Wind Beneath my Wings...

Ok, this blog is for dad, cause yesterday he stepped into his fiftieth year and Id like to take this opportunity to shed some light on this man who is my father.
For as long as I can remember, I had a pedestal in my head, and on that pedestal stood my father. From the time when I was a little girl, to this day, so many things have changed. People have come and gone, people have grown older, homes have been shifted and hearts have been broken. Momentous victories, bits and pieces of sorrow...all the ingredients that shape life, I can safely say, we've had a fair share of it all. But the one thing that has remained unchanged, the rock of gibraltar within my head, unmoved and unshaken...the pedestal with the man standing on it. And somehow the pedestal has grown taller, and seems to shine with more brilliance than it ever has, as time has gone by.
My father has had his share of anguish, hardship, and heartache...he has had to go through trials by fire and has gotten scorched along the way. He has faced hard times , betrayal and all the basic drama played out in life. Yet till today, the image of him hasnt changed to all who have met him and known him. Always standing straight no matter what the situation, walking straight, disciplined, organized, meticulous, he is the epitome of graceful aging(although i must say he doesnt look it). He is one of the most gifted artists I have ever met, and he gives personality to his creativity in everyday life , from designing the interior of our house to designing and building the animal hospital building and premises. Seldom have I seen a person so awed by beauty. His need for harmony and beauty shows in everything he does. More than anything else, his immense willpower, his love for home and hearth, his sense of responsibility, his support towards his family and his roleplay as husband and father, have never ceased to awe me.

And of course he loves elephants ... all elephants that ever walked the earth...big ones, baby ones, african, asian...if its an elephant, dad loves it.

For my father, I have in my heart immense respect, and even more love. There is none like him and there never will be. Someday god willing, he will be able to live life on his terms, paint his pictures and spend leisure time with his animals. Till then and even afterwards may God bless you papa. And Happy birthday to you. You have been the wind beneath my wings. You have egged me on to find my dreams in the face of all adversity and you have shown me that there is no substitute for hard work and will power. For that I am grateful. I love you more each day. Through lifetimes I will love you and seek you out and then one day we will know each other in God.

---------Your Apple now and always, Twinky.

DREAMSCAPE

Dreamscape ! Its not an escape into the world of dreams, as we know it. Dreamscape is more than that- its a word for lives linked through dreams. Dreamscape is the tunnel of willful desire that makes way for one life to be linked with another. Lives which seemingly are far apart.It takes birth in the conscious but works on the subconscious level.

Dreamscape is the reason Papa and I met, because ultimately we both had to meet you and through you some most important beings that would change our lives.

We met you 22 years back on a grimy October morning, and I am not ashamed to say that was the last thing I wanted to do after the arduous labour. On the way things changed. All 3 of us started to grow up together, through experiences that were new to all the three of us and taught us the same lessons in pain and pleasure. We learnt that every graph has a downslide but then the peak is always there. Its not something that you appreciated at that moment, but we tried to teach you that BEING is much more than HAVING, that all jobs enrich you with experiences, even the ones you feel are killing you and to look at the man on a crutch when you desperately need new shoes.

We learnt that animals could be more humane than humans. Dreamscape linked you to Cleo when you decided to bring her home. Not the most pretty looking dog, she had the most beautiful eyes, and taught us to love unconditionally. We learnt to love the spirit of a being whose body was looked down by the world. She showed us how to fight back .And she prepared us for losing to death the people we love.

Dreamscape made you and Papa take the decision of not accepting your course in Veterinary medicines, and of accepting the Biodiversity course, because we were yet to meet the apple of our eyes. Thank God for that decision, today we have the best son in law in the world, and I personally never miss a chance to show him off. He is the son I never had.

Of course we met Kishu and Mau through dreamscape, how on earth can you describe the way all related to them the instant we saw and heard about them? After all, thousands of animals have passed through our lives over the years. And both of them turned out to be extra special, someone we knew from our past lives.

Dreamscape is still at work, Papa and I are waiting to meet that very special person at the end of the tunnel, someday.

Till then, work hard, pray harder and make a life, not a livelihood.

And then there was SPLASH !!!

I would like to contribute this blog to a very special guy. He's young, he's a handsome bugger (I fall for him every time I see him) and well yeah - he's a dolphin. People call him splash, but when Im with him I start talking weird mush like-ooo my coshie baboo googly woogly wiggly fishy poo...of course unheard by my colleagues. Unfortunately for Splash, he has to tolerate this kind of crap, and Ive often noticed him looking elsewhere when I go into the mush mode...:-) He is the inspiration for the name of my blog for he is THE CIRCUMAMBIENT CETACEAN. At any given point I can see him at multiple points of the enclosure (I wish he was a free dolphin), and it makes me wonder how freaky he would get if he was out in the opean ocean. He moves like a jet propelled rocket, zig zagging everywhere till he finally sees his trainers rubber footwear. Then his antics begin. He pushes his face out of the water, and then slowly pushes himself onto the pontule and keeps nudging his trainer, till he gets her attention and the much awaited fish/es. He can be exasperating at times for much unlike popular notion about dolphins being the nice good humored obedient animals that they generally are, Splash is an exception to the general rule and believe me it is TOUGH to train an animal with a size nine brain working overtime, an animal who has no respect for stillness, an animal who worships the very notion of motion.
But with all his crazy behavioral symptoms, and his absolute denouncement of everthing conventional as far as dolphins go, he's just a baby. And with all of his imperfections, he's adorable beyond words. He's one of those specail animals that touch one's life and remain etched in one's memories. SPLASH is. And always will be. To Splash ! The dolphin with a difference!