A World without Boundaries

Panchi, Nadiyan, Pawan ke jhoken;

Koi Sarhad na Inhe Roke.

Have you ever stood on the shores of a land that is not your own and yet the breeze that caressed your cheeks reminded you of your mother’s palm on your forehead when you were down with fever? Have you ever wished to the seagulls to tell you what was happening back at your home? Have you ever felt like Alexander Selkirk in an island full of men? Have you ever seen the sea split into a riot of colours beneath the setting sun?

As my travels in Dubai were coming to an end, there was one last frontier left to conquer and literally it turned out one of those days that make a cliché come true. Save the best for the last indeed. The Sea at Jumeirah is beautiful to say the least. It is not scary, nor treacherous, rather it is a sea tamed by men who have defied nature to build The Palm and The World. The sun loves to play its tricks here. You can actually see three distinct colours on the same expanse of the sea and when you turn around the entire Dubai Skyline greets you.

I have been now to almost the two extremes of Asia and touched the sea there. And every single time I have tried to feel if the sand beneath my feet was like me- uprooted from the country I love. And those are the times I realize how futile the dream of a world without boundaries really is. We love our own boundaries. We love our own safety nets.

As the sun slowly set, I realized the symbolism of it all. Today we came to know about the passing away of Dr. (Mrs.) Meera Banerjee, a legendary professor of the Humanities Department at BITS. Legends, even though they fade away deserve one last bow and as the sun set over Asia, a legend finally came to rest within the hearts of all those who knew her.