Anamika

I stayed up last night reading a woman’s diary. A few excerpts ...  January  A new year begins today ... Happy New Year ! My New Year resolution is … “I will keep a diary” and this is my first entry. I am Anamika. I live with my daddy and mummy and my little brother, my bhaiya … who is only 5 years old. Today we had so many guests. Mummy asked us to go to bed but we kept awake. I heard the music playing till late in the night. Bhaiya fell asleep on the staircase !  February  I am so excited ! We are going for an excursion tomorrow. Miss Thomas has asked us to reach school by 7 a.m. The bus will come at 7:15 a.m. Payel and I will sit together in the bus. Daddy will drop me off at school. I just hope, I reach on time ! Mummy is right … I am such a sleepyhead !  March  Goodbyes always make me sad ! We had our Farewell Party today … our last day in school. How will I live without seeing Ranjana, Deepa, Amrita and … my best friend, Payel ? Of course we will keep in touch … I will write a letter every week ! Yes … every week !!!  April  Its his birthday and a special day for me ! I have known him just for one year and we have become such great friends. Where would I be had he not helped me with his class notes ? We had a little celebration in the University canteen.  May  The sea holds a special attraction for me ! The blue colour extending as far as the eyes can see … the ever present sound of the breaking waves gives me a sense of eternity. So we went to Goa for our honeymoon. Can’t believe it’s been a month since our marriage. And the photographs ... so many hours are spent turning the pages, holding precious moments frozen in time.  June  How time flies ! Bhaiya is a doctor now … it seems so unreal, my little baby brother… now a serious bespectacled doctor ! I still remember the hue and cry he raised when Doctor uncle came to give him the shots. Yes, time flies …  July  My little angel starts her school tomorrow ! She has asked me a thousand times, “Mummy, what is school?” Now how do you explain what is school to a three year old ! I answered, “ It’s a place where everyone has to go … and you can play with your friends for the whole day ! ” Then came the second question, “Where does daddy go every day ? To school ?”  August  It was a bolt from the blue ! Dad had not been well for the last couple of years, but I never expected it to happen so soon …  September  Why doesn’t the phone ring ! I can’t wait anymore … she was supposed to call after the plane landed. Surely it has landed by now ! My little angel is on her way to her dream University across the globe … of course bhaiya and his wife will be there to receive her, still …  October  My little angel got married yesterday … she looked so beautiful. She met him at the University … and it brings back so many beautiful memories ! The album lies open before me … that’s me on my wedding day. And I do look nervous ! He teased me for years about it, “Seems like you were having second thoughts !”  November  This is the happiest day of my life. I am a grandma and he’s a grandpa ! Sounds so old ! Hmm … he’s an old man now ! Me … an old woman ? No way ! Yes, my angel has her own little angel now … the feeling ? Heavenly ! God bless.  December  It’s been a wonderful day ! I sit here with my album … one photo is so special ! It was taken last month when angel was here for her annual visit. It has mummy, me, my angel and her angel. I labelled it … “Four Faces of Woman” … a memento to be cherished forever !  The diary ends. And as I flip through the remaining few blank pages, I find a photograph. … a woman in silhouette ! Who is she ? Anamika ?  The photograph gives me no answers. She stands frozen in time and yet, she seems to span time in her many aspects … I feel her innocence as a daughter, her care as a sister, her warmth as a friend, her passion as a beloved, her dedication as a wife, her divinity as a mother, her blessings as a grandmother … She is a woman … a quintessential woman ! Celebrating the spirit of woman on this special day ...

It's yesterday once more ... ♫

I never believed that the Net could make me so happy ! This is how it all happened ...


It was the spring of 2006 and naturally the time for spring cleaning. And while cleaning my cupboard I came across my old possessions ... old books, old clothes, old cassettes and a stack of old greeting cards. Of course ma immediately ordered ... “ Throw them out ! ” But I knew better ! Threw out most but got the precious ones scanned. Ma thought, and still thinks, I was being sentimental but then, I am like that. Scanning each card was like taking a trip down memory lane. Birthday cards, from my school friends … so many wonderful memories. Throw them away … Never !

And then I remembered what Ratna told me a few years back about our Carmel Group on Yahoo. I registered with 'Batchmates.com' on that very day. And within a few days Moushumi responded. One thing led to another and I re-connected with long lost friends after so many years ! Indeed it feels so wonderful, a homecoming, a sense of belonging. Some glimpses of the happy times that we have shared over the years ...

It is such a paradox that in this world of change, some things never change ... At the same time I have made so many new friends … my Internet Friends ! Friends whom I may never meet in my life or may be someday ... I do not know what lies ahead, but life is a journey ... and the journey’s just begun ! Really I never knew, the Net would make me so happy !