Greetings for Bhai Dooj .. the festival and ritual for the bonds that exist between a brother and sister ! The sister asking for protection and the brother willingly promising her his immense love in doing so. Presents are exchanged, greetings and prayers are conducted and sweets are fed to each other. Raksha Bandhan in reverse almost. On rakhi the sister tying that sacred thread on the brothers wrist, the brother gifting not just his love and protection but also giving the sister a token gift of that enduring affection. On bhai dooj, similar sentiment but now the sister gives a gift of her affection and love to the brother !

So strong and valuable our sentiments for the conduct of our family system. The togetherness, reliance and sense of being one and remaining so. A culture advanced in its thought and execution, when other cultures encourage separation and drift apart !

The lights at all the premises remain lit in all their glory even though Goddess Laxmi’s day has gone by. But stray sounds of the fire crackers still abound, the lights remain in all their glory brightening up the houses and corridors of residences … just in case …

Mazal and her niece from Israel and the ever helpful Nandita drop by in the evening and some time is spent talking of so many topics from India to Israel to films to children to everything under the sun. A call to Valorie in the US is undertaken too. The connection of this Ef world grows with such grace. Did we ever imagine that it would become so ? Not by me ! But … I have noticed that many of the Ef have taken such great initiative in pursuing a path that has built a world of wonderful feelings that in today’s times of grief and turmoil, seems heaven sent. Its been a world of its own almost, where each member has taken that extra step in restoring faith and goodness among all irrespective of distance, country and circumstance. Help to each other has become such a spontaneous realm. Strangers in the city have been converted to family guests purely because they belong to our extensions ! This is an amazing story and one that fills my heart with great joy and fulfillment … Thank you all for your most voluntary hand, extended in friendship.

The time for rest is over, the time for work begins again and the time taken in getting through all the letters and gifts and wishes for the birthday and the festival have all been taken care of. Soon individual acknowledgements shall be at your doorstep. Such a relief to have gone through all of it personally and not allowed it to be treated by staff assistance.

There is a great sense of completion when one indulges in this practice of the personal. A typed response is perhaps the routine but now and then the hand written note does add that something special to the communication. And in this day and age when we are getting more proficient at typing our own perfect font of speech, it is a delight to find that the written word is a world and class apart. Pens and writing material still occupy a major space on my desk … and in numbers too. There is a great romanticism about the process of filling a personal favorite pen with ink. The mechanics of the operation, the filling up of the compartment, the tissue wiped nib and body to rid it of extraneous left over and finally the joy of the flow from it when put to paper !

The invention of the pen and writing instrument, the ink, the paper that it shall finally adorn, all have been perhaps one of the finest inventions since the wheel ! We may eventually move into a space where we would be getting rid of all that has been mentioned before, but for me as I am sure for many the pen and its ink shall remain in their iconic importance.

The battery on the lap top measures a close red. The clock above speeds past the hour of rest. And the early call tomorrow beckons …

as does the final greeting before the end ..

my love to all

Amitabh Bachchan