Being Passion Inspired

My Little Tall One is now Our Tall One! Once a kid, who did not have much to express, mesmerized the stage for twenty mins with a dozen plus expressions. Once a kid, who did not have much to speak  has risen from her own shadows to speak out loud for the one for whom a great war was fought.  Once a kid who would wail at the sight of injured animal dared to wash her hair and fear with blood of courage!  Yes, our little tall one has made us stand tall with pride. The world is your stage now. Go conquer it, my dear.  Make your presence felt like water that gushes down the Himalayas and reveales as the river of Life - Jan Navi!  But don't forget you were once a kid and that kid will always be within, waiting to be watched, to be wondered and create wonders just like kids do!  ©Balaji Palanidurai 

"Can you please tell the warden that I do not want to move to another room?", it was my daughter on the phone. It was just 2 weeks since we settled her at a University far away from home. She was lucky to get a nice twinsharing room on the 3rd floor of a beautiful hostel building. An east facing balcony overlooking a nice hill was a luxury and something she did not have at home. A room mate was all that was needed and she was looking forward to welcoming one. Two weeks later she got an unpleasant surprise. Couple of seniors, who returned to campus for their second year, knocked on her door and asked my daughter to move in to a room on the 1st floor with another 1st year student. That student too did not have a roommate and alas that room did not have a balcony either! "Did you check if the other 1st year student is willing to move in to your room?", I asked out of curiosity and courtesy. "Yes, I did. She does not want to move up", came her repl...

"Give me your mobile, daddy",  asked my son within mins of getting into the car. It had rained heavily the previous night and I offered to drop him to school instead of his usual cycle ride. A peppy number started playing on FM as I turned the ignition on. I glanced to see the artist and album on the music system display only to see it change to "Blue Tooth Device connected!" My son had connected my mobile and was busy surfing Spotify to fetch his playlist. I realised he found it when I heard a "Beep"! His choice for the day, 'Fantasy' was on the air. I usually like his choice and joined him to enjoy the music as we pulled out onto the main road. "Buddy, could we stop with one song as I want to share something with you before you run off to school?", I asked. His silence was deemed to be accepted as his "Yes"! The song completed as we were approaching the school main gate. I had max 3-4 mins of father-son time to register my obs...

"Do you even know math?", quipped sonny to his dad in the most sarcastic tone and body language. This came in just moments after a discussion they had about how difficult it is to build trust and how easily it can be broken. So naturally, Daddy lost it!   So, what does math have to do with trust?   Back after a refreshing morning walk, he saw his son finishing his exercise routine in a tiny 15 sqft. space next to his bed. Noticing him comfortably placed under the fan, lying on his side and doing his leg raises, the father asked him why he was cramming in that space, in the presence of a 3000 sqft. open terrace! "Mommy doesn’t trust my workout, when I am out of her sight doing it in the terrace!", said sonny and continued to justify it further with, "I am doing it here so she can see me in action and that will help me win her trust back".    It was funny, but his will to regain her trust is likable. "You aren’t going to get the real benefit of exercisi...

"Can you narrate your research finding instead of reading out from your mobile?", I quipped. I did this as soon as my mid-teen daughter started reading out the Google search definition of 'cloudburst'. My witty and quick remark did not go down well as it led to an outburst. It was her turn to tell a story in the storytime ritual, which we started during the COVID lockdown. There was a cloudburst the previous day in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, in India, that had caused a lot of casuality, of both life and property. So, I asked her "to do some research" about cloudburst and "narrate her finding" in the storytime. And, I instructed my son to help her with her reseach. Idea was for all of us to learn something about nature as part of our storytime ritual.  Being a child who follows instructions to the T, she did exactly that. But, she focused more on the "research" part than the "narrate" part of my ask. She, apparently, spe...

"It was the idea of his great grandchildren", said the greiving son who had recently lost his father. I learnt from him that his father lived to 94 years and was active and happy till the end. All guests who came for the condolence prayer meet received a fridge magnet. It had the old man's picture and the following text, "An inheritance is what you leave with people, a legacy is what you leave in them".   It was quite obvious that the old man had left a deep and lasting impact on his family. The impact was felt and I could not stop but admire the creativity of those young minds to design the souvenir. It also made me think what would be the legacy I would be remembered for!