Why do I write my diary?

I’ve always been writing a diary since Jan 1967, on joining class VII at the Sainik School in Thiruvananthapuram and the initiator of this habit was none other than PN Panicker, my grandfather, who used to meticulously maintain his diary. He used to go one step further by not only noting down his feelings but also adding his expenditures of each day because of his conviction that no one had the right to squander public money. What I could understand from his approach to diary writing was that, he did a very critical audit of himself and his life, so as to ensure that he never strayed from his goals that he’d fixed for himself which had to be achieved through the right means. He had even told me that one could fool others but could never do so in one's diary, because if one resorted to it then it would amount to kidding one’s own conscience – in other words, there’s no difference from what others perceive of you and what you put into your diary!

It’s this thought that guides me while writing my diary and I hope that I’m able to live up to the ideals handed over to me by my grandfather.


Tailpiece.

The squirrel family has been shifted onto the birch of a nearby tree, along with its nest. There were seven baby squirrels this time!!