#Vega Gokhale

[reesiewrites]

Imaging a world where all the main kids live is so like…

Weimin and Aura eventually getting married, and it’s like the second their legally able to since they’re those high school sweethearts. It’s a small affair held in Vromeado but Seb is the best man and Coralie is the bride’s maid of honor. Dion gets to bring up the rings which he helped design with Aura and then made. Weimin and Aura’s younger siblings (Linh, Lam, and Jelke) all end up doing the flower thing together. Aura’s dad walking her down the aisle. Just- the two of them getting to be happy together and actually getting to live out the life they wanted outside of the Eye.

Coralie turning on the Eye at the last minute and escaping, finding that acceptance and love she’d always been so desperate for in the others. Sabrina not having to grapple with the trauma and trust issues Coralie’s betrayal had given her. Coralie finally realizing that while Sabrina doesn’t like her romantically that doesn’t negate their friendship or love. Coralie getting to travel with Sabrina like she’d always wanted and building herself the family she’d never had.

The little things too: Mirja going to stay with Peik and his family for awhile so she can learn more about healing as she regards Peik and Marina like the siblings she’d never had. Sol fully leaving Sawhaetia and eir family behind and moving in with Kenny, Aiden, and Elena as the four of them try to incite some positive change within Ninrett. Vega moving to Hoiden to move in with Tempest after receiving their degree in Thrioniya and finding themselves a little more. Dion, a few years after everything when he’s more mature and finally comfortable in his own skin, hitting it off with Zephyr and something starting between them. Seb becoming a teacher in Svyranos alongside aiding with some of the heavy reconstruction happening there.

Just the main kids all staying connected after taking down the Eye and all getting to grow up and become a sort of large family.

Imagine your oc growing old with their loved ones. There's no question on this post I just get a little emotional thinking about it. You can ramble about this in the tags or rbs if you want, just imagine your oc and their loved ones in the far future and where they've gotten by then

[hrk4]

The year that was...

In the Mahābhārata, there is a brutally honest verse that says, “In the great ocean, two wood-logs come close to each other and then drift apart; human relationships are pretty much the same!”

From the time I first came across this verse about a decade ago, it deeply resonated with me. However much we may try, it appears impossible to reduce the fragility of relationships. Akin to coasting on the waves of the mighty ocean, we become close to some people and move away from others who were hitherto inseparable from us—often owing to circumstances more than volition. At school, I was eternally in the company of a few friends; by the time I came to college, it was a totally different bunch—and by the time I started working, it was another group. It is not like I have lost touch with all my friends of the past. But the strength of the old bonds are directly proportional to the memory of one’s childhood and youth. Some people remember their past and some others strive to forget it. Furthermore, people change—some for the better and some for the worse! And so, when we deal with life as being a dynamic equilibrium, we become more accepting of change, and make the necessary course corrections with lesser effort. Truth be told, the moment we acknowledge that all relationships are ephemeral, we learn to value the existing connexions with people—and that paves the way for inner peace.

This is not to say that I had a gloomy year in any way—in fact, right at the start of 2024, I turned forty and my close friends threw a surprise party for me. I was showered with their affection and gifts, making my fortieth a special one. It was a moment that made me realize how fortunate I have been.

It was also a year of immense learning – from attending Dr. Prasad Bapat’s workshop on Cosmology to the Education Retreat during the January 26th weekend (the experts who spoke, the audience, and the organizers were all from our friends group); from the weekly meeting with Dr. S R Ramaswamy where a variety of topics are discussed to the remarkable opportunity to interact with eminent personages – noted painters G L N Simha and Chandranath Acharya; scholars across generations, all of whom I was meeting for the first time: Dr. T V Venkatachala Sastry, Dr. P S Ramanujan, Dr. R N Iyengar, and Raj Vedam; D V Gundappa’s nephew R Chandramouli, who regaled us with several anecdotes from the polymath’s life; and the art historians R G Singh and H S Dharmendra of Ramsons Art Gallery.

With Sri R Chandramouli (center) and his wife

My musician-friend from Chile, Cristian Vega Encina wrote to me earlier this year to inform about the death of Maestro Millapol Gajardo, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting twice—in 2006 and in 2015. He was a multi-instrumentalist who played the bansuri and the tabla, among others. He visited Varanasi in the 1960s and spent considerable time in India, learning Hindustani music. When I first went to his house, which was located in an older part of Santiago, I felt like I was entering an Indian house. He had a huge library with innumerable books about India and Indian culture. He made authentic masala chai for me and we had a lovely jam session—Millapol on bansuri, me on violin, and Cristian on tabla. Then he showed me a video from a Jean Renoir movie that featured Varanasi. He pointed out to the television screen and said, “That is my city!” with his eyes just a little moist. To see the genuine love for Bhārata and Bhāratīya-saṃskṛti ten thousand miles away deeply inspired me.

Maestro Millapol Gajardo (bansuri) and Cristian Vega Encina (tabla)

In 2024, I had the pleasure of addressing the audience at the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), post-graduate medical students of the JSS College, and the devotees of the Radhakrishna Temple at Sanjaynagar, Bangalore. Praveen Nair invited me to be a part of the Prāna Stories Podcast, where I spoke about the universality of Sanātana-dharma (Part 1 and Part 2). The Gītā guru, Sri K V Shivaswami sir and the indefatigable Shilpa Sharma of Seattle were responsible for convincing me to conduct a full-fledged Bhagavad-gītā course covering all 700 ślokas (from March to May). Later they convinced my co-author Dr. Koti Sreekrishna also to teach a Gītā course. Both these courses were well received by the participants and it was inspiring to see the dedication of people across ages, who showed up day after day for the classes. Upon the insistence of my good friend Vikram Phadke, I appeared for a few minutes on a Kannada television show.

In my day job, I was able to work on a few books and also facilitate others in their book-writing journey to some extent. I have given a long list at the end of my reflections.

I tided past a health scare and consolidated my finances—with the hope that in 2025, I don’t have to worry about time or money and can focus on things that I truly desire to pursue. I also lost a decades-old bet with my student/friend, M R Jayasimha. Years ago, when he was learning the violin from me at the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts, he had told me that I would buy a car some day in the future and I had wagered that I would never have the need for one. Some fifteen years later, it turns out that I was wrong!

On the family front, my mother and grandmother spent a successful year after shifting from our ancestral house in Halasuru to a flat in Malleswaram next door to me; my father and brother make regular trips to spend time here. Earlier this year, my cousin Arun got married and in December 2024, my niece Mahathi gave birth to a baby boy, which I think gives me license to enter into retirement!

Mark Twain famously wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” This year, like many earlier ones, took me to different places—Chennai, Chittorgarh, Coimbatore, Dhar, Dharwar, Ellora, Honnavar, Jodhpur, Kalale, Kanyakumari, Kimsar, Kothagiri, Krong Siem Riep, Kumbalgarh, Melkote, Mysore, Pandavpura, Preah Vihear, Ranakpur, Sriperumbudur, Thiruvananthapuram, Vellore, etc.

The last week of the year, which I spent in Chennai, was particularly memorable: witnessing an iconic concert of my guru Dr. L Subramaniam and Ud. Amjad Ali Khan, spending time with cousins, attending two concerts of the legendary Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam (Bhagavad-gita and Jaya Jaya Shankara), and being a part of the 42nd Natya Kala Conference that was brilliantly curated by my good friends Nirupama and Rajendra.

As for 2025 goals, I suppose I will not make them public like I did last time because much of it remains undone!

From a geo-politics perspective, 2024 was a year of a great deal of churning. The task cut out for the heads of State in various corners of the globe is daunting to say the least. We will have to wait and watch how 2025 pans out—one can only hope that the life-negating forces of death cults of the deserts may be silenced just a little more.

Thanks for reading this far, and with this I wish you and your family a wonderful new year! I hope it will be filled with joy, good health, prosperity, and moments to cherish. May your dreams come true!

—

Books of 2024

· A R Krishnasastri’s The Essential Katha·sarit·sagara (translated by Arjun Bharadwaj, Srishan Thirumalai, Raghavendra G S, and Hari Ravikumar) · Bhāsa’s Svapna·vāsavadattam (curated by Srinidhi Ramachandra and Hari Ravikumar) · Chaman Lal’s ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ತಾಯಿ ಭಾರತ (translated by L V Shanthakumari) · D V Gundappa’s Art Gallery of Memories – Vol. 7 (Some High-minded Exemplars) · D V Gundappa’s Art Gallery of Memories – Vol. 8 (A Miscellany of Memories) · D V Gundappa’s Jīvana-dharma-yoga (translated by Raghavendra Hebbalalu and Sreelalitha Rupanagudi) · Dharma-vijaya – edited by Kashap N Naik · Raga Harmony by Dr. L Subramaniam · S L Bhyrappa’s Dharmashree (translated by L V Shanthakumari) (Here's a short talk on the novel.) · S L Bhyrappa’s Niraakarana (translated by L V Shanthakumari and Arjun Bharadwaj) · S R Ramaswamy’s Silhouettes of Excellence (edited by Hari Ravikumar and Vedavyas M G) · Śatāvadhānī R Ganesh's Ānanda Sūtras (adapted into English by Harish Kumar N and Arjun Sharma) · The Essential Ramayana by Arjun Bharadwaj · ಕಡಲ ಅಲೆಗಳು by L V Shanthakumari · ಚಿದಾನಂದ by Neelakanth Krishnaji Kulkarni · ವ್ಯಾಸರ ಬಿನ್ನಪ by S R Ramaswamy · ಸ್ವಧರ್ಮಯೋಗಿ – edited by Kashyap N Naik · ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ನಾಟಕ ಕಥೆಗಳು by Motaganahalli Subrahmanya Sastri

[reesiewrites]

Sol Ng:

I think ey would go with power. Growing up as royalty ey already have all the money ey could want and love doesn’t rlly interest them. Power, though, comes with the sort of respect and legacy that Sol has always wanted. Ey want people to notice and care about em and power is the way to gain that reputation.

Vega Gokhale:

Vega would go with love for sure. All Vega wants is to hold onto and protect the people they care about and receive the same care in return. Money and power don’t interest them because it would be completely ineffective and unsatisfactory without someone to share it with.

Sabrina Barbeau-Furukawa:

She would probably go with love as well. Like Vega, all Sabrina had ever wanted is to be around people she loves. She longs for a sense of belonging and community. The money might be nice but she doesn’t need it and the responsibility that would come with so much power would make her anxious.

Dion Aiza-Barros:

The money, probably. Boy has some expensive tastes, not to mention his ingrained belief that money can solve just about any problem, at least temporarily. Power isn’t really his thing and love sounds nice but Dion probably couldn’t be happy poor, not without seriously leaning into his kleptomaniac tendencies anyway.

Blorbo Blursday #2

If your character had the choice between ultimate love, money, or power, what would they pick? Why? What would change their mind?

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