Tillitonse - A Transformational Journey Together

So, there I was at a lovely party night at the Park Sheraton hotel (once called ‘Adyar Park’). Found myself dancing on the floor to the music of the 80s, surrounded by Aarti, Mani, Anil, Preeta and Lata, of course. A few feet away were Babbu, Priya and Bharathi. Suddenly, felt the warm embrace of nostalgia as an image of spending time with same people twenty five years ago at the ‘Gatsby,’(the discotheque at the same hotel!) I let this wave engulf me and it seemed like I was watching a familiar old movie that I had loved! While years have rolled by, it felt comforting to be surrounded by the familiar! Yup, it was lovely to be back home to Madras! Although it has been five years since we came back, I still don’t take it for granted.   This moment was indeed special!

Yesterday, there were three independent events (or were they?) that reminded me of a valuable insight that I tend to forget – ‘ What we see is only a small part of the big picture.’ Spent some time talking, or rather listening to SRB, an 80 year father of a good friend of mine at his place.   SRB can be cantankerous, sardonic, insightful and irreverent at the same time, but always with a spark in his eye. I have known and spent time with him over the past 30 years (wow, it has indeed been that long), but yesterday was probably the one of the few occasions where I got to hear about his life before I got to know him. In our conversation, he walked down memory lane talking about his father, uncle, cousin, grand-father and even his great grand father on one hand and the prevailing society (and changes) over time. As he wove these stories, I was able to see how the lives of his forefathers had played a BIG role in shaping him. This led me to better understand and appreciate...