SERENDIPITY?

Thursday, December 01, 2005
8:43:36 PM

I don’t know if I should really call it serendipity or not, but I guess there’s no other word for it…I happen to be gifted with the opportunity to notice a single sign many times in different situations and places, simultaneously.

First, it used to be any random, catchy words…I used to encounter them often after having it read for the first time. In a certain English Comprehension test in school long back, I couldn’t comprehend the meaning of “harlequin”. When the test was over, our teacher told us the meaning. And then, on my way back home by car, I spotted a new fast food restaurant that had just opened, named Harlequin! Next, I went home and as I was lazily flipping through the pages of a children’s “People & Places” mini encyclopedia, I found Harlequin again, this time with a picture as well…

Sometimes, my dreams are also linked with such activities…I had a dream two years back about a desert where I was stranded with my friend Fatty, having delicious Lebanese food nearby an oasis…A few days after dreaming that, I accidentally got hold of this book “Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and it talked of deserts mostly and the main character happened to meet a girl named by the same name as my friend in the dream, near an oasis…In the book, there was also mention of the place Tangier. When I finished reading that book, I just happened to listen to one of tracks of “Blood On The Tracks” by Bob Dylan for the first time, where he happened to be singing the lines:
“If you see her, say hello
She might be in Tangier…”

There, I see a fine thread going along the words desert, Fatty and Tangier…

Again, very recently I was reading Harry Potter, where I was reading a certain chapter called “The Deathday Party”, and on the same day I got to know that a friend’s grandma has passed away. The very next day I go online and find out that another friend’s father has passed away too. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Should I call this serendipity?