What is right in front of me is both the frailty and strength of the human being.  There is a logic to the being that has reached out and fascinated me, over and over again in my life.

I was always fascinated by babies and found their immediacy completely engaging.  Whether they were bawling, or trying to engage, they were completely present.

It’s not just the visible element that charmed me.  I loved unexpected revelations as well.  I remember that time I went down to the Jamuna river with Kamala ki ma and her children.  We were a rambunctious tribe, till the moment I came upon a baby’s skeleton…. all that remained of a burial long ago.  Probably it had been washed clean by a storm, because it lay cozily in its small hollow of sand, its entire skeleton in perfect alignment.

I remembered gasping at the beauty and elegance of its tiny body, as I came to a complete halt and stared.  Taking in the delicacy of its slender bones, all connected to each other in exquisite perfection, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I hunkered down beside it, so I could totally take it in.  I was completely smitten and in love.

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