Many years ago I came to the conclusion that life was a coincidence by coincidence journey. Look at it this way, the day Aloke Gupta was born, I got married. One of my best friends in school landed up becoming my brother in law.

The day that the legendary race horse Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes and became the first horse to have won the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the 1 ½ mile long Belmont and etched its name into racing immortality, I met Sanjeev Thomas, a classmate at Loyola who went on to become my best friend, a business partner at times and my soulmate for ever. Because of a strange bangle made of Elephant Tail hair which he had brought from Tanzania he was nicknamed Zulu, a name that stuck till his dying day in the middle of last year.

The year he died was also the year that Walt Disney released their new movie Secretariat that chronicled the story of that legendary stud. It was only after I saw the movie (and I have now watched it at least a hundred times) that I realised why Zulu admired the horse so much and literally hero worshipped him, much to the amusement of a lot of us who had a tough time deciding whether it was a horse or a donkey that was being discussed.

The listing of several coincidences that dotted my life can be a great personal occupation, but it is by no means an enthralling account of some magical life. Because each of our lives continues to be magical only to ourselves and the coincidences tend to lose significance when placed in a more global perspective. After all how would you react if I told you that I almost missed a flight from Chennai to Colombo and only the quick thinking and acting of the Counter Executive saw me through. Only later did I realise that he was a junior of mine at college and a bit of a fan. I must confess that I never met him again and I can’t even remember his name.

As I slowly began to realise that coincidences designed the travels and the destinations of everyone, I realised that they were like sign posts that asked you to turn left or right, take a U Turn or proceed straight ahead. It could all start with a chance encounter, an unexpected discussion or just a series of random occurrences that all culminated into a definite direction.

One of my recent favourite incidents involves a client for whom my friend and classmate Shankar Mani had produced a series of films which were titled “Inspired by the Souls who Transform”. I had as I often do, lent my voice for these brilliant films which were telecast all over the country to viewers and critics delight. When there came a time when the company wanted a corporate film they naturally approached Shankar. But Shankar had too many things on his plate and quite graciously suggested that they approach me to handle the assignment.

This led to a series of jobs that I took up for the company and they soon became one of my larger clients. They were also people who supported me strongly when I had a health problem. They remain good friends who I am forever indebted to.

I often sit by myself and ruminate that the map of destiny that I had sketched for myself several times in my life was dramatically transformed by coincidences that introduced their own pulls and pressures and often changed the very destination of my life and the pace at which I would proceed there.

I wonder if each one of us has similar thoughts and also if each one of us has sceptics who pooh-pooh the very thought of coincidence being a life changing force.

I wonder !!!