‘Are you Preeti Bakshi?’ , asked the caller when I picked up my mobile phone. And I hung up the call feeling terribly happy!
Preeti Bakshi does it for me. It brings a smile to my face and evokes a different era. It makes me nostalgic.
I love being Preeti Singh and can’t imagine any other surname that would have sounded as sweet to me. I was in awe of my professor Preeti Singh in college - she was super smart, witty and intelligent. And I was thrilled when I became PS.
Preeti Singh defines who I am today,including being a wife and a mother . I am an older person, more aware of my social environment and more empathetic to people . A multi-tasker who attempts to cram in all she can to make the most of the 24 hours- all this when I have time left over from kids‘ schedules.It reflects my social standing and my inextricable ties to people that depend on me. I am more ambitious today - and I dream big for my kids and my husband. I no longer see life in black and white, but view it as many shades of grey. I am more forgiving and even if situations gall me, I have learnt to shut up and say nothing. I have learnt patience and tolerance. I am more aware of my limitations and have a fair sense of what I can do and what I can achieve.
Ofcourse, being Preeti Singh has many other benefits too...I can get drunk, and I know that Praneet will get me home safe. I have a huge bunch of friends from various stages of my life. I continue to have many male friends and they are not my ‘boy friends’ - their wives have a separate equation with me and I have double the friends! I can take a sabbatical from work and enjoy life and work at my pace!
But Preeti Bakshi speaks to me of simpler times. When my time and my decisions depended only on me. When I was not responsible for most relationships and my parents looked out for me incase I was in trouble. The biggest decisions I might have taken in a day were the clothes I had to wear. And the biggest stress would have been my Quanti grades. I did not have to plan my finances, I did not have to plan a holiday, I did not have to plan the day to entertain anyone. I was not answerable to anyone except my parents, who were liberal and strict in equal measure. So while I was not allowed to go for dates, sleepovers or parties, it was perfectly ok if I had a crush and wanted to share that with my parents. I think that was the only time I was ME..and had to make no excuses for it! And I was loved unconditionally for just being me.
But perhaps, the transition from Preeti Bakshi to Preeti Singh is the normal transition all of us make from our younger days to older ones. And while we are comfortable and secure in our present and would not have it any other way, there will always be a yearning and nostalgia for times gone by.
