What the Class Reunion taught me...!!!

What the Class Reunion taught me...

The Back-bencher became a famous doctor in a New York Hospital
The Studios sort became a homemaker.
The Sporty type became a fabulous painter
The Nerd doned the hat of a club level cricketer...
A Science student eventually became a Chartered Accountant.
An Arts student was a VP in a big IT house...
A Commerce student was a top Fashionista...
The Big-Bunker of the class was a top level businessman of the city...


That's Life,!!! With all its conundrums, it bestows its challenges and goodies in an appropriate fashion, it is us who don't condition ourselves to the spectacle of time.
No one would know what you are treading for...your journey is unique to your own self, give life a chance to populate its true nature. As the empirical of time unlocks, you will see the trails it leaves behind with a sense of thoughtfulness!!!

~ Kanwar Uncle - A Pedagogy of Life ~

His long lasting presence around our vicinity did not had a visible effect on me until I realized his feeble walk around our home.

As our conversation broke, we started to confide in our talks about life and its living. I could well decipher that Kanwar uncle (As we know him) had live a life well enriched in its all possibilities. Be it ups and downs, he has been a constant worker all around his life as we have seen him. Living a retired life since two decades, he has been generally hale and hearty with all his domestic commitments post his retirement.

Uncle " What do you think of life as you have lived and what has been your deepest regret out of it?" was my quick question as I met him in our neighborhood park. His thought able reply was " I have no regrets from the Almighty!, he has been so kind to me in his bestowing of all his goodies. All through my life, I have had praises of him and thank him for giving me this opportunity to live an able bodied person at this fag end of my life!". These words expounded a ray of ultimate home and ecstasy in my thinking about what we would be life when we hit upon his age - though considering the kind of life we are leading now a days, It would be quite easy to comprehend if we will ever be able to hit upon this age!

As the conversation further develops he gives his mark of advice " Khush reha karo -  sab achcha hoega, Eh Life teh istraan hi chalegi, kadi upar teh kaddi neeche!" I took this adage of prudence to my subconscious mind and thank him for sharing his thought provoking gesture. I have always believed to talk to elders with all of magnanimity and humbleness as they are the living gods who have lived life with all of their vital experiences and conjectures - the ups and downs of life must have been grilling and how they have defied everything during their journey and still have maintained the positivity of it.

Considering extreme steps nowadays which highly aspirational people take, living with gratitude and thankfulness is all it takes to live life in all its melody.

Many of us have such living personalities around us who are filled till the brim of knowledge and enriching experiences of life, we tend to ignore them of their ways and thinking dispositions, we dont like talking to them and afford to spend our precious time with them. But as time seepage's , you will find yourself sitting on the same melodrama of life waiting for someone to talk to them and spend un-forgetful moments with them.

Thanks Kanwar uncle, today as I write this i see you go pass my home and truly revere your thoughts whilst I start living life in a different perspective.

~ Man with the Silence of Body ~~

The man had an eloquent silence besides his persona. He was travelling with sense of stagnation of body and mind and with a scene not many of us like to be in, not at this time of our life.

As of now, whilst I drive towards my unending destination , the hearse van makes its way towards the cemetery for his final rites, I just reminisce the life the “Unknown Man” must have lived and leaves behind a voluminous part of his thoughts and experiences he had shared with his loving family.

His family members had done the religious chores of what were expected out of them. As he laid in his own world of silence and tranquility, all sorts of people who were looking towards him held him in high esteem. With round of praises as he was raised over a ground to be set to flames, the thought provoking moment was all set for us to reminisce his past!

The man was none other than a body on the pyre to be consigned to the finality of life. The “Agni” tatva which will vanish his body away and only the bones would be the resultant !
With thoughts living besides what all would be left, the final journey as Bhagwat Gita entails would be taken alone, no family, no friends and acquaintances, the hard but true fact of life would come in everyone’s lifetime. As time would have it, the anonymity of the “Man” was no cause of concern to everyone who saw him go in the hearse van, the folding of  hands lead them believe in the presence of harsh truth one has to face , now it is not the moment for the alive, but one day it would certainly be!

The pyre is the last and final wish from the physical world one can have whilst he is alive, what happens next is all talk of various religions and faith. Though the belief in the fact that the Man would again be brought back to life, though in different world and physical form cannot be simply rejected.

The magnanimity of life is all it is – live at the moment of joy and thankfulness , be so, as time is the beauty which shall slip your life away one day and the next folding hands would be for you in all praise of what you did the whole of it!

~ A watchful Eye~

Sitting at a composure, the anonymity of his eyes was befalling the spectacle of the ordinary world as he saw. He was as maimed in his stance as one has fulfilled his worldly life and is now ready to depart. His sole backrest was a metro pillar and his cushion was a gifted pillow. He qualified to be a mendicant but he was not! When inquired about his worldly name and title, he juxtaposed the two and replied "Ravi" and he was once a small time road peddler. Now that he is of no use to the society - as per his evaluation of himself, he chose to time-pass the last legacy of his life. A thoughtful prudence led us to believe that he was a an educated lot which made him stand alone from rest of the types in his vicinity. The cruel justice of time made him the man he was today. Having a wife and two kids was all he showered his love on, but an unfortunate event stole it all away.

He still believes in the tapestry of destiny as he himself has been been a prime witness to the same. Observing the rush hour without a blink of eyes, he judges the drama of life and the running around on the roads. His last call at humanity makes us believe the wisdom he has acquired whilst he led a depthful life. "Everything is prematurely destined, you are all puppets of circumstances and events of time, let the time unfold its character, you shall have to wait and see what happens to you!" Alas, the man with such wisdom is negated by society as materialism is what is weighted in a man's character.

For me, he is a living persona of life lived with judgement and prudence of thoughts and actions. 

Sanjay ~ A confluence of education and failure of it...

I see him in the morning , drenched in his thoughts about his life and what he has made out of it or may be what the society or system has given him.

Getting up at 5 a.m the zeal takes him to work - of a garbage collector of our block and the duty which is of utmost urgency and the need of the hour for everyone in our vicinity.

Nobody gives him a patient hearing and he treads in his thoughts home after home and arranges his collection in pristine beauty. He becomes the most sought after man in the morning in equivalence to our newspaper vendor and our housemaid. A general chit-chat educates me more about his situation and the need of him doing his job, which he does with alacrity. "No job is menial" is his motto and it is only the respect of time which makes or breaks a man" is his true ideal motto of life.He takes his responsibility with aplomb and with a dignified way. Getting free only by mid afternoon, the luncheon is a pair of snacks which he has earned from his monthly salary - a majority of it is shipped back home to support a family. Evenings are loitered around in search of better possibilities and reading a light novel.

As I break ice with him on his background i got to know that he is an arts graduate from a remote town in Bihar and aspired to be a IAS, but as destiny had its way, his personal responsibilities took him to lead a life which he never thought of!

He has no complaints from life and GOD and always is in thankful mode , for he knows that there could have been worst and that he is seen it. The only askance from him towards me is to help him find another job which he could do to his educational abilities....

Till then, my friend Sanjay is the teacher with me ....for he teaches me the most beautiful subject of everyday living..."Life".....

An Extempore Morning Tea Cuppa..!!!

An Extempore Morning Tea Cuppa..!!!

We call her "Didi", her effervescence is pitching. You venture out with all your zeal to just have a tête-à-tête. The tea she prepares has sweetness of a relationship she carries with you. Not to forget the occasional mouthwatering snacks that she prepares and sells. The aplomb she carries gets dissolved into your disposition. Start a talk with her and her ever smiling face will give you hope of positivity. Life must not have been fair to her, but she keeps it aside for what she went to. Working with that Midas touch with one hand (the other being partially amputated) she carries the majestic aura to the envious of the well earning. A small dilapidated Tea stall does magic to your eternal self, what a start with the day .... Combined with that noble hug energizes you to the core. Bless you with all our thoughts Didi and keep up the flags high with us to emulate specially those odd days in your life! You can have a glimpse of her entrepreneurial succor Infront of Gulf Adiba building, Phase 2,Udyog Vihar, Gurugram.

~ The Uncle he was...~

whilst most of all are existing, there are few who are living this wonderful life and obeying what has been told to them by the consciousness!

Quite recently on my brisk walking contours near a park adjacent to my home, I befriended my senior friend who has been living a simple and quite life and is a regular in the park since time immemorial. A simple "Namaste" lead me to believe that he was quite lonely and wanted a companion to share his enormous wealth of experience he has earned. After quite a few meetings, I was honored to be called at his home - having exchanged the addresses, a meeting was fixed to be his pristine quest for the evening chit-chat.

The Curiosity in me lead me to take a stroll around his dilapidated dwelling, to my amazement, the Octogenarian was at his witty best. Having seen me to the core, he instantaneously recognized me and approached me for a cuppa Tea.The beverage which I like so much became the catalyst point for me to enter his one room set "Home" and he was quick to start preparation for cup of Tea.

Talks unfolded and we started to know each other better in lieu of killing time, which we both had to enormous proportions - for me being a Saturday and for him every day is a holiday as he is living a retired life.

With each passing second, we started to know each other better and it was then i first was introduced to his name " Narender Gill". He had served the armed forces for almost 35 years and retired as a colonel. He had vast talking’s regarding his life experiences and his postings in the armed forces at distant places.

But a sudden numbness of time felt when we started to talk about family and his personal life - as to why such a decorated soldier was living the way he was living. to my amazement, Gill uncle was shattered beyond his nadir as he started to talk about his only son and what life has offered to him on the second phase of it!

Though well settled in USA , the son had abandoned his father as he delved into the material life of the sought after. Mr Gill's wife had already passed away and he was the lonely soul on this part of the planet. He proudly started to talk about his medallions and other accomplishments which he had obtained during his tenure in the Armed forces. I again bought the personal life topic to the fore, he was reluctant to talk about that aspect of life what he once termed as failure!

His liveliness and single-handed devotion to life this stage is a source of inspiration for almost all of the locality - a fact I gauged when I saw almost everyone wished him as he en route to park.

The only thing i wondered was what might have led to the situation Mr Gill has found himself in? why was he abandoned by his only son? As a new-found friend I see him lively, booming with life at 80+ age (Most of us will not attain that, considering the life we are living by!).

As the deep thoughts engrossed me, I walked out wishing him good evening and with a promise to see him next day in the park.

This wish of mine was brought to the zilch as in the next morning i heard the sad news of his passing away in sleep. Call it a vicissitudes of life, i will always admire the experiences he shared with him in such a short duration of our friendship.

All i wish for him is that he rests in peace up there showering his magnificence as he did on Earth!

The 'Gas fitter'

Living his past and memories of years lived by,the man juxtaposed his self esteem as equivalent to his right to live with dignity. 'Mr Bhatia' as he would like to be called is a septuagenarian with about 30 years of work experience in fitting the odds - From Pressure Cookers to Gas Stoves, to lighters and other kitchen sundries , Mr Bhatia does it with aplomb and with full dedication.

Starting of his task with great enthusiasm,he charged himself up to full tune and started open the nuts with his feeble hands. Limited with a bottleneck of sight, Mr Bhatia closely observed the stove with his weary eyes giving him limited vision. After about spending considerable amount of time he was able to open the knobs of Gas Stove. Sensing success, he quickly changed the required Stove parts and was quick in reassembling them to close his day for a quick lunch break.

Rightly demanding his effort fee,he was dully compensated for all of his hard work at this age, the stage was set for quick round of inquisitive questions in my mind.

Uncle what is your age?

Beta my age is almost 75.

How long have you been doing this work?

It is almost 30 years that i am repairing kitchen sundries.

Are you satisfied with what you are earning or with what you do, I asked out of inquisition.

Yes- I thank GOD for ALL of his gifts which he has bestowed on me.I have a good family, Two sons who are well settled - one of them abroad.My wife is hale and hearty and in good stead.I have  my own house and in good health standards at this age.

I dont want anything from the Almighty nor I have ever asked for anything superficially or in my instincts!

All my inquisition was laid to rest and in dire times when everyone is after material objects, I meet a real hard-worker with semblance of living life to the earnest with all his honesty and in solitude of God.

~ Tapestry of Living ~

~ Life Vignettes ~

Tapestry of living...

Sitting in the solitude of time, the lonely man looks intriguing to the eyes. His regular visits to the park on specific timelines sound like a prelude to the life he has lived. He has a specific set of tasks which he seeks to accomplish not before sitting on his favorite bench. Stashed with salt and pepper look visible via his beard and hair , his mysterious eyes look frowned with questionable existence - he wants his answers to the life's vignettes lived with aplomb and sarcastic parlance.

"Baba" as me and my children call him, the inquisitive glance sounds captivating when he looks at us.

Life throws challenges every now and then and some walk through whilst others get sidelined. The rigmarole of daily happenings can be gruesome for many like "Baba". His bets on life may have shattered his dreams of existence. Though able bodied, he just sits for a gravity of time and vanishes post dusk, to begin a new day.

His aura seems to be in shambles, so are his clothes but his disposition is catchy to the eye. What he does the whole day sitting in the bench could be an absorbing thought.

The perils of life might have taken him up, but he does have zeal to live it with dignity - not bowing for alms but brining his own food - both for stomach and thought!

Having courage to approach him seems to be distant as of time but who knows what befalls for the future, We, as all souls connected via strings of space and time can infer commonality at some point of existence.

Till then, let me observe my "Intriguing Man" and absorb his majestic living on the bench of his thoughts!

~The Blind with the Eyes~

~ Life Vignettes ~

~The Blind with the Eyes~

His grit was well entrenched in his actions of living a life of self respect and audition...

He stood to be a perfect example of showcase of ones self esteem against all odds and infirmities of body but certainly NOT Mind. "Ram Prakash" was his name to be and what I heard when he passed by whilst he uttered the Godly Name himself "Ram Ram"...

His lonely voice was well understood to showcase a life of uncertainty he has been living at this age.

As a perfect example of what life can offer during one's living,he uninterruptedly went passed by into the aisle of furniture shops serving common man's beverage - "Chai" to his solicited customers every day .

Though myself on a shopping spree near my home, I was dumbstruck at Ram Prakash's astuteness and self esteem of earning his living on his own terms and not succumbing to the fortitude of destiny!

Visual Impairment was not a impediment in his life's due course, he walked with almost perfection with the eyes!

Shouted one Shopkeeper who was well off with a huge showroom - with a sense of pride and ego in Punjabi "koi Idhiyan Aakhan koi lagwa Deyo" (Someone please have his eyes fixed) , the thought arose - what was the need of spelling these touchy words if you cannot do a bit of favor to his ongoing predicament.

He went off after giving the shopkeeper his daily cuppa and waited patiently on his next stoppage offering "Chai" to his customer ! The firmness in his stance and his astute character made me sit down and watch his demeanor with eclectic glance , he was my live role model who gave me a teaching to be on a continuous roller coaster tread called "Life" be whatever comes your way...

With dilapidation of his life came the happiness of still being worthy of a living at his own terms and not obliging to beggary which was the most easiest way out....

He became my life's another teaching and is now my role model to emulate how to life with humility against all of our egoistic aspirations and wants ...life could be defying at any time of your stay here. thanks and be pride-less for tomorrow could just be another day full of challenges which you have to obliterate !!!

~The Beggar HE was not ~

Passing by I observed a frail looking man with all of his qualifications to be a mendicant with a virtue of poverty – yes I say virtue of poverty for what he proved to me was his outright resistance to alms which are being offered in consonance with his decrepit situation!

Into his mid 40’s, the gentleman stood in front of a temple of worship – maybe his anger with God was the sole condition of his gesture – People passed by offering to give alms to this unique juxtaposition but to no avail, the “Beggar” was hell bent not to take goodies which people were offering him – to shed their inhibitions about GOD!

In India people visits temples of worship and do their share of humanity for a pacifying God’s existence in their thoughts and beings – having done so, they generally shed the burden of the wrongs they have done in their near past (forget about the entire lifetime they have lived on this planet!). The Mercy can beguile them to believe that their bit is done.

With all correctness, the urban hermit started to tread an unequivocal path of buying his own food whilst many had a starred look! How often would you see a beggar buying his own food with the invisible money he has sought? With all righteousness and ability of thought and action, he percolated the regular stance of all of us and that is, he might ask for money if not fruits and other disposable food items which we generally tend to give to them in lieu of seeking GOD’s solace!

An old gentleman oblivious to the fact of true character of this new age hermit starts to chat with him, with an intent to make him believe and accept the “Goodies” he has brought from his marvel. The situation remains grim and acclimatized to all of our acceptances, the end result is the same.

With a gluing look the Beggar blabbers – I am not a Beggar you all think BUT “It is time that has made me come to this compromise of life!”. All of my family members have discarded the notion that I was a husband to my wife, a father to my two lovely kids and a son to my Ageing parents!

No one dare asked him the reason for his penury and a situation --- by the time any one had the guts to approach and unlock this mystery of self-proclamation , the guy started to walk gently and never looked by –  I am in awe with the time when he would meet me again at the same temple I so often visit and bow, till then The Mystery just continues and enchants us all with its own altered ways of time !