-Muslims
happily coexisting and helping each other..
But suddenly those remaining 0.01
% of Indians (?) are raising their voice so loudly that they make it appear
that it is the voice of many.
If someone
comments something ,….earlier ,..eyebrows used to be raised ….
…now…a..days …my son daggers are drawn ….
All this makes us uneasy ..we can’t
relax peacefully inside our homes as loudspeakers outside are spewing venom.
So my son…. Hold back …let this
uneasiness receed…..come back only when India awakes to become a place
Where the world has not been
Broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
I pray .. Oh God ..make my India a
place
Where I want my son to return
Where mind is led forward by thee
Into ever –widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom
My Father
Let my country awake
MAMTA
Poem courtesy : Where mind is
without fear by Rabindranath Tagore
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