998 pieces

Ever tried putting together a jigsaw puzzle?
A giant one?
I did.

In my dining room hangs a picture of downtown San Francisco. It is a reproduction of an artists perception of the historic city. But it is not a painting. Not a print of the original painting, nor is it a photograph. It is actually a frame where a 1000 piece puzzle of San Francisco is mounted.

The puzzle was a gift to Aparna, on our recent US visit. We decided to tackle the puzzle in the three weeks that we had in the country. It took us, about....oh, days and days of squinting at tiny pieces and trying to find the right place to put it in. We found Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown and Crooked Street without too much trouble but the spectacular skyline of the city, with the prominent TransAmerica building and the numerous others that dot the beautiful blue skies, took a lot of time. When we had most of the pieces in place, we noticed that one piece was missing. No amount of searching could locate it.

So one day, we declared that we were done, albeit with 999 pieces! We bought puzzle glue that held the pieces together. We wrapped our creation in two large sheets of newspaper and tried to put it in the suitcase to bring it home. It fit, but barely. The puzzle made it across the seas without too much trouble but lost another piece in transit! The assembled jigsaw puzzle was now in India, but with 998 pieces.

It stayed put for almost 2 months and just prior to the move to my own place, I decided to give it a permanent place where it would be safe. It now hangs in a large cherry wood frame in my dining room.

Quite often it is a topic of conversation. People sometime recognize the cityscape, most often they are surprised to find out that it is a puzzle but hardly anyone notices the missing pieces. To my eyes, I can't help but notice the empty spaces between the 998 other pieces. This is so true of our life. We focus on flaws, on what is missing and seldom "get" the big picture. We rarely give ourselves credit for what we have done or achieved, we tend to look at what is "not there".

But what is surely there, is this beautiful assembled jigsaw puzzle that serves as a daily reminder of where I am today, whole, not necessarily perfect.