ashes: a brother's ode to his sister − 15 February, 2007
when i first wrote my story, *suniti's younger brother,* i had no idea whatever happened to my childhood friend suniti. whenever i tried to google her, i found nothing. the last time i talked to her brother, ajay, was many years ago on the train and he told me that she was going to school at berkeley but had left. suniti had returned to chicago to live with her family. what i had left out of my original story was that suniti suffered from manic depression and she was on lithium.
for me personally to hear that she was suffering from a mental illness and taking lithium was a shock. the news left me feeling sad and guilty. the suniti i had known when i was 12 years old was a brilliant young girl full of dreams. she had an IQ over 135, she explained einstein's theory of relativity to me, taught me about supernovas, the big bang, black holes, white dwarfs,the difference between nuclear fusion and fission. we even memorized the periodic table of elements together just for fun. she also was extremely self-confident and had a bit of a superiorty complex. she once explained to me the difference between being *smart* and *intelligient*. suniti had coined herself *intelligient* because of her high iq and because she excelled at everything academic. however, i was labeled, *smart* yet creative because my creativity couldn't be measured through an iq test and because we were able to have philosophical conversations on topics such as *karma*.
suniti felt overshadowed by her older brother rahul, being the middle child. i don't remember much about him other than the fact he got a perfect score on his SAT's, took mostly AP classes in high school and was also a junior national badminton champion. he ended up going to stanford on a full scholarship and becoming a physician.
we often talked about her aspirations of going to either MIT or caltech to pursue her studies in astrophysics. she had intended on going to high school and getting straight *A's* while taking as many AP classes as possible. my only interaction with her in high school was in the years we both studied latin. sadly, we rarely spoke a word to each other. however, one thing i noticed over the years was that she did appear more stressed.
then years pass by and in a chance meeting with her younger brother ajay, i find out that she is not doing well. after i posted my story on dandelife i googled ajay and read his interviews. then i was shocked to find out that when he was18 years old, only a year after i saw him on the train, his sister suniti had committed suicide at the age of 27.
the death of his sister, inspired ajay, to write, direct, produce a independent film called *ashes*. it has yet to be released but it is an ode to his sister and his family.
for me personally to hear that she was suffering from a mental illness and taking lithium was a shock. the news left me feeling sad and guilty. the suniti i had known when i was 12 years old was a brilliant young girl full of dreams. she had an IQ over 135, she explained einstein's theory of relativity to me, taught me about supernovas, the big bang, black holes, white dwarfs,the difference between nuclear fusion and fission. we even memorized the periodic table of elements together just for fun. she also was extremely self-confident and had a bit of a superiorty complex. she once explained to me the difference between being *smart* and *intelligient*. suniti had coined herself *intelligient* because of her high iq and because she excelled at everything academic. however, i was labeled, *smart* yet creative because my creativity couldn't be measured through an iq test and because we were able to have philosophical conversations on topics such as *karma*.
suniti felt overshadowed by her older brother rahul, being the middle child. i don't remember much about him other than the fact he got a perfect score on his SAT's, took mostly AP classes in high school and was also a junior national badminton champion. he ended up going to stanford on a full scholarship and becoming a physician.
we often talked about her aspirations of going to either MIT or caltech to pursue her studies in astrophysics. she had intended on going to high school and getting straight *A's* while taking as many AP classes as possible. my only interaction with her in high school was in the years we both studied latin. sadly, we rarely spoke a word to each other. however, one thing i noticed over the years was that she did appear more stressed.
then years pass by and in a chance meeting with her younger brother ajay, i find out that she is not doing well. after i posted my story on dandelife i googled ajay and read his interviews. then i was shocked to find out that when he was18 years old, only a year after i saw him on the train, his sister suniti had committed suicide at the age of 27.
the death of his sister, inspired ajay, to write, direct, produce a independent film called *ashes*. it has yet to be released but it is an ode to his sister and his family.
Comments:
kga245 (February 15, 2007. 06:39pm)
You keep astounding me. Have I told you that before?
pepero (February 15, 2007. 06:58pm)
actually, i think it is *dandelife* that keeps astounding me. in many ways my stories are inspired by reading other peoples stories. amazingly, my muse or muses are the people who write their stories on dandelife. i know i've thanked you before, but i really want you to know how much i appreciate all your endeavors in creating such a wonderful community. i am just a living testament of the magic of dandelifing. yes, i am using it as a *verb* now. :-)
jayaaywhy (September 3, 2007. 04:53pm)
Thankyou Caroline!
Love Ajay
kga245 (September 4, 2007. 06:10am)
:-)
pepero (September 4, 2007. 05:58pm)
your welcome, ajay! luv, caroline :-)
ps tell me when your film is released in california, i'm living in the bay area now.