And here begins the chapter that would change my life forever.   I remember getting confirmatory letter of his admission in the Enginneering  Degree course in MIT , Manipal. He was esctatic though a part of his heart wanted to join NDA. But I talked him out of it  as I wanted him to experience life in a university , and also wanted him to get an Engineering degree and if his heart still lay with the Forces...he can join the defence forces after the degree, I argued. In this way he would have the best of what he wanted. 

 I also convinced him out of joining the INDIA GANDHI URAN ACADEMY because again it would not have given him the edge of a professional degree in hand. And now I wonder .. had he been in NDA or in the Aviation Academy.. would he been alive today?  Did I myself write the final chapter of his life? I don't know.

We were busy shopping for him and he was enjoying every bit of it. Shopping for his hostel room , new clothes, stationary, bedsheets, towels, shoes, Tshirts, formals,  and sports gears. How happy  he used to be  shopping and trying new clothesand shoes.

 Then came the day of his departure to Manipal. With packed bags and lots of blessings we boarded the bus from Secundrabad and arrived in the University.  We together went to the college administrative block to pay for the hostel and get the room allotted. Fortunately he was alloted a very large and airy room, room no 516 in the  hostel block no17. The walls of this room are a witness to many a  impromptu happy get togthers of his friends and mates  and others.  His pleasing and affable loving nature soon won him a large number of friends and admirers.   

 The personal belongings of Abhijeet were put in place in his room by Abhijeet and me together. Everything was put in place.. right from hygiene chemicals in the bathroom, to the penholder on the study table, to the doormat  near the door and even a bedmat by  the side of his bed. The study lamp too was put in place and also his many shoes arranged in the  cupboard neatly, and he was so happy with the result. I thought of buying fresh flowers to be placed in the room but he talked me out of it saying that it was kind of girlish to decorate the room with flower et al.  How we laughed and  I counter argued on that !

 We went out then to buy some essentials to gear him up for Manipal weather.. a big umbrella, and water proof shoes owing to very wet weather conditions. We also bought a mew sim card for him there and in the mobile shoppee he forgot his new umbrella bought an hour ago. Of course a lecture followed that episode with admonitions to be careful of his belongings in future. Did I but fail to warn him enough to keep  HIMSELF safe ??

 Together then we went  for meal in his mess and finished it off with icecream.

And then it was time for me to bid him farewell. Teary emotional farewell lots of hugs and promises taken never to ride a bike of his friends and to study hard and make us proud.  I always considered mobikes as potential weapons with a capability to destroy lives... but  sea was never  thought of as threat in my wildest scary imagination.  I always liked beach vacations and viewed sea as a place of fun, frolic and more fun..never as a threat.  This belief of mine was also because I knew Abhijeet to be an expert swimmer with great stamina and strength.  

Abhijeet and me were seperated  for the first time in his life.

I did return to Secundrabad leaving a part of me in Manipal. And then started the long conversations on the phone. His crazy stories... his friends , his friends girlfriends, and their antics together in the room and out side. His singing of OM jai Jagdish with his friends on the guitar.. his mountain trekking adventures,  his jungle treks .. his finding directions withn the help of his watch, his complaints about food, the wet weather.. the view from his room, the  description of overcast skies, the playing of pirates game. and many  other stories  in which his friends and himself were the main heroes.

 And his motivational quotes and smses.. His I Love you Mother smses... .

Once when his exams were going on , I  texted him very late in the night at about 2 AM  wishing him good luck. And pat came the reply... Should'nt you be sleeping at this hour Mother? what keeps you awake so late in the night. ? 

So caring ...so loving... so affectionate...  the bond was perfect.

In December he came  home for his winter vacations. and from the airport we drove straight to the market to buy winter clothes and  warm inners for him as he had long back out grown his winter clothes. We also had a big pizza  party that night.  And  soon enough he got back to his favourite games on the sony Play satation and was busy gaming in the night.
 And he went back for the next semester. Phone calls and text msgs... mails made up for his absense. Daily reminders to work hard and daily promises extracted to keep away from vices. 
He  visited his Uncle at  Vizag and captured the hearts of all there.  I felt so proud to listen from Garima stories about what a wonderful person he is to know and be around. Lil Dhanan  also grew very fond of him and Abhijeet also  lovingly told great many tales about his cousin Dhanan and his antics. He thorughly enjoyed his Vizag trip and came to know closely his extended family members. His Uncle gave Abhijeet  gifts of many T shirts among other things, with INS- SAVITRI, emblem on it which became his fave as according to his friends he was always seen in that.  When one of those T shirts got worn out due to overuse Abhijeet rang up his uncle again  to ask for more T Shirts which he very lovingly  courired it to him.
He was so fond of mountain climbing and trekking. He introduced many of his friends to the love of trekking in particular and fitness in general. His father sent him jungle boots meant for Army which he really cherished a lot.
And another semester,was soon over. He came home and spent real good time with his brother Abhishek as company. This was the time when they both used to talk as equals as the age gap of five years between them was evident less and less with time. Abhijeet told me very emotionally that it appears that he has the best bro in the world as now he has known about the meanness of his many friends siblings. I felt so proud to hear these words from him and felt that efforts to instill good values in Abhijeet were fructifying. It was great to see real companionship blossom between the two brothers.

Many memories of Abhijeet driving me around Chandigarh and dinner outs. He was fond of food and generally a small eater , But lately I could see that he had developed good appetite. It was so heartening to see him enjoying food. He was especially fond of dairy products.
Soon enough it was time for him to go back to the univ. Hehad to change his hostel room too. 
 He also visited his uncle in Secundrabad from Manipal. He saw his lil cousin Sona for the first time and had many a tales to tell about her to us on phone later. He very much enjoyed his trip to  Secundrabad. 
 He also went to  vist National wildlife sanctuary with his friends. And I canot forget the text msg he sent me from there he wrote.. It is beautiful out here and  I wish my family was also there. This msg really warmed my heart. 

 And then came the saddest evening where we were all together and talking about Abhijeet that we could hear a ring on the home telephone. Abhishek picked up the call by Anirudh who asked Abhishek to put me or his father on the call. I took the phone not at all remotely thinking of anything untoward and I listened to those dreaded words that changed my life forever-- "Aunty Abhijeet had gone to the beach and he is missing"  And everything seemed to shatter all around. But there was still hope burning bright in my heart... hoping against hope that was not to be.He had gone into the sea never to come back.
I did not see you close your eyes,
Or hear your last faint sigh,
I only heard that you were gone,
Too late to say goodbye.

We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future.  It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance. 

Grief  I have learnt is a deeply personal and lonely  road. Me and my husband are grieving for the same son, but the manifestation of that grief is as different and unique as was our relation with our departed Son. I have been quiet, morose, sullen, depressed , reading endless books on life after death ,consulting channels, working on this website, joining online support groups and half alive and he has been busy, active, shopping, biking, quiet and sad and half alive. Each to his own..
You canot prepare for a sudden impact, You can't brace yourself. It just hits you out of nowhere and suddenly te life in you before is over, forever"- Grey's anatomy.

‎You can see it, how the world continues spinning long after your loved one took that last breath. People around you are grocery shopping, going to the movies, going out to eat, celebrating life, and me...I want it all to stop. I want it to stop so I can breathe again. But it doesn't work that way. They say that life is full of surprises. Filled with ups and downs, with joy and laughter, with sorrow and pain, all caused by the choices we make. But what about when death slaps you in the face? Is it too considered a surprise? Or is it categorized differently?

Grief is word that stands alone. All alone in its large world filled with many tears and many tugs of the heart. In that place of grief, even if unable to see it or to grasp it, surprises may leap out at you. It's here, in this state of misery, where the very ones we love and thought we lost, are able to reach out to us again. The Other Side accesses its tremendous abilities to lend us comfort, to give us a new belief, a new way of thinking, a new awakening.

 Perhaps if death is kind, and there can be returning,

We will come back to earth some fragrant night,

And take these lanes to find the sea, and bending

Breathe the same honeysuckle, low and white.

We will come down at night to these resounding beaches

And the long gentle thunder of the sea,

Here for a single hour in the wide starlight

We shall be happy, for the dead are free.

 Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night. Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence. I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. ~Rabindranath Tagore

You were a gift sent to us fom heaven,
 Given to us from God above
We did'nt know how much you could teach us
About the meaning of true love ,

 For true love sometimes means letting go,
 of someone precious and dear.
That is what we were forced to do,
 Although we wanted to keep you here!!!!
 However this is quite a selfish wish ,
One we know we should ignore,
 But Abhijeet,  we truly do believe ,
That God wanted you more.... 
 perhaps to be an angel now
Full of wisdom and love
Watching over those who love you,
 From the shining stars above.
We miss you more than you can know .
You will never be replaced ,
 In our hearts and memories forever,
Will be your ever smiling face. 

And Abhijeet was now full fledged thinking of his carreer...rather his passion i.e Flying. For that he knew he has to take maths and physics as subjects and he  took admission in an international school- OAKRIDGE .  But soon he discovered that this school is primarily gearing up  students for study abroad. Though he did want to study abroad but only if it fulfills his basic ambition of Flying.

So he decided to change the school and joined Gitanjali school for 11th and 12th.

 He loved playing with his pet dog Oscar and making videos of  Oscar playing in the garden on his iphone. We saw lots of movies together.

He was happy here and had a number of friends . The school timings were  short so that gave him lots of time with me and family. It was a great time of togetherness when he used to be studying in my bedroom and I used to be with my book and in between there used to be discussions on the book that I was reading or about his future plans interspersed with lots of his silly jokes and cool  but crazy stories of friends and self. Emphasis at this time primarily was making of carreer and hard work and studies. Lots of dreams.... lots of hopes....rosy tomorrows.... holidays and vacation dreams. It was all about him and nothing else as Abhishek was in class 8th.
 Abhijeet was judged as Mr Articulate  at his school farewell as an appreciation for his expempore speech on the day of the farewell.  His oratory skills were looking up and he was admired a lot amongst his friends for the same. 

I remember the power cut times when we used to lie down on the grass and observe the night sky together and talk a lot about aliens and other life forms on other planets. That was also the time for discussions on the various books that he had read. He really loved to discuss about India's independence struggle and the effects of partition thereafter. He had of course  mastered the book thoroughly " Freedom At Midnight" and was proud of it.

This was also the time when he started to indulge in Spirituality and Geeta and its meanings.  His fave author at this stage  was Stephen Hawking (The Big Bang Theory) and Michai Kaku  (  HYPERSPACE). He seriously believed that there exists multiple dimensions other than the three dimensions known to us. He also had a firm belief that there are life forms on other planets not known to us  and that we are infinitisemly small part of the great grand design of the Cosmos.He thought that it is almost arrogance to think that we as humans are only intelligent life forms in this universe. He also made me watch many videos on youtube by Michai kaku (Nobel laureate- on the subject of multiple dimensions)
I will always remember our trip to Europe. He loved so much to be in Rome specially as the history of a place always captured his interest.   He so much enjoyed the snow in Switzerland and  tried his hand at skiing too on a skiboard. He fell so many times but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. And yo
his  late nights in the discotheques of the cruise, his dancing the night away, and his run on the first olympic stadia. How excited he was. !!!

He was deeply interested in Sri Sri Ravi Shankar' teachings and wanted to do the Art of living course too. Later in secundrabad tenure, his interest shifted towards reading on organised religions of the world. He bought one thick book on the subject called THE HINDUS. Now his discussions with me turned toward the evolution of Sanatana Dharam . His favourite God was Lord Krishna and he would love to talk about the anecdotes of  The MahaBharata where in Lord Krishna uses all means even treachery ,deceit and lies to make the righteous win against the evil. 

He also expressed his desire to learn Salsa and drums after the exams get over. Sadly he could never fulfill this dream of his.
 Another very important event in Abhijeet's life was  his personal time that he got to spend with his paternal Grandfather. Abhijeet was lucky to have spent some days exclusively with his grandfather Col Ranvir Singh when they both went to Rai  Bareilly together for Abhijeet's  interview at Indira Gandhi Uran Academy. They both enjoyed each other's company a lot . His grandfather was of the opinion that  Abhijeet was very well mannered and soft spoken person who  should be a little aggressive to survive in this harsh world. Little did he know at that time that Abhijeet never would have to face the rigours and harshness of the world around.

Grandparents bestow upon their grandchildren the strength and wisdom that time and experience have given them.Together they create a chain of love, linking the past with the future. The chain may lengthen, but it will never part.

 Abhijeet took admission in the most prestigious old school of Bangalore. BISHOP'S COTTON BOYS SCHOOL in class 9th.  He took great pride in calling himself a  COTTONIAN.

Bangalore was one very happy time as Abhijeet got to be with extended family members here....with his bua, uncle and cousin .  Both Abhijeet and Abhishek enjoyed  night outs at their Bua's place. Truly cosmo culture... lots of mall shopping, brand awareness and movies were high point of his life here.  Abhijeet's favourite place of course used to be one shop in Koramangala which catered to only pilots . It had a huge collection of areoplane models, books on aviation,hobby classes to make your own working model of aeroplane and lots of flying quotes T -shirts. He bought many books from here on aviation and many models and many t shirts apart from other accessories.

Boys here bought a remote controlled car which became the love of their life. They used to take that car to the golf greens and remotely run it. It was once so confusing for a eagle that it kept circling the remote car and swooped down several times to grab it. What a delight it was for the boys!!

Abhijeet passed out from Bishop's cotton with 84%marks and made me very proud. He was gifted with an i phone as a reward for his great performance in calss 10th.

We also enjoyed a Singapore and  Malaysia and Thailand trip while in Bangalore..

GREAT FAMILY TIME.

  After  Jammu, our posting took us to Guwahati. There Abhijeet joined DPS  in class 7th. A very fun loving child who was growing taller  every day. There Abhijeet nurtured beautiful friendships with  Meghna Raman, Anirudh and ohers.

Many a evenings  Abhijeet would spend playing badminton or table tennis in the Military Hospital mess. I noticed with lot of admiration for him that he was a natural sports person.  He did not have to be taught any game as such. He just picked the games so naturally, be it table tennis, or badminton or squash or even chess, billiards and snooker. And yes...he hated to lose in the game but slowly and steadily also developed a sportsman  spirit of losing a game to an opponent gracefully. He rode his first scooter in Guwahati with me sitting pillion. It was a proud moment and he was given a gift to mark the occassion. 

Another incident which I remember is laying a bet with him that he canot run four rounds of the running track close by. He did that without any apparent effort at all. Of course, I lost the bet and I was happy for it. Growing up years   here for Abhijeet where he became a lanky teenager who sometimes would show rebelliousness too.

 On the advise of a dear friend  I enrolled Abhijeet in a  5 day camp with Chinmaya mission  . There Abhijeet learned by rote Hanuman Chalisa and many other mantras. He would tell me in great detail about what they made him learn that day along with the meaning of the prayers taught.

I used to teach Abhijeet a lot in these years and even used to make notes for him  in my free time. Lots of parties and get togethers were also part of life here and Abhijeet was thoroughly enjoying this tenure as he was a grown up boy now .... 

Life was one smooth sail, infact too good to be true really.

From Jhansi, we moved to Jammu and Abhijeet joined class 3 in December 2000.

He joined Army School , and was happy to be there. He had lots of playmates in Jammu. He was a happy little child with only fun and frolic on his mind. I vividly remember his playful naughty practical jokes on his friends and attending numerous birthday parties of so many children in the campus.  In jammu, army school, we also met  Amaya and her family with whom he developed quite a friendship.  Teaching Abhijeet and Amaya together was  mix of so much fun and learning We attended many social dos and picnics together. It was fun time for  Abhijeet throughout and I remember the Jammu tenure of Abhijeet  with lots of fondness.

One particular hilarious incident stands out. It was Ganesh utsav time and a neighbouring unit had a pooja pandal of the Lord and we were invited to the pooja.  Abhijeet was told  by me that during Ganesh Utsav time Lord Ganesha decides to be  Earth instead of heavens to grant all the boons that you ask of him. He asked wether the God will be there in the pooja pandal that we are visiting. I said Yes emphatically and asked him to carry modak laddus as a gift for God. So we got to getting Modaks prepared to take as an offering for the Lord for the evening aarti visit. All this preparation was being keenly watched by Abhijeet and I found him particularly excited about the visit to the pooja pandal.

In the evening we all went to visit the unit pandal and Abhijeet on reaching there just bolted out and ran towards the deity. He stood there as if waiting in front of the deity and as I was wondering what is going on his mind he turned back and said dissappointedly.." God ne hello toh bola hee nahin. Ye toh moorti hai. aap toh keh rahe the kee God khud milenge" . (God   did not reply to my hello and this is just a statue and not the real one. You said He HIMSELF would be there.)

My heart was awe struck at the innocence of the child. How we keep losing that innocence with age is also another question!

He got braces on his teeth here and bravely endured all the related pain of extraction of teeth . His dentist  grew very fond of him owing to Abhijeet's pleasing manners and affable nature.

Abhijeet had  two pets here a Pekinese named  POPPINS and later a golden Labrador called ROGER. In addition we had another pet called TUFFY- a pomerian. And, indeed it was a full and happy household.

Here Abhijeet developed his hobby of Philately. He started with modest collection of Stamps and became the member of Philately club in the local post office. There after he started recieving all the first covers and new launches of stamps. This hobby of his only grew with time and he was very proud of his stamp collection which he would proudly show to any intersted visitor to the house. He also started coin collection and currency collection. Clearly, his multi dimensional personality was taking shape.

All was perfect in my world.

 From Chandigarh, Abhijeet  brought along a precious gift  in the form of his little brother, Abhishek. In that  year 1997, we clicked Abhijeet's picture on his birthday... standing near the table laden with his birthday gifts and guess what... little Abhishek was also made to lie down along with the gifts on the table. We have never tried to hide the fact that Abhishek  was meant as a precious gift for Abhijeet to share his  life with.

Jhansi has some very beautiful memories  of Abhijeet and Abhishek enjoying baths in summer in a small little concrete tub in the garden. And Abhijeet kept a calf as a pet here and named him Ganesha.

Farm House at Jhansi had a lovely garden and many evenings were spent watching both my sons playing  in the flowers studded garden. Many pics.... many memories....

Abhijeet joined Rani Lakshmibai school there and went on his first camping trip here.

Later he joined Army School where I was also teaching., It was great to be going to and coming back from school together. His academic performance in Army school was fantastic .  Here, I could see  his confidant personality blooming forth. His generous nature and love for his friends was revealed to me from a very delightful incident , though at that time I was quite irked by it. He quietly picked up the  Diwali prayes silver coins which I had collected over the years and distributed them amongst his friends in the school.  The teacher came to know about it and collected them back and called me to school to hand them back to me.  He was a child who was showing a mind of his own and a pleasing gregarious nature. He continued with this trait of his.

 We were thereafter transferred to Chandigarh. and Abhijeet was about 3 + years old. 

Setting up a new house consumed some time here. Then, we had a chance to go to Mumbai for a squash holiday. Abhijeet had a rollicking time there in Mumbai as we stayed at a premium location near the sea shore. 

He bought a working toy aeroplane model.. his very first.. this love for aeroplanes only grew with time and age. We hung his toy from the roof and since it was battery powered it would  kind of take off and fly in circles from the string tied to the roof.Hie used to be esctatic watching that plane.

We also have great memories of toy shops of 17 sector from where li'l Abhijeet bought  numerous toys... lego sets, frisbees, bowling alley sets, casio, and many others. He also bought his first video game here- Atari- his first big buy. 

After buying   Atari video game.. we came home and were getting late to attend a social function, so we promised Abhijeet that we will set up his video game with the TV the next day. And with this promise we went to attend a party and what we see when we come back home is that  lilttle Abhijeet has already set up the game and wired it to the TV, all on his own. Not only that was done.. he was already on the advanced level on the MARIO game. We were wonder struck, to say the least.

Abhijeet was already three and half years old and greatly longed for a sibling to play with. After great thought we also realised that we were also ready to be parents all over again. The most prominent reason behind that was  that we as parents are not going to be there for the entire span of Abhijeet's life. So he should have a blood brother or sister of his own to always have somebody in his life to love ,and support him later in the journey of his life.. after we have gone.

So Abhishek...his brother was thought of and prayed for.

Abhijeet also joined his first school WOODLAND HOUSE in Panchkula. How many schools we surveyed before putting him in one.It was so fulfilling  time to do all these little things and research the school for our little wonder.

I clearly remember Abhijeet's first day in school.  An anxious child and even more anxious parents. We packed a huge tiffin for Abhijeet and took him to  leave him at the school for the very first time. And after leaving him in the class room.. while we were kind of wondering what to do next... that we heard loud scurrying fast steps and when we turned aroud.. here was Abhijeet wanting to go  back home with us. How funny  that was... Finally we did manage to convince him to spend the day at the school.

Abhijeet also bought his first bicycle from Ludhiana of HERO make. So delighted he was... 

And in November 1996 came Abhishek...his little brother.Abhijeet was full of joy to see him for the first time and wanted  tro play cricket with him as soon as he could.

We could not have asked for more in life. Everything was perfect and in place and God was smiling at us and blessing our family each and every day. I felt like I was the God's chosen one. Total bliss....

"We wish to the new child,
A heart that can be beguiled,
By a flower,
That the wind lifts,
As it passes.
If the storms break for him,
May the trees shake for him,
Their blossoms down.
In the night that he is troubled,
May a friend wake for him,
So that his time be doubled,
And at the end of all loving and love
May the Man above, 
Give him a crown."

 Abhijeet was born on  7th march 1992 in Military Hospital, Ambala cantonement. A cherubic, bonny baby came in our lives  early in the morning and I was blessed to be a mother for the very first time. Great anticipation preceded his birth as to guesses over the gender of the child. I always wanted a son and here he was, like my prayers answered.Oh how I dreamed for a boy the whole time I carried you. Then when you graced us with your presence, you were beautiful. You were the baby I had dreamed of for so long. Our little man. You gave me so much happiness while you were here. I miss you so much. I wish I had the ability to live those years with you over again. I carry you in a special place inside my heart. You will forever be a part of me.
"Your eyes were what I recognized first 
When I held you for the first time in my arms, 
Eyes that had the wisdom of many births,
Wells so deep I could see my  own soul 
As I touched the Being of pure light and love ." 

Celebrations , parties, champagnes, havans and other rituals followed his much awaited birth. Everybody was jubliant. Congratulatory telegrams poured in every day from friends, family and well wishers.  I felt great at the gift of the God and marvelled at the perfect little bundle of joy in my arms...  fair bonny baby with dark brown hair,and bright eyes. pert lil nose and he had my heart captured for ever.He grew by leaps and bounds and was a big source of joy and happiness to both his grandparents and other extended family members.With his birth were born many relations,..some became uncles(Sandy, Banu, Rajinder) some came to be known as Bua (Manju), some as massis although they preferred to be called as sisters(Baby, Guria) and most of all some body overnight became an elder bro(Cousin Guttu)

And day by day, this bundle of joy grew in leaps and bounds both literally and metaphorically . He had this great talent of making me dance around his little finger. Lots of photographs were clicked and memories of his growing years stored on film and in hearts. He was full of energy and was so very happy little baby.My enthusiasm at feeding him right kind of food sometimes used to boomrang as he grew an aversion to food due to my overfeeding him. His favourite song at this point in life was .. Lakdee kee kaathee... kathhee pe ghoda... and he would never tire of listening to this song.

Other songs which were very often sung to him were .Chanda hai tu..., pyaar hua chupke se...,, so jaa meri jaan.... and jab sir tera chakraye ... 

He used to love this song... champee ..tel maalish during his daily massage times before bath.

And numerous love names were given by us and extended family members who would call him.. Puppy, Chooza, baby Rhino, and one particular name that stands out in my memory is BIJLEE KEE BILLI as he was so full of energy that he used to tire us out with his antics by the end of the day.

And soon came the day when  we shifted to Panagarh where he  lived for the first three year of his life . He got lots of love and care from his nanny  named Mithu there and was the apple of the eye of the entire campus.

On  his first birthday He was gifted a tricyce, a working aeroplane model, a toy train, and a big model car which had peddles and a steering wheel which he used to drive all day in the open areas of the Military farm campus.It was  pure bliss watching him grow and bloom. He was at his naughtiest best at this time. We also taught him how to swim here.He had two pets here...  a tortoise and a baby goat. There used to be very frequent power cuts in Panagarh. And once Abhijeet lit up a candle and placed it on the shell of the tortoise. Wherever the tortoicse crawled the candle would shine. It was so much fun.  The baby goat was fed grass by Abhijeet by his own  hands and once the goat bit his finger as well.

I remember, his greatest joy would be watching trains go by and the engines shunting as the rail track  was not too far from our house .Ajay who was about 14 yrs old at that time used to take him for such outings and spoil him silly with love and chocolates.

He was extremely happy whenever we had guests at home. My mother and sisters also paid a visit and the antics of lil Abhijeet are etched in their minds for ever.

We used to make  many visits to Kolkata from  Panagarh and along with us used to go Abhijeet's Nanny and his Jhoola (cradle) as he refused to sleep anywhere other than his own cradle. Our hosts in Kolkata used to joke about the princely nature of li'l Abhijeet.

Many people stand out in my memory about the time we spent here and some of the names are of couse, Mandal and family, Heera Lal and Family, Rajesh and family,Dinesh, Mithu, Mohan.. and  so many others who showered love, care and affection on my son.

We celebrated three birthdays of Abhijeet here in Panagarh.A video camera of Sony make was bought to record his first birthday celebrations.

Beautiful times... lovely memories... so much joy and bliss was there in our lives. He made us feel complete and whole, and yes,  occupied too. Never had I known a single moment of worry or hurt..  My cup of life was full because of Abhijeet and his  father Kuldeep.