The Unabridged Version of a Rational Emotional Mind

When I was twelve years old, I was introduced to the world of youth meetings and conferences as part of my church activities. Since I was quite young, I would happily follow along with my fellow bhaiyas and didis to all these events. These events would most often be held within the city, yet quite far for what a twelve-year-old could fathom. During one such conferences, in the far off distant lands of Gurgaon a.k.a. Gurugram, I was a part of an incident, though minor in the grand scheme of things, really changed how I viewed myself and my life. See, as a twelve year old, I was just slowly starting to build my personal identity and trying to find preliminary answers to the question - "Who are you?" So on this day, the facilitator, an achen (priest in Malayalam) from the nearby seminary held a small game. He asked all of us to close our eyes and raise our hands whenever we felt a minute was up from the second he said "start". The mathematical me counted to a sixty ...

I have never held a baby in my arms. You see, I have two rules: 1. never do anything half-heartedly, and 2. never do anything without preparation. Holding a baby for the first time? No amount of will or preparation can ever make one ready for it. And that is why, in my fear of dropping this fragile human body mid-air, I have never held a baby. That was until a week ago! I was out and about in the beautiful city of Vellore, visiting an after-care school as part of my field visit. I always introduce myself as Sara in such spaces. Sharlin is just too difficult to remember, I have learned. So, on that fateful evening, I did the same, introduced myself as Sara, and carried on my routine of interacting with the kids present.  It was not until I was done with my work that the teacher of the class told me that her newly-born two-month-old is also named Sara. I was beaming at the information, and so was she. I didn't think much of it until I had to leave. And that is when the fateful thing ...

It's been a week since we have entered the new year of possibilities. Our spirits are high, our convictions stronger than ever, and we are riding the high that comes with this new season. I am closer than ever to my quarter-life crisis. This puts me in a place of abundant reminiscence. During such a period of walking down memory lane, I could not help but recall the many people who have come and gone from my life in these two-odd decades I have spent on this earth. And this is what I want to talk about today. How every person we meet are there in our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime... The fruit that falls off the tree: Some people come into our lives to fulfil a very specific purpose. Most often the reason is some inevitable lesson we need to learn to grow and become our best selves. Such people are like fruits that fall off the tree. We get to enjoy their company and presence for a short while, but as they fade away, all that is left is the seed of the lesson we were me...