It has been seven years since the fateful accident that took Aru away from us.

As we remember her, our resolve to work towards improving road safety is only becoming stronger. Our focus over the past years has been to increase the awareness amongst our youth and children. We will continue to do so.

But this year, we will begin an effort to harness technology in order to find some practical and scalable approaches to the vexing problem of poor road conditions.

Safety Quest is our unique quiz for school children which combines safety principles, science, and innovation. We reached many families virtually over the past year. We plan this year’s edition in November.

We will share more as we firm up these plans.

I am sharing a few pics along with lines from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Shubhi and I feel they fit our Aru to a T.

It’s 6 years since we lost you, Aru.  We think of you every moment.  We miss you terribly, but you are with us
… deep in our hearts
… deep in our thoughts
… continuing to guide us
… continuing to inspire us.

Here, we share your message to the world on the brew that is LIFE.

21 November is Aru’s birthday. She would have been 27 today.

I want to share one of her poems today. She wrote this on 28 Jul 2006 at the “SEEK 2006” Creative Writing Contest. 2 songs were played, she had to choose one, take the theme from it and write the poem.

I Just Want To Be Me

Every person is born with a dream
But realize it, few can
For everyone gives up his dream
And takes on that of another man.

You mould your life, your work, your dream
You mould it to fit another man
You do not give yourself a chance
To stretch your wings, to show you can.

Why are you hiding yourself behind a mask?
A mask just like the others are wearing?
Why are you leaping around like a puppet
To a tune to which others are dancing?

Why can’t you see, hear, feel
Why can’t you experience things the way you want to?
Why must you always go with the world,
Flow with the tide when not wanting to?

I can’t do that, I can’t kill myself
Slowly, hour by hour, day by day
Caged in a prison I have created
Trying to keep those dreams, now monsters, at bay.

Because I don’t want to be what others make me
I don’t want to be anything other than what I want to be
I don’t want to be anything other than what I’m trying to be lately
I just want to be me.

[2nd and 3^rd line from the last stanza were taken from the song]

Earlier this year, Kelini Saolapurkar graduated with flying colours from the MVJ Medical College. She won a gold medal in Forensic Medicine accompanied by a prize of Rs 10,000.

In a magnanimous gesture, Dr. Kelini has donated her prize money to The Arundhati Foundation.

Here is a little note that she wrote to share her sentiments

****

Aru and I are family friends.  From childhood, although we never got much time to spend with each other, we still managed to make some sweet memories..

Although she was only 2 years older to me, there was a different calmness she used to exude. Her ways, and the things she used to talk about always made her seem way more elder, for me.

Back in our childhood, when we were barely teenagers, both our families went for a short trip, and the care and affection she showed to her little brother caught my eye. So much compassion for a girl barely 13 years back then …

When we both started MBBS, we got in touch and got opportunities to make more memories .. I happened to join my course a month later due to counselling schedules and it was she who guided me in my first few days in this profession, where I had no idea how to go about covering the backlog of the days I had lost.

She seemed so perfectly calm about the way she guided and dealt with things, I used to wonder how she managed so much without getting into a panic !!

She not only helped me, she also helped my friend Sanjana through MBBS while they studied in the same college.
Although we got busy in our own lives, these few instances had sowed seeds of deep respect in my heart for her..

I still have the books she gave me and I remember her every now and then.

For being the one who helped me thru my first few days in medicine, she was like my launch pad launching me into MBBS and inspiring me to work hard persistently and still stay humble as ever !

She was one of the first few people who called me “Kelu”, and I called her “Aru”.
We were Aru and Kelu for each other and so we shall always remain.

-Kelini

Sharing a sketch Aru had done when Bombay( Mumbai) was under seige. A time when terrorists went about shooting innocent people..holding a city and a country to ransom.
Brave police and a young Major lost their lives along with innocent people.
I feel that Aru’s sensitive depiction shows her talent as artist and the gentle , caring person that she …..is . Yes, she is ..
I have been searching for this picture for almost a year. Curiously, I found it today. What a coincidence!
Medium: Charcoal…she loved using charcoal.

Aru, Captain of the Voyager House!

I’m glad I could capture this moment.. We love you for the girl you were…simple, humble and extremely loving with a beautiful smile on your face which would cheer up everyone around you!

Even today when I eat Shrikhand, you are the first person I think of since you always ate all the shrikhand in my dabba!

I miss dancing with you, our antakshari competitions….you sang “chura liya hai tumne…” so beautifully….There are so many good things about you… I can go on and on….

You made each of us proud in many different ways with everything you did ! We love you and miss you a lot Aru!

So it’s been a year since our Aru has left us…a year of pain, emptiness and longing. A year of going from one moment to the next in a vacuum.

There have been a few people who have really walked the difficult path with us. To them, we owe our gratitude. And then there are others who have told us how she has changed them in many different ways to make them better people.

Her friend Jasiya tells me that she feels blessed to have her in her life because she learnt a few things from her. Not to waste food, to switch off all the lights and fan before leaving a room and be extra protective about people one cares about. She says that Aru is a legend and legends never die.
Keertana and Shilpa and Monisha miss her a lot.
Payal Urs remembers her as the only person who used an ink pen and says she learnt a lot from her .
Mahdiyya related fond memories which showed how much she cares about Aru..
These and many such stories make us feel proud that our daughter indeed touched the lives of many people around her..

When Aru joined Sdumc and started living away from home. She missed us so much and so I told her to always watch the moon as we would be watching it too. And it would connect her to us…
I watch the moon everyday and I know that the moon sees her too..

I end this with a quote which Aru loved

I see the moon and the moon sees me,
And the moon sees the somebody I want to see,
God bless the moon and God bless me ,
And God bless the somebody I want to see!

Thank you Aru for choosing baba and me to be your parents
Thank you for giving us a precious 23 years
You were, you are and will always be our pride, inspiration and joy.
Our universe and our heart beats.

Lots and lots of love my dear
Aaiee and Baba