Friday Letters – 4
#letterstothestar in you
Dear you,
I am old. Although it’s an internal joke, what my age is, here for you and for the rest of the world, I would like to exaggerate it to make it sound like I am unbelievably old. If youngsters like you continue to do the kind of work you’re doing, I would like to believe that the world is in safe hands. You have a certain way of bringing people together, that it not only enhances the joy of being together but also promises an enriching experience.
What you just read was something that I had not planned on telling you, so I have no idea how this would fit in to the rest of what I have to say to you.
You’re just too awesome, Jaythirth Ahya. You do so many thing I love to do, that I [almost] envy you, and you are never alone in your endeavors.
As much as I love the idea of collaboration, I stop myself at the point where I don’t really do much about it. And then, there you are, scouting for people who are best at doing what they’re doing and bringing them in touch with others who are best or rather the only ones doing what they’re doing. It doesn’t just end there, does it? You take them on a journey, touching lives along the way, only to be touched and humbled by their lives.
If I were to tell the world about you, I would hold a mic and stand on top of the world and tell them at the top of my voice, “He’s the guy who brought Poornima Sukumar—to whom I wrote the first letter, who’s fighting for the inclusion of the transgender community—and Deepak Ramola—to whom I will write a letter in the future, who propagates life lessons from people to people, who’s currently working on a beautiful project about which I shall tell you later—together.” And I let the last word echo in the silence…. together… together… together.
And when the echo vanishes into the silence, I shall tell them, you took them on a once-in-a-lifetime experience to do something together.
As much as I believe that it is the satisfaction one derives out of what they do that keeps them doing what they love doing, you took that very idea of satisfaction in doing and doubled it or rather multiplied it with the experience of doing it with so many people doing so many different things in a collaboration, that will change their lives for ever, through your “RTX Project” [Roadtrip Experience Project] adding that much-needed value to the love of doing. A sort of self validation for everyone who is part of a whole.
In fact, I would love to take this opportunity to put you in touch with Anand Sankar, who is doing amazing things in a tiny village in Uttarakhand; just see what happens. Just to sort of create an opportunity to sort of wonder at the possibilities that a collective of doers and thinkers can bring to the table, when they are brought to the village. Kalap.
Anand meet Jay, Jay – Anand!
I know you’re heading to Lanka on RTX3.0 but here’s something to ponder for RTX4.0 – Kalap!
I had written something a long time ago that I found in one of my books, which I feel describes what you do better than anything else I can say.
“You may never find another person who is more self centered than I am but at the same time you may also not find anyone who believes- I, myself, and alone, mean nothing. I am just like these alphabets of a language, which mean nothing when you [I] see them independent of the other letters. I love the way these letters come together to mean something. Something which is always more than the parts. It’s like ticking seconds coming together to become minutes coming together to be hours and days and months and years and a lifetime. You know, I always thought time is a measure of space, where one could arrive and depart. In my fascination for all that is surreal, I would like to believe that –
I am like a second,
a moment in time,
like these letters
which mean nothing by themselves.
Stranded in a place.
Waiting for a moment to come.
To become,
a little more
than what I alone,
can never be. Ever.
‘Our’ story – across – time – here!”
Someday I wish to be worthy of being a part of such an experience that you give away to people around you. Someday, before I am too old!
Yours truly