For You...Dada

I remember the day I wrote my first essay all by myself...


Till then I was always - always guided by my grandfather in writing. He would discuss with me the topic in detail, give me all the examples, anectdotes to add to the beauty of any essay, explain all the variety of aspects around the topic and then...only then I would start writing...After I am done, he would make me read it out, each para many times He would make me correct my sentences, improve on language flow and sometimes even make me rewrite things...


My grandfather, we used to call him Dada, was the one who always appreciated whatever I wrote. He had gone completely blind before I was 5 years old....Earlier in his life he was a highly respected Bank Manager and was given lesser written work in his last years with bank due to his poor eye sight!!


He had written a lot of short essays in his own handwriting even when he was not able to read it himself...He was just fond of writing!! He loved to play with words and knew by heart beautiful verses of some famous English, Marathi and even Sanskrit poets/authors. He actually knew by heart some famous speeches of the people like Churchill, Nehru, M.L. King. As a child, I would always wonder how he rememebers so many things!! He loved to explain those poems and speeches to us children in his own style, enacting everythings. We would actually imagine that Robert Frost is roaming in woods when Dada would explain 'I have promises to keep'. We could actually see the swan sleeping with one leg folded when he would explain the 'Nala-Damayanti' by Moropant. For that matter, his narration of Sherlock Holmes mysteries used to be more exciting than the one by Arthur Connon Doyle.


That day we had a lot of guests at home since morning and I just couldn't get Dada's time for my essay. I had no option but to write it myself. I finished it and told Dada that I need to submit it the next day. Dada was very busy, but then he asked me to read it out in front of all the guests present. I was feeling very awkward since this essay did not have any inputs from Dada and he might find numerous mistakes in my essay....Neverthless, I read it out. To my surprise, Dada was extremey happy. He did not give me a single correction but said, “From today, we will never pre-discuss your essays. Let your thoughts flow freely. Be your own guide!!” It was the best compliment I had ever got from him. That was not all. He went to his almarih and got all his hand written essays. He handed over all those essays to me and said, “Now I am proud to hand it over to you!!”



I was speechless. Though I had seen those papers a few times earlier, getting them in my possession was something I had never looked forward to. Those loose papers, his big cursive writing, hardly a sentence in straight line, each line going up.....not a single correction anywhere...Those were all his random thoughts bundled together...The wandering thoughts and his passionate expressions!! Those papers remain the precious possessions for me till date!!


Dada paased away the year I graduated. He used to be very proud of me and I know from somewhere in heaven he is proud of the fact that I have found my expression again....He would be proud of this blog!!

Ripples...Ripples..

This blog is nothing but some wandering thoughts that keep coming to my mind again and again...

Those that have left some ripples in my mind...

Some things to think, some things to cherish, some things to admire....

That's here in Ripples...Ripples...