Friday 14 February 2014

Charlie, I Saw You In My Dreams

Charlie, I Saw You In My Dreams


Introduction

It was getting dark, late at night and there was no electricity and this darkness unnerved her, my two kids couldn’t study and I was waiting for him, they wouldn’t understand why I waited every night for him to come back to me.


Around these parts, there wasn’t anything much to do in the evening but sit at the chaupal and talk to friends, watch TV and then sleep. Suddenly a loud voice from outside shouted, “I am hungry already” said my husband, he had been on his music project for over six months and this was the time he usually got hungry,
“You alright?,” I asked, knowing if he was hungry then he was going to be fine.

The light from the bio gas stove  threw dull shadows everywhere, “I had to finish this composition before it grew dark, it has Rabinder Nath Tagore written all over it.”  I knew he was a great admirer of Rabinder Nath Tagore, there was a strong classical influence on his work and that shown every time he went on to sing, the deepness of thought and his attachment to the cause of the people, all of this made him a strong independent person.

We were happy, even without the electricity, the day started at 6am in the morning,  after breakfast my daughter went off to school, she was a darling of a kid, one day she had come back from school and said, “Your music sucks papa,” and he had laughed at that, I asked him to scold her or at least reprimand her.  All he had to say was,
“All great artists have attributed their growth to criticism.”

 The next morning he had gone to his friends house and written a composition, “This could be my masterpiece,” he had said in the evening and then had sang the composition to us, “Wow, Papa, that is fantastic,” my daughter had duly acknowledged and the smile on his face said it all.
   
                 “Technology makes us strangers to freedom.”




The Road Map to Freedom

My current focus group stays with Sefali Marik and Group from the city of Magrahat, South 24 Paraganas Village in West Bengal.

Click on the Link if you care.
 The little girl walked through the thunder, she saw the Sea in the distant, it was peacefully serene, but the night was dark and she was scared.  They walked home, the kids wanted a party and both of us were thinking, without the electricity ?

That’s when we made a decision, Solar Lanterns, they would run for 8 hours during the night, as easy as that, I had the design and they needed the design.  They would buy now, they knew me well, its been well said, 
“There is always something you can do when Your Last Dollar Is Gone.”

All the costing had already been worked out and we were waiting for a go ahead, when suddenly it started to rain and she asked, “What happens when it rains? It rains here for days.”
“That’s when we build autonomy into the system,  that will solve all your problems,” I told her, knowing fully well what I was getting into, it was going to work out fine. 
“Technology frees us,” I corrected her and this time, she listened.


She was as Restless as the Sea!!!
She was as Calm as the Summer Dawn!!!
She was just a Mystery !!!