Like every other child I used to have bad dreams. My father taught me a way to ward them off. He asked me to picture a 5 headed star in my mind and taught me to trace its figure repeatedly without lifting my finger off it. He would teach me to trace it over and over again as a big star covering my whole body and mind, bidding it to protect me from bad dreams and inauspicious things. I used it every night and it gave me a great sense of security. As if I held the key to my dreams.

As I grew up I carried the star with me. I carried it through school and college and into my marriage. As a child it began with warding off bad dreams and bad thoughts, warding off thieves and robbers into our house, warding off ghosts and goblins. And as I grew up, the star grew bigger and bigger. I traced it to cover my maiden home in Sahidnagar bidding it to protect my parents and my grandfather who lived with us. I ordered it to protect them from illness, sadness, emergencies and death. Tracing the big star over and over again gave me an immense sense of satisfaction. It worked like a safety charm around anything that I wanted to protect. Every night I fell asleep with confidence.

That was years back. I realize today with much surprise, that I haven’t used the star for long. Looking at life’s inconsistent nature, I tell myself that its time to trace my father’s star again.