An Unusual Call

When was the last time you received a call from a stranger, and before you wanted to tell the voice on the other side, with your irritation betrayed – “wrong number”, there is persistence in the tone, that says “ wait! No, it’s not what you think, I really want to talk to you.” “You do not know me...I know you...don’t hang up.”


When was the last time you received a call, and the voice says, “I know it sounds strange, but I have been meaning to call you up, ever since you sent out that email...before you left the company”. You begin to wonder, now, "is there any defamation case against me". "Which mail? What did I ever say in it? Did I call foul to someone there?" You do not want this call to be a hoax of somekind!

When was the last time you received a call to say, “I have gone through your email, many times over the past few months, when I have been blue. This email has always made my blue disappear. It has given me a strength to follow a path that most dare not tread...like you have done”.

When was the last time you received a call to say, “I must meet you. To know the real you. To let you know that you have touched my life, in ways unknown to you.”

Well, there was (is) no FIRST time. There was (is) no LAST time! Really.
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Dear Bhakti,


Thank you, for giving me the First of the pleasant jolt: that a simple email that I sent could have touched you. Your phone call that summed up all the above, came at a time, when I myself was in a pensive mood – examining my life –“pinned” to a board, dissecting the inns of my being.

Thank you for allowing yourself to finally make the call. Because, there would be no way to know if I had stirred a soul.


Thank you for allowing me to go back to my own simple dreams that I had painted in that email.

Thank you for reading aloud the words that I had in my own written. Thus making it yours.

Thank you for re-nurturing the eternal cravings I have for life, like I do when craving for apricot and cream in the middle of the night.

Thank you for allowing me to go back to my email. I spent an hour digging it out from forgotten archives. It was like emptying a box full of paper cuttings that you preserve, thinking you will read it again. But that day never comes, and the paper turns yellow!

Thank you, for making a memory possible.

Thank you for allowing me to NOT give up on my simple hope – to be able to gather as much as I can.

I just felt, momentarily, a little tired gathering. Your call made me stand up. It helped me ease my shoulder that soon after the call, I could get back to gathering. Wearing a smile. Allowing a miracle to linger – a little while longer.


Because, I know that this is nothing short of a miracle. To have a silent soul, somewhere, call me – to risk not finding a true to word person.

Thank you for allowing me to go back to my vows – to read this again. To know that this is exactly what I feel today. Now.

This is to you, Bhakti.
With Love,
The Bohemian.
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These where my last words of a last world I left behind:

Dear All,

Twilight lays out another day of dawn. When the sun nose-dives into the horizon on 15 October 2009, I would have logged out of the Cisco account.
This ending for me one journey, only to traverse into another – on a road less travelled on.

The egalitarian principles of life will be lived, this time through my social-NGO work, thus intervening into the world of culture and intellectual deliberation, with a hope of an equal world.

They say that the heart that gives, gathers. I would want to gather as much as I can, knowing that sometimes in the winds of change, we find our direction.


As I say “so long…” there is a lingering presence of pleasant memories of discovering, knowing, seeking, and making the best of friends from across the rainbow colored zones, locations, and geographies that crisscross time and space.

And, when I have set forth, I’ll take solace from the most beautiful lines of Richard Bach:

"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.
And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends".

To you all,
Fare thee well…
Cheers,
Lavanya

Reach me at: Lavanya.devdas@gmail.com
Say a hello on: 91- 9845051335


"Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see the shadow" – Helen Keller


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