Vamsi Krishna L N
2007 Prasanthi Nilayam

A cool pleasant morning. You wake up and set out to freshen up – all the toiletries are provided. You get dressed in well pressed clothes – the purchase didn’t come from your pocket, they were a gift of love. You then go to the dining area – a sumptuous spread comprising of the best of cuisines in the land is laid out. You have your fill and step out and you are treated with deference almost bordering on reverence – firmly closed doors are opened, and queues bypassed.

Time for lunch. Once again you are greeted with an extravagant spread in an exclusive area. A brief rest and you are invited to the evening festivities area; prime seats in concerts rendered by the “who is who” of the music and dance world. A pleasant evening and another opulent dinner sends you to bed to prepare for an equally luxuriant next day.

I have not described a day in the life of royalty or of celebrities, even their days may not be so pampered. This was a life that I, a student belonging to the lower middle-class economic strata enjoyed during the November of 1995, thanks to a single tag – a student of Swami.

Those were glorious days, but they were too few, too short. The days have been so short and blessings so continuous that we never even had the time to think of expressing gratitude. And now I realize I have been loaded with so many gifts that the enormity overwhelms me. Names leap out of the sea of memories in an infinite succession of waves, but I cringe at grasping any – for by grasping one I may commit the sacrilege of missing a thousand.

I have been a ‘bakery and kitchen boy’ most of my student life so let me express my gratitude in this metaphoric fashion. To the primary school teachers who carefully cleaned and cleared me of any blemishes, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the Higher secondary school teachers who ensured consistency in my constituent mix, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To the Brindavan teachers who baked me faultlessly, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to the Senior Boys Hostel teachers who then put on the most pleasing icing, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to Him who made this and much more happen,

Ye HrudayamunosagitivoIshaNaaku
MaralaDanineArpintu O Mahitamurthi
Araya VeremiTettu Nee ArchanakuNenu
Anjali GatinthuAndukovayyaNeevu

What ode do you pay to One who is in more frames of your life’s play than you are? What is the story to be written on the epitaph of the One who is the Author of all the stories? The wound is too deep for words, too raw for eulogies.

He was the actor before, now He would be like the screen – always present, but never seen.

Brother Vamsi Krishna is based in Chennai and works for a MNC Bank. During his student days he was part of the hostel bakery & Vedam group.