The Wheels of Time

Moments, days, years… Time goes rolling by and we roll along the wheels of time.
I still remember the cosy hugs and crazy ‘peekaboos’ that had ushered in the year 2022 and it seems that with the wink of an eye, it has even passed. Through the storms and sunshine, another bundle of 365 days has become a memory- to be safely stacked in an ever renewing pile.

Challenges

The year brought along some challenges that have made me look deeper inside. Challenges that kept me busy at times, for no good reason, but which taught me to be more compassionate in the longer run. There have been days when life has weighed heavily upon the eyes and heart but nothing has been too crushing to squash out my happy spirit completely. As I look back, I know I have become an audacious traveller. I have started greeting people on their birthdays by wishing them some challenges that can make them strong…just as mine have made me!

Gratitude

Happiness and gratitude have flowed in abundance at the ‘abundance’ that life has offered. Every single day I have been thankful for having woken up. On my birthday eve we got a call from a near relative where a young mother had gone unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital. Her 3 year old daughter was asking her granny- “Mummy mar gayi kya?” (Has mom died?). It brought back the appreciation for every breath and made me pray for that young mother. The mother survived her night at the hospital and she still is. But it made me wake up with a heart overflowing with gratitude that I had been there for my girls all these years and I still am!

Desire

Then, there has been a burning desire! A desire of collecting and framing for eternity the beautiful thoughts that my students were writing… with a bit of hand holding. Writing is a relentless journey through which many people discover their talents, reveal their inner selves or even find their expression, all through their words. One girl whom I had initially thought of giving up on is today one of my favourite writers. Another student who has her own unique style may not find many admirers in school but I surely love her quirky writing- after all, it’s who she is! I discovered a student who speaks more and writes less. There is another one who broke his inhibitions when he took to words. There is one who can scratch his head crazy over getting perfection. And there are many more.

The one thing common among all of them has been that their words have been their own- their VERY OWN! The initiation of this website has been a tribute to all these sagacious minds who have made my days truly cherishable.

As I close my eyes and look back on the bygone year, I find a reason to smile. Between all the ifs and buts, life always found a way to whisper sweet nothings to me, to laugh with me, play with me and hold my hand so that I may hold somebody else’s!

Love you Zindagi…

Writer: Shilpi Haryal (Jan 2023)