Memories are the footprints we leave in the sands of time
For the past few days I have been travelling down memory lane and that for a very special reason. In 2015 if my memory serves me right I decided to write the Project Why story. It was time when the elephant in the room ie what happens to Project Why after I go, loomed large and we were looking at diverse options. I somehow intuitively felt that Project Why as I had seeded and nurtured would soon become a thing of the past. It would take on a whole new avatar as it had to be freed from the tender clutches of an ageing lady who had somewhat kept it hidden from the world. A whole new chapter had to be written. I had mixed feelings as every parent whose child is about to leave the nest.
It was also the time whenI realised that the project why story till then was in great part in my head. It was time that I put it on paper. So I began writing in earnest and must have written about 150 pages when a series of unforeseeable events hit me and turned my life on its head. The house that had been my haven after the death of my parents needed to be broken down as it was falling apart. Emptying the house was heart breaking and left me rudderless. That was also the time when I started getting pain in my bones. The next three years were difficult as the pains grew and nothing helped. We moved back in early 2020 to a sparkling new house but to me it felt soulless. The pains were now excruciating. In May 2020 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, another shock and then underwent chemo. For a long time I found myself unable to read more so write, It was frustrating as writing had somewhat defined me in more ways than one. It would take five long years for me to pick up my virtual pen again and when I dd I felt alive!
Now picking up something you wrote a decade ago is not easy specially when you are dealing with what is called chemo brain. My memory was mush; I. needed an anchor.That is when I remembered the over 1500 blogs I had written and decided to visit them again. A herculean task to say the least but one that proved a heartwarming and incredible experience.
What I thought would be a tedious task turned out to be a wonderful journey down memory lane.When I had written those 1500 blogs it was always subsequent to some occurrence or the other, some good, some disturbing and some even infuriating. As I read through those posts I realised that they were in no ways a linear account of Project Why’s happenings but more a personal reflection of what came my. way and many a times they influenced our journey, made us make course corrections, take on new challenges and steer us on the right path. Just going through 500 posts showed me how amazing our journey has been, a journey one should be proud of. So I am now rearing to finish the Project Why story so that everyone can share this amazing India Song as I recall the footprints we have left on the sands of time.
PS: I rarely put my picture on a blog but decided to share an old snapshot of Utpal, Kiran and me just to remember the good old days!