Happy Birthday Reflections-2012

My gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all those friends who remembered and wished me, remembered but did not wish me or didn’t remember at all. Days, months and years roll by and a new birthday arrives, with unfailing certainty- the only constant in an ever changing landscape of life. Celebrations, mithais (sweet meats), greetings flowing over the digital nerves of the modern world (in some rare cases…… the old fashioned spoken words in person- caressing the ears and flowing down the sensory channels) but they bring in their wake some existential questions again- how far has the pilgrim progressed? Is he any closer to the destination that he busily set out for at the old, dusty wayside station in the years when the valve radios, which took 2-3 minutes to warm up before they started belting out Rafi, Asha, Lata numbers or the famous “Akashvaani”, were the cutting edge of technology, moon was still only a dreamy idea in the stories of grandma and a bicycle was the ultimate aspiration of a middle class that was slowly waking up to its potential in a young republic, founded on the sacrifices of many generations before.

As the “Happy Birthdays started ringing, the questions raise their head again. Who are we, the body, mind or soul? Are they all growing together or who is growing faster? Are there more answers now or more questions…? Have we succeeded, accumulated name, fame and wealth, achieved all that we aspired for? Or have been left behind in the race that everyone seems to be running but no one seems to know, to what end? Or have the aspirations themselves changed? Is it that the goal post changes every time we feel close to scoring the final goal? It’s only when we reach a milestone that we realize that this was not a milestone at all but just a marker on the path that was luring us to keep moving forward.

The pilgrim’s journey continues till he reaches the end of the journey… not because the path has ended but because the pilgrim now feels the need for rest and recuperation. He looks back and gets his final aha moment…. The journey was the goal!

I am enjoying the journey and the real wealth earned is friends like you who have been co-travelers on the pilgrimage of life. I love and cherish each moment and each memory that I shared with you and bow to you with gratitude for making my life journey- this pilgrimage to the divine meaningful!