On Varun's birthday, his Ajoba(grand dad) wrote a lovely " what will you say" monologue...guiding me on how I will answer the numerous questions that he will come up with. Here it is:
" My dear, dear welcome ! a grand hearty welcome on this planet called Earth , as I am your mother ; she the Earth, is mother of all of "us" !. Oh, how will you know who are these "us" ? The oceans, the continents, the mountains, the rivers,the jungles, the deserts, the glaciers , the atmosphere and all of them teaming with zillions of different life forms are "us". We humans , by the way that is what you and me are, are part of "us".
We all have been waiting for you, and we all knew you are on the way. But I had very special and intimate information which was my great privilege. The others had no idea about that. You were with me and I watched and felt you grow and prepare for this princely and magnificent entry into this world !
Yo know, your Baba and me have arranged all things in your anticipation ! You will need this and you will require that , we have been so busy in organizing everything....
But on larger scale all the elements of which the whole world is composed , dear , they too have put on their best outfits and are ready to rejoice on your arrival. What all ? Fine I will tell you. Now that you are here I must get used to your ,out of this world, questions full of curiosity about everything around and about us. Yes ! Now on wards more than anything you will start with these seven friends of yours .. Who, what, when, why, how,where, whence..........
To begin with the time here is divided into day and night ..remember day is for playing and night is for dreaming ... and you need both. Oh silly thing ? Just now you are awake and it is play time , why do you ask whether this is a dream? No,no I am not impatient . I will be always there either with the answer to your question or as you grow you and me together will explore for the answer and we shall learn together.
So, the length of day and night change.. but the day you arrive they have decided to strike a perfect balance. No pulls, no pushes. 12 hours for day and exactly twelve for night ! You will find this world strange at times. Such a simple thing ! but they call it Spring Equinox ! Dear, such equanimity is very rare , so you too should love playing and dreaming in meticulously balanced manner ( later on work will be another name for play , as you will learn). Oh, yes that brightness you find harsh on your eyes is called Light. The god Sun who is present in the sky , Sky ? Oh this blue canopy of empty space held on our heads . Look , if you keep asking then how will I ever move on with the story. Now What is blue ? Sky is blue . And what is sky? This blue canopy on our head... right ? very nice... by the way this is day time , it is nice time to arrive you know. All buds are blooming, all birds are chirping all little ones are busy and playing around moms. No, no you are not going to join them today. Wait for a while and I shall let you join them !
The sensation you get when I hold you is called warmth. Yes, both the one you feel in heart and one on body. The seasons have their own feel. One is so warm ! simply hot, the other one is shivering cold. Then there is other one so naughty, keeps on pouring water on the whole world incessantly! Yes, yes they all will come to see you. Seasons have been planning and debating who of them should have the privilege to welcome you and how the rest of them should line up to present themselves and show you there tricks . But flower maker ( कुसुमाकरः ) got better of them all. Yes, he has many names like वसंत or spring. The whole Earth so to say, shakes herself up Throws away the white blanket of snow , which melts away making re volutes all over signing beautiful new tunes, The trees wear new attires , which change all the time. Some have green suits some wear only flowers . Why are you covering your ears? That sound you listen is a welcome song for spring by Koyal. You realy think it is sweetness itself? . Look, how lucky you are. You get your first lesson of music from Koyal . OH , again ? What is music dear, dear whatever comes out from this delicate , little mouth of yours is music to my ears and look this will be so always for me ! May what you shall ever say to this world be sweet, soothing music to every ear. Of course, there is no end to my wishing all kind of sweet, great, good, delicious, harmoniuos , nice things for this little wonder in my arms...Come on, you do not know ? This little wonder is you, youself !
This whole big sphere below blue canopy is full with the fragrance of Sweet blossoms (मोहोर ) of all kinds of fruits ! Well, breath in through this nice , little nose of yours and how do you feel? Ah, oh my sweet baby , very clever you guessed right that is smell. look you divert me already, ( your Dad will call this hijacking agenda !) I had decided to tell you about rains and winter and summer and what not?
Come, you do not have to wait till it is night to start dreaming.. Go ahead and let us rest for a while , dear this dialogue of ours is a life long one... it will continue. Yes, I know millions of things and trillions of stories and tons of songs but my dear baby for that now we have eons of years together so what is the hurry ? Oh, you are already asleep, you are smiling, tell me am I there continuing the story in your dream ? .......
