Letter from Lata Aaji

10.02.2012
Dear Children and Parents,
I was planning for Ananya’s birthday. Most important thing on the agenda was to decide what bye bye gift I could give to her friends in the shibir.
It had to be a thing that Ananya loves to use. Equally important was the fact that every single child should also find it worth having and should be able to use it often. Several things were considered but I could not choose a common thing that every child in shibir would find interesting.
Last week a friend of mine fell sick and lost his appetite completely. He could not eat anything and became very weak. He needed to eat well and get well soon. I made a soup for him and sent.
I used my secret recipe of soup. A soup of potato, tomato, and onion. I also put my secret ingredient in it. You know what? Yes! Love!
And something great happened. He simply wallopped it. He felt happy, full and satisfied. He immediately phoned me up to say so and requested for some other soup with same secret ingredient for his dinner the next day.
I got my answer. I bought lovely soup bowls for children. I decided to make soup for them. The children will now come on Sunday and have the soup in their own colourful bowl with equally pretty spoon. And while going home they will take it with them as a bye bye gift.
I sent the soup to my friend along with this simple poem on his get well card.
Please have this soup.
It is made for you only.
The first sip will tell you now
“You have a lovely appetite”.

The appetite with which you were listening
To my story of children
Enjoying their high tea at ‘Taj’.

The next sip will convey to you
That you can digest so well,
The way you digested the joy of those children
Awed and excited simply the grandeur of
‘Taj’ and of course that of ‘Tatas’.

One more sip has gone in now,
Into your system.
A further grandeur is floating
Before your eyes.
The seeds that had floundered
From your sowing hands all along
Have thrived beautifully
Into a blooming dale.
From Lataaji.