The moment the nurse wrapped the sheet around me, I became net positive

I often joke to people but today thought I would put it down on paper … “the day I was born and the moment the nurse wrapped the sheet around me, I became net positive" ;).. with that piece of clothing around me.” Since then, I have only gained. Seriously, I am extremely grateful every moment for being born as a human being and that too in the most fabulous phase that man-kind has ever seen.

Every second, every moment since the “towel was wrapped” I have had a net gain in my life .. the ones that jump most readily to my mind while writing this blog in 15 minutes:

• Got so much affection from so many people – some left me, some I had to move far from – only to get more around the next corner and still have a piece of those very far away;
• Learnt every second - to walk, to talk, and so much more about self and others through  1000s of sweet-sour experiences;
• Got to explore the tremendous cumulative knowledge that “Man” has packaged – initially through formal education, then through the library, then through hard-bound books, then the Net and now get to absorb every “vacant” second through the flick of my fingers on my smartphone; 
• The experiences through interactions that no one can take away from me – in the cities of the world, in remote isolated corners of the Pampas or under the Arctic Light, running at 15,000 feet with bated breath & relaxing on golden sand, visiting family in the village and doing solitary journeys … on buses, trains & planes .. in large business meetings & intimate social settings;
• Food and flavours absorbed -  from atleast 75 different types of fruits to every shade/shape of  “frutas del mer” (sea-food); from “Daal-rice” and “egg-milk-sugar” combos in bowls to plated dishes in atleast 100 different Oriental, Occidental and Indian flavours;  from bitter quinine to sweet flowers ….;  
• Enjoyed “growing” as aliens (new lands, new neighbours, new  colleagues, new ….) turned into home, home away from home, friends and even extended family;
• Fell sick so many times as a kid – only to come out stronger – and each time built protection and resistance for the next assault from a variegated form of bacteria, vile and virus.

At some point in life, perhaps the mind won’t recall each and every bit as vividly :) .. but every pore of my being has absorbed these experiences  … so till my last breath, I will always be net positive.  

Love oozing all over from unexpected places :) .. 5 thoughts from childhood that stick out

I have always averred that my family, relatives and friends have always been unbelievably good to me. They have been extremely affectionate, caring and supportive of me in whatever I did. This is even more amazing as I have done things "my way" and that was way different from how they grew up or knew the world worked. Anyway, focus of this blog post is not about the entities (family, friends, relatives) who are a natural source of love that we all probably get. Instead this post is all about the love from my entire surrounding, growing up. My key point is "love oozed" all over ..all I had to do was recognize it, dip into it ...and life was blissful :)

Whenever I reflect on my growing years, I smile and only happy memories flood through .. and when I dig in a bit more and analyze "Gosh, why am I smiling so much ?".. After all, my parents were super busy, my closest relatives thousand miles away and phone-calls to them expensive and rare, my school friends across town ... and yet I was always cradled in a world of pure affection by my surrounding... be it travelling on the long public bus trip to school, jumping around unsupervised in the colony/community or wherever I was ...

This morning (I am on a 2-day vacation today) I cut through all these thoughts and forced myself (surgical knife precision) to think about the 5 most distinct groups of people who made my life such a joy in my 11 years in Bombay (Mumbai) and in not the exact (though, almost exact) descending order, these would be:

1. The M family (5 members - K,R,PP, N & K) 
N, a baby in Grade 3 reached out and tied a string on my hand when I was in Grade 9, opening the floodgates of affection and a world of joy that I still get to enjoy, cherish and smile about. N's Mum (Aunty K) revived me in the most broken hours of my health with material stuff (juice, great food) and tonnes of affection and till date is the epitome of "explicit genuine affection" for me.

N's sis (PP) growing up, was the most mad fun element of my life and lunches with her, with Aunty K smiling affectionately, are the most memorable lunches I have had in my life. Uncle R was always warm, generous with his patience and time, tolerant of my noise levels ;) even though he hated any disturbance from others. K, the baby of the house, who came in late (I left Bombay when he was still little), was and continues to be the most adorable young man one can imagine.

The 5 of them attracted the best people around them (S, their maid and friend of the kids for long, their super kind cook, and of course the amazing friends of PP). Together, they make their apartment (83/B ...) seem like a sepia coloured image with gold dust in the snapshots of my memory.

2. My extended family of Income Tax Colony
Spent 7 solid years in Peddar Road in the Income Tax Colony,  4 core yellow painted buildings (6 plus ground floor, each floor with 4 apartments per floor) full of Government officials and their family. In this sedate sounding surrounding, there was one common theme - complete bliss in the safest possible place to grow up.

"Aunties" (wives of the officers) in their balconies maintained a gentle "vigil" over the happenings, so none of us growing kids ever got into a "mess". When hungry/thirsty or when it was too hot to be outside, ring the bell in one of your favourite 10-15 homes in the apartment blocks and you bet you would be fed and you would be "happy busy" playing or reading.

A Special Salute from me to those special aunts ... DNS, RRS, +++ .. and those fabulous "uncles" (PLS, AK, DNS +++++...) who "play-boxed" with me, tried to spook me :), taught me about stock markets, building stamina and more ....
 
3. The Parsi ladies in the public bus I took to school
This is about a gang of 4 ladies, in their 30s and 40s, who saw me grow up from Grade 3 to 10 while travelling in the same set of buses. Every morning, they got off the public bus mid-way to my school.
And every morning, they ensured, and sometimes even fought for me, to secure for me my favourite seat in the public bus (next to the driver).

Incidentally, I got my 1st public kiss from them ;) when on my way to school for the 1st day of my "Board" exams, I got a series of "best of luck" kisses from them. After those wishes and kisses, of course great grades had to come my way :)

4. Acquaintances who became special "family"
This is the group which almost makes me say "Gosh, it takes a whole society and more for some ....to be raised super happily". This is a motley collection of folks who invited me (even without my parents) with open hearts into their homes. Initially, introduced by Dad or Mum, over the years, I had huge personal rapport with them and they filled my life with joy galore:

• S "Aunty" in her late 50s ... On hot summer days, I would go to her place when no one was playing in the Income Tax Colony due to the heat. I saw my 1st set of great Western War movies on video sitting in her home, read through the chest of War Comics that her son (a businessman). When done, I would sit at the grand table in her air-conditioned :) dining hall, have lunch with her while yapping with her, say bye to her and then run off to join my friends back in the colony as the Sun cooled down... "strangest, quietest connection".
• The ever smiling BLJ - at every stage of life, even well past my engineering, this gentleman always has helped me in different dimensions of my life and always been super-welcoming.
• PS - always engaging, shared my passion for the world of business, generous to the core ..even gave one of his homes for me to stay in .. when I got started after b-school.

5. Shocking to many perhaps, but can't be honest if I did not acknowledge my Dad's (2,3,4 ??) "girlfriends" ;) ...always super nice to me and genuinely caring ...

To all these kind souls, my virtual imaginary hug and this black and white "Thank you" for making my growing up years so amazing and so full of love.