Day 12: The journey so far...

Since we are half way through this entire process of making Sowmya feel special, today I’d like to talk how this entire process originated and where are we heading towards in this world of ours - Sowmya-land…..

Lets get into flashback….

19^th April 2008: Exams were on and so we couldn’t find that empty space in our minds which we could utilize to think about what could to done to make Sowmya Ponnada feel special on her birthday. Each one of us was tense. And every one of us wanted to make that little angel feel really special on her birthday.

You know though we had thought of things in a group and did make a plan (including a few back ups too) but then owing to the fact that you held a special place in each one of our lives independently, all of us thought of making it different and special in our own little ways.

Unaware of what the others were planning, I sat down late night to think. I wanted to make you feel special and I wanted to give you something that would touch your heart. There was something on my mind. Since this was your 21^st birthday and you were very excited about it, I knew I had to do something related to the number 21. So the first thought that crossed my mind was, let me write to her 21 mails. But then I didn’t want to send you the mails all at once. I spoke to a lot of people and tried to find out whether there was any way I could pre schedule the mails and they get delivered later. No one could find a solution.

It was 12:30 a.m. I was sure I had to write things to you but then how was the question still unanswered. Now here comes a new person in the story (who is worth a mention). I told Abhinav about it. The first thing he suggested was that I take you somewhere out, do shopping n all. But then we had already done that today. I explained my idea to him and told him I want to do something that touches her heart and this could be one. Then came something from Abhinav, which I thought was a brilliant idea. He suggested that I make a blog and write things there and give it to u. I added on to it that since I wanted to do something related to her 21^st birthday, I d write 21 articles.

Adi was online then so I shared this idea with him. He liked it and so he too decided to be a part of it. I was more than happy because I knew that this small thing, which I had started to work on, would become only better with this. He suggested the idea of having artwork along with the article. This was like icing on the cake and I just couldn’t resist it. I went ahead to write the first article. After finishing on the rough draft I mailed it to Adi. He sent it back to me with a few modifications, for the better of course, and it was just perfect.

Then Adi started working on the artwork. Since the article meant to give a welcome message for the blog, the artwork had to be on similar lines. And let me tell you, the name Sowmya-land was also given by Adi and when the artwork came to me, I just felt it was perfect – in sync with what the article had to say.

But then the plan was to write 21 articles. I had already started working on the next one. Wrote that and before I could finish Adi was all ready with his artwork. Both of us were so involved, we didn’t find time to look at our watches. We kept going with all enthusiasm. After some time when we suddenly peeped into the watch, what do we see? It was 4:00 a.m. and we had hardly finished 3 articles. We had not realized this because we lost in creating this Sowmya-land and making it as wonderful as possible for our princess. But now was the time, we had to get out of this fairyland and think logically. Sitting for the entire night would also not be enough to complete 21 articles. And we didn’t want to rush because both of us unanimously agreed that Sowmya deserved nothing but the best. Eventually we decided to compromise on quantity for quality.

But then when it’s us, there’s always a way out. I had an idea. Initially we were actually very confused on how should we place the articles. Because if we posted the second one after the first, it would come on top on the first one and that way Sowmya would see the last one first. So now we decided that we would post one article at a time. That I think was what made this idea unique in itself. You know Sowmya; I always keep talking about something. That it feels really bad when the day of your birthday gets over. And that’s what made me come to this. We decided to post one article for you everyday so that you didn’t have to go through this feeling. This way not only would the excitement of your birthday could continue for more than 1 or 2 days but you would also remain curious about what’s coming next. Now that’s what we call doing something different and special.

This the blog came into existence. And I still remember the moment when we had shown this to you. You held my hand while you read this. And I could feel the warmth that you felt deep inside. Your eyes were filled with gratitude but then you couldn’t get words enough. But sweetheart those beautiful eyes said it all.

That was the day we started on a new mission – mission to make you feel special. And then we had Avishkar and Avinash who joined in. I was really really happy to see both of them take the initiative themselves. Again, I felt proud to have friends like you all. Everybody was so enthusiastic about the blog that one day if I didn’t write people used to wonder what’s happening with the blog. And then later on came a completely new and completely different person – Anupam, who wrote for it. And he did complete justice to the idea of the blog. He wrote an amazing article thus adding to the beauty of the blog.

After the efforts of so many people, I was just forced to believe that each one of us would never let the other be alone. In case if someday I am not able to upload the blog, there is always someone around who is going to do it. That’s the kind of bonding which we have developed and now you see Sowmya, you’ve given us one more reason to support each other.

Now when I look back, I feel happy. The objective is satisfied. You feel special and nice. Everyday you wait for your blog to get updated. The same curiosity still exists which we saw on your face the very first day. And the most important thing is this manages to bring a smile on your face while we are not around. So I think the blog is doing just what its intended to do.

And the new thing that we’ve started with now, well that keeps me curious.

All the time I see you being thankful to us. You don’t need to be thankful for anything Sweetheart. Because as Nikhil says – What goes Around Comes Back Around. And this what is coming your is a minuscule of what you’ve given to others. It’s just a small gesture for you to let you know that you are really really appreciated.