~ This Shall too Pass...~

 How can a man be so fit and fine at this age “ A beam of thought hit me hard – for he was matching his steps with the young , as I evening walked beside him – a smile on his face is all that mattered for him and as there was a stony silence in the aisle, I could hear the sound of music gushing through his ear-buds.

It was time for me to take a break as I had been relentlessly walking for more than an hour – a personal record for myself as today I was in a mood to beat someone – though it came out to be me!

As I started to walk lazily, a sudden pat on my back made me a little attentive and looking back out of surprise I could see Sharma Uncle! Our block’s most vivacious old fellow full of life and still going strong at this ripe age of 80+ - As I greeted him with a smiling “Namaste Uncle”, he quickly said “ how are you young man?, how is life treating you?” .I responded “ All well uncle – life has been pretty kind on me!” , I enquired about his son , who I knew was out of India since a long time – He responded “ Rohit is happily settled in his life and has two kids , I am happily settled in life here with no qualms whatsoever, this is how life works dear!”

I knew the nature of Sharma Uncle, as an adolescent , we were addicted to football and we always had an unexpected visitor on our ground – It was him, as he used to de-board from his chartered bus and always made it a point to share some lovely dribbling techniques with us. He was a master penalty stroke specialist and we knew for sure that if he would strike the end result would be anybody’s guess!

I still remember as kids, once when our football got punctured, it was him and his enthusiasm of the game that he instantaneously paid money and asked one of us to get a new one from the mart nearby - he had not shot his share of goal of the day till then....

He loved sports and had been a sports freak since I had known him – quite often he had organized sports festivals at block level and always encouraged young lads and children to take part in the race!

Till date when you talk to him, his vernaculars are always brimmed with words of sports – “The race of life, be a sport man…. Don’t be second grader, …etc. are his pet words!

As we started to talk about our current situations in life – he started to discuss the situation about pandemic, he was confident that if you stay strong and have a good diet and exercise regularly, corona would turn out to be a damp squib. His enthusiasm which he always wore on his sleeve was always visible…. As he was in a hurry to just complete his set of exercises, he cheered me with his final words followed by an adieu … “Son, always have one idiom in life… “This shall too pass…”… and off he went, racing away from me in his own style…

Today, as I got up, I was greeted by another thesis of life …Sharma uncle had just passed away yesterday night due to a sudden heart attack! I could not believe this news as it was only yesterday evening that I was happily chatting and walking with him… How life can shower with news you won’t believe so easily… He was a good Smartian always full of zeal for life and a heart of gold..…with no apparent medical condition and agile at his age of living, how it could have happened….

As there is always…there are no answers to this quest …while sipping the cup of my morning tea, I reminisced the last words of knowledge from Uncle whilst he bid me good-bye … “Son…this shall too pass…!” I never could decipher at that moment, he had a clairvoyant vision about what is coming his way… he had just announced his inevitable exit from this world in a humorous fashion ..the same way he has always been throughout his life …. Sharma Uncle , you would always be remembered for your love and caring nature towards me... especially your encouragement in playing sports and personifying the game to the game of life….!!!