So I meet a lady, a firebrand, one who is devoted to preserving environment, eloquent self-driven and committed to preserving our lakes and ponds here in the parched,on the way to be parched, Bangalore. Her name is Usha Narayan. What a woman!

I talk to a young man who is running a business, all of 19 years of age, already global in aspirations, vision and execution. “Could you please share the details of my company with your friends, mam?”. ” Why not? Goodness!. I am not even half of what you are! Mind blowing talent!” His name is Abhishek.

I chat with a young woman with a name that translates into an amalgamation of Lakshmi and Saraswati, the goddess of wealth and the goddess of Learning, Boshudhara. She is also a faculty at the School of Design. I am lost in the Greek and Latin of the many specifications of her work but some how still hold on to the conversation.

“So, how is it?”, I ask. ” It’s tough you see!” , quips the girl. ” I have this job plus I also practice. ” Seeing the bewilderment on my face, she added,I do artistic installations. “So it is like 2 jobs you see!” I was more than dazed by the magnitude of her work!

The lady is just into her late 20s, I believe, I am most humbled, so much at such a young age!

I walk into the cabin of Neethi who tells me, ‘You see, I love the patterns in our culture.’ Neethi talks in detail of her upcoming project. Oh! Wow! I mumble.

‘Mam, she became Mrs. India after 17 years of marriage. So much dedication, such a supportive family’ gushed my friend, Naaz of her neighbor. ‘Wow, just wow’ said I mostly for want of better expressions of wonder.

Then my mom calls in the evening, ” See, today in the Sanskrit class, I was appreciated for my recitation and they even loved my sari.”

What would the world be without these doers? These men and women who are constantly on fire.

Always so charged and spirited.

Blessed to be part of conversations that stimulate thoughts, creative expressions leading to action, what will be the outcome, time will tell, but the journey is good, so far, so good!

All at once I want to read books, read papers, the academic kind- PhD tasks, complete the planning for the next academic year at college, go to Toastmasters, meet old friends & classmates, watch films,drink the potion of life to the lees like Ulysses, sit dreaming in a corner- a la Penelope, go cycling, go traveling and relax, while managing to beat age with grace- Shilpa Shetty style, leave some scope for love and romance before the bucket kicks in and keep the belief in the magic of life?!!!

Talk of inspiration!!!