DEDICATION

There are two people who are no more in this world; but without whom I would not be in this world. My parents. 

I AM, because THEY WERE. 

Its decades since death snatched them away from me. Yet hardly a day passes that I do not think of them. For them, I was their entire world. They lived for me. To give a measure of the love they had for me, I reproduce a letter written to me by my Mother on the 6^th of August, 1984 :

My dear Mon,

Yes, you have made it. Congratulations.

I have had very few happy moments in life. Thinking of them, I feel that real happiness is always mixed with tears. One such moment was the time when you were born. After that severe pain ended, I heard that loud cry. I had no feelings at that time. I was simply lying on my back, staring at the wooden ceiling of our house. My mind was blank. A sort of numbness was there. Then, all of a sudden, the midwife placed a small red bundle on my chest. That soft baby hair was touching my chin. It was still smelling of blood – my own blood – and Dettol. I touched those silky soft hands and feet. And tears – tears of happiness – began rolling down my cheeks. I wept  and wept. I just could not control myself.

You may not remember the day you wrote your first A all by yourself. When you proudly showed it to me, tears of happiness clouded my eyes. I thought it was the most beautiful handwriting I had ever seen. I showed it to the neighbours, the servant, everybody... I kept it till Achan came back from office. Both of us were waiting for him. When he came and saw it, he jumped of joy and really danced around taking you in his arms. It was a very proud moment in our life. Later you brought home your progress reports, merit cards, certificates and finally your Gold Medal!

On 4^th evening,Achan brought home a copy of the Weekly with a smile. I snatched it from his briefcase and looked through it impatiently. Yes, I saw your name in THE ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY OF INDIA. This time I controlled my feelings because the workers, office peon, etc were there. I just went through it then. At night, in the darkness of the bedroom, I wanted to give vent to my feelings. I took one Calmpose, pulled a rug over my head and wept noiselessly until my nose got blocked and the head became heavy. They were tears of extreme happiness. Slowly, the Calmpose put me to sound sleep. From the next morning onwards, we were showing your article to everybody including our illiterate maid servant. Then I remembered that big, first A of yours. Now I am praying to Lord Krishna to bless you and give you all happiness and peace of mind in life...

Lots of love,

Amma

 The reason for her emotions was very simple. My first by-lined article had been published in THE ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY OF INDIA.  It was only a sort of filler. When the pages for the issue had been made and the D-day for closing the issue had come, we suddenly realised that a one-pager on cinema had not come in. We had to cook up something, and we had only an hour or so for it. It was an emergency situation. And the onus fell on me. For some strange reason, the topic I chose to write upon was about Indians' foraying into Hollywood and not quite making it big. I was not too happy with what I had written. If time was on hand, I could have done some more researching (remember, those were the days when the worldwide web did not exist). But then, the July 29, 1984 issue, when it hit the stands, carried my first story.

My Dad was a lot more realistic in expressing his views. In a corner of my Mother's emotion-packed letter to me, he made his views succinct :

 I fully agree with Mother’s sentiments. We feel so proud about you. Though this is not your best, yet it is the beginning. Keep it up and God bless you.

Love,

Achan

I dedicate this Blog : THIRD EYE to these two people who mean so much to me.

When they died, they died leaving me feeling that I had not done enough for them! I would like to tell them how much I care for them. But words fail me. So I have taken the easy way out. I have linked below the writings of one who is far, far greater than me in every way. Aadhi Sankara, in his immortal ode to his mother, which every human being should read :

http://www.funonthenet.in/forums/index.php?topic=138872.0

The acknowledgements do not end with this. There is one person who has stood by me through thick and thin. When I vanished without a trace for three weeks in the Vanni Jungles of Sri Lanka on the LTTE trail in 1992, when my house was attacked by goons of the DMK in 1989, when the Sankaracharya of Kanchi sent a hit team to attack me in 1987, when an arrest warrant was put out against me by the AIADMK regime in 1992... she was with me like a rock -- supporting me emotionally, taking up jobs she was never accustomed to when finances were strained, taking care of the family and house when my attention was on my assignments... To my loving wife, I dedicate this blog.

After spending more than two decades in the visual media, there had to be a compelling reason for me to return to writing. And that reason came in the form of my Son and Daughter-in-law. Both have been insisting that I should resume writing. And when I said I was planning to blog with THIRD EYE as my Blogsite ID, my Daughter-in-law dipped into her "thought box" and came out with several little drops in the form of a series of logo designs. Through their insistence, they gave new meaning to my life. I present below the various design options. It would be great if readers can send in their comments on which the ideal Logo design would be.