~Tomorrow Never Dies …~

What would you do when you talk to someone close on phone who resides outside Delhi – talking about life and its uncertain nature – asking about general well- being about each other and our families. Today, I got a call that "Shishir” our close one is no more and had just passed away midnight after a massive heart attack – believe me, I freezed up , hearing this from a voice from other side of the phone… what is going on in this world ? So much uncertainty around? don’t know who will live tomorrow and who would not!

Just three days back I had received a surprise call from Shishir bhaiya and he was at his cheerful best – the talk of his daily routine and roaming around in the streets of Rishikesh, specially his spiritual journeys on the upscale hermitage of Rishikesh captivated me always.

Closing my eyes , I seriously questioned the making of this world and how the grand design is working = I strongly say today that God or that Higher Spirit has kept to himself two serious stances, one- when will go from this world – the timing , the place and the way, really don’t know. The second one is even more intriguing – who owns and runs the show? Since yesterday, when I have heard the news of sudden passing way of a gentleman in his own sense, a guy vivacious enough to uplift your spirits be whatever mood you are in , I have not been able to keep my thoughts of him! He leaves behind heaps of fond memories which we both shared – some lessons of life which I learnt and still practice.

Just the other day talking the sensitivity of corona, he echoed “ We have to be mindful of the circumstances but I am sure we will win over it soon! Humanity has always won the race against time…!”

His optimism was always worth an emulate – no one could match it – I remember when he was struggling through his business but still had the same optimism – “Life is full of strange occurrences, which can happen anytime!” – this was always his favorite ripple and he proved it till the end…

He has surely set an example for all of us to live life with great depth – whatever you had been postponing has to be prompted, the “Soirees” have to be organized, the shames have to be initialized … don’t be afraid to apologize or call your dearest friend with whom you were greatly involved at one stage of life but have lost touch!

The time silently ticks – it can trick you the next second – as a humorous saying is going rounds in the virtual world “None of us are leaving this place Alive! 😊” so it is time to fill your glass of life till the brim…with hopes and far reaching expectations that tomorrow will again be a beautiful day to cherish...the hopes for a beautiful tomorrow will never die and it shouldn't either ….till then cast your doubts and shadows to the Unknown for he knows how to pet you for the next day …!!!

~ She...~

She gets up early morning as a routine, free from her daily chores, she dedicates herself to the family as a responsibility – an attitude she carries which is an unending race of life…

Her intangible dedication is taken for granted by most of us – whether she works the whole day or not, it is always her prerogative to be doing nitty-gritty of her household chores, she could be a central figure of the family but is not reminded so! Always on the edge, she takes her responsibility with aplomb – she is expected to perform her duties without a break – back to back grilling herself and keeping in mind that everyone gets his/her wish fulfilled…

This invisible worker has been a constant source of inspiration for many of us , since long she has been working silently to cater to everyone needs – now that she has come to limelight as we work in the confines of our homes, we see her tending to her duties tirelessly and without taking a break…

She dons the hat of a mother, wife and daughter simultaneously – she is the woman of today. Sometimes she takes the role of a mother, sometime as a wife and at other times she is a daughter, but she is the salaried -less dedicated worker in your house!

Now that covid has struck, she has changed her role to be work from home woman – she is an equal partner in many conglomerates and works in tandem with her male counterparts contributing with equal fervor to the envy of many. She is a foreseeable challenge to the male bastion once she gets out and gives her usual best to the surprise of all…

Sometimes she is an uber driver just arrived at your door to lead you through your destination, at others she is the fighter pilot guarding the skies with her grit and challenging an unknown enemy! She is a covid warrior and is saving the lives by putting on her doctor apron- leaving her family behind and working nonstop in life threatening conditions. She is guardian to many in the solitude of an ICU- what we call a ‘Nurse’ – she is the small family of the patient who is cared upon by her unending night walks. 

She also is the same guardian at the borders, protecting our motherland whilst we sleep as dead, only to find the borders safe in the morning. You find her as a steward serving you in the skies and keeps you at comfort with her lovely smile…

She is the defendant of the family when it comes to crises, she is soft-hearted when it comes to love and care. She has been there around us caressing our every need. Her unbiased love is the dashing charm we live life for... 

She has been around you from the day you were born, she will always be with you with different roles of life and relationships. She was yesterday, she will be today and tomorrow…respect her for what she is She is…

She is the woman of today… Our life ..Our world…. Without her, we are half of what we are with her!

~ The Daily Shout... "Kuda Hai?"...~

 “Sir, It is important that I work every day , for I have to feed a family of 6, else we will all starve to death!” , with closed hands these words were echoed by a man who does a very menial job in his – ‘Menial’ as he is a garbage collector and goes home to home with his conspicuous white sack on his shoulder.

He comes dot by 9 a.m. with a flurry of street vendors who flock our block – some selling vegetables, some coconut while others are busy picking up scrap… the morning saga for most of Delhi colonies remains the same… here I deliberately skipped mentioning our block watchman – who is always neatly attired and boasts of his physicality and shuns wearing a mask as he boastfully tells “ Sir – I cannot wear the mask for long, it gives me suffocating feeling!”

Coming back to why I am writing this , ‘Sanjay’ comes everyday with his gassy smile on his face whilst he knocks at the doorbell and asks for previous day’s garbage! He has been doing this work since a decade and has had a few medallion up his sleeve – that is what he tells me when I asked “ Till when you want to do this work? Don’t you want to set yourself in something more respectable? He chuckles and says  “ Sir, through this work, I have bought a small janta flat back in my hometown and here in Delhi, I have bought a small jhuggi (Shanty) for my family – more so his eyes sprinkle when he shows me his cycle-rickshaw that he recently purchase through is hard work. These are the possibilities which make him cling to this work, though he certainly does not want his two sons to dive into this ‘Profession’ and is making them study in a semi-public school.

I asked him “Are you not scared of this pandemic – his practical answer made me keep quite and venture into a thought-provoking mode – “Bhaiya, we all will die If I wont step out and start working. We have negligible savings and I have to send money back home to my ailing father!” He had a clear-cut thought in his mind, come what may, he has to stay safe as well but he has to work daily to cater to his family requirements. There are a zillion Sanjay’s in the streets today , wanting work, having their own perils of life, struggling to make ends meet, sleeping under the open sky, going hungry and what not – life certainly has not been kind to them – they need a little helping hand to bolster their self-esteem- I thought!

Today, in these uncertain times, when you never know what can happen to you our your family, the fragility of life is inevitable and have made many of us in depressive state – never in our near past we have been a witness to the payback and atrocities of nature on humankind. All we can do in our limited spere is to provide a helping hand and words of comfort and optimism to the deprived, for they need this at this juncture of life – They are ready to fight for their existence – as my mind precariously thinks about Sanjay at this wee hour of the day with all the silence of the world around me – I hope and silently pray for him to be hale and hearty and may I see him tomorrow with the same smile and enthusiasm with which he rings the bell and speaks his keystone words “ Kuda Hai ! ( Do you have Garbage?….) till then …Look out  for your own Sanjay's… !

~ A Viral Kiss…~

In the erstwhile silence of the night, as I jot these words, I am constantly being reminded by my thoughts about a friend who called sometime back and uttered “ Oxygen level 87 and 100 fever for past 2 days…What should I do?” The next obvious answer from my side was “Gosh, immediately go for a Covid test and if possible, arrange an oxygen cylinder and in worst case scenario – be prepared to be admitted to a hospital!”

Though my utterings were high pitched, I soon realized my folly and took the talk on another subject. It was my soft way of apologizing but after a quick second I again asked him the question “why didn’t he go for the test earlier? What stopped him.”

Though he was restless, but he presented himself in a calm fashion and said “I had gone to two testing center’s yesterday but the queue made me nervous and I came back . I also tried some numbers of labs who were doing tests at home but again there too I was confronted with a serpentine queue. I have no choice but to wait for my turn to come – I have isolated myself at best as I can – having an old father, wife and an adolescent daughter, I cannot take any chances but it is sheer bad-luck that I got infected for no fault of mine…he started to repent the day when he didn’t stopped the maid to start working in his dwelling, knowingly fully well that covid cases had started to rise….

As I have had my kiss with virus, I could only console him and suggest him homely remedies which came out as effective – steam and gargle was on the top of the list, followed by vitamin tablets… to which my friend was quite receptive as he had already started to implement these domesticated measures.

Soon, our talks turned into morbid humor, citing the situation we were stuck in, there seems to be a vicious circle which life was bestowing on us and it was a tough situation to come out of it. You have to be your own senile doctor and need to follow what your mind said at this situation – the more people you will talk with , the more varied set of advice  you would be given – which to heed would become your common sense.

The cerebral mind was constantly nudging me towards the uncertainty of times that we have started to live – never before in our living stance our generation had been a witness to such upheaves of life – we had only read in our textbooks regarding the pandemics and global wars and economic disastrous but now that we are going through the predicament, we can well imagine that how humanity has sailed through the rigor of life.

Albeit with the situation he was in, I just tried to help him by setting him into a positive state of mind, time will change everything , for sure this is the only mantra I work on -  nothing in this world is constant and it keeps on changing , though silently. A true observer cannot obfuscate this eternal truth –

I turned a little spirito-philosophical to send positive waves to my noble friend. The trick had started to work upon him and whilst we exchange goodbye’s , I could sense that there was a somewhat optimistic man on the other side of the phone and that he would be strong enough to negate and win over his situation in one or two weeks’ time – till then I would certainly wait for his din and silently pray and hope that he is able to cope up with his tough time...!!!

~ Gone with the Wind...~

The inevitability of death should make us ponder on the grand design of this universe. Today watching the situation prevalent in our country made me think about the Guinea pigs that we all are – at the mercy of our destiny and someone sitting up there who has designed our plans and our life with a limited amount of time. We don’t really know when time is up for us. An evening call from a friend made me think over at this mercy of that power on us – Avinash’s father is no more today , just a few days back, he and his father used to take the after meal strolls in the evening discussing grandeur plans of his shop that he had just opened in a central mart in Delhi. His father had a rigorous morning regimen, he started with his daily exercises, followed by a health drink and then start up his daily chores…having worked in a government organisation, he kept to his regimen and was a disciplined soul.

As he called, the fragility of his voice was an indication of something devastating which had happened to him, for he has been my childhood friend and have been in touch since he has left our vicinity but thanks to the onset of mobile and net, we are in touch ever since!

He continued “ Papa is no more, he was hale and hearty with no prior medical condition… just the other day we were discussing our plans to expand our store which we had opened in January, seeing robust sales , we were happy that things are taking shape, and then see what happened!”

I paid my dues condolences for the departed as I know uncle as a happy-go-lucky chap but never thought that he would go in a flick of a second as was told by Avinash.

He further continued “Papa had his morning exercise and then had his glass of juice and suddenly felt the discomfort in his heart – I rushed him to the nearby clinic for primary first aid and there he just collapsed…. The doctor pronounced him dead … I could not believe that a man who was just speaking to me just a few minutes back had ditched life … he just went voiceless… never to return… his eyes closed, and his lifeless body was in my arms… All the jerks and cries just fell on deaf ears… as nobody was listening… the voice which I always heard as a reprimand or of love was never to be heard again…

He continued…”After this sudden life changing incidence, I can only think that we are timebound souls in this ephemeral world, seeing the situation around me now, the call of “Your time is up!” can come anytime , anyplace, so be prepared!”

I could not speak a word beyond what Avinash had just spoken of as it was indeed a traumatic experience of life which he just underwent. I did empathized his predicament with that of others who are struggling to save their near and dear ones from jaws of inevitable death, citing the dragon of covid which has wreaked havoc on us . But the important silver lining in this whole episode was a beautiful message that turned out to be a learning for me … 

“ Believe in the power of the invisible, it is not you who is shaping your life, it is something intangible – call it any name but for sure, it is there and seeing you , observing your behavior and counting on your goodness or bad deeds of daily living… for on the day of judgement it would always be between you and him and nobody else…today it is Avinash, tomorrow it could be anyone of us…in between live at his mercy and rejoice your living to the fullest!

~ Woh Hai Na...~

 Human is indeed a social animal and cannot limit itself to the confines of his home or of his mind. We are designed to vent out and explore the possibilities of the world and in doing so experience and learn from our mistakes! The current situation we all are living is certainly making us endure the hardships and testing time life is offering us – keeping a bold facet to confront these possible times is arduous but manageable.

It is with these thoughts that I was speaking to my neighbor and friend who abruptly called me up – in a hasty voice he said “ Sanjeevji – Me , My wife and Kid is having high fever since 2 days and could you please help!” Hearing this a volley of questions along with anxiety but at the same time the first thing I told him was “Don’t worry – you will be alright in few days, have faith in God – Woh Hai Na…”

Hearing this he got into his calm and asked me if I can bring to him some of the essentialities of day to day as he has restricted himself from going outside. Believe me after I had made him assured him and his getting better and eventually getting out of this predicament, he felt a degree of peace within him.

I quickly prepared myself with all the paraphernalia which is required at this time to venture out in the mart to buy for him his essentialities. Having done so, I called him up in due course and told him to collect the groceries from a place where I had kept him.

He was thankful but he told me a very interesting experience after our first call – “ Sanjeevji, since my last call and after hearing those words which you told me – Don’t worry …”Woh Hai Ha…” had a magnificent adrenaline rush in my body – suddenly I felt that I have been recognized and accepted by God’s will and have slightly felt better…!!! There has been a miniscule fall in the temperature and that too without medicine…. Thanks a lot for all of your kind words of encouragement ….”

Hearing this , I went into my trance and started thinking about the morning event which corroborated the power of thought and ultimately the existence of a higher self….” 

In the entire universe, even if there is one soul who holds your hand and tells you these golden words “ “Woh Hai Na….don’t worry , you will be alright!” – your aching bones, your heart breaks would get an adrenaline rush – you will feel the re-emergence of your lost zeal to live, your confidence and your dignity of life…. There is someone who is there for you to help you tread the difficulties of life who holds your hand in any eventuality and give you hopes to fight these unwarranted times…hospital , broken relationships, debt, job…be whatever is your worry…hearing these words and more so, having faith in its meaning will give you your boost to rise and start afresh!

Today I am a live example of belief in the power of positive attitude and thinking – It is the cheapest and the costliest medicine in the world…. Cheapest because many a time people don’t recognize the value of such people around you… and costliest because many souls don’t have people around them who at their time of difficulty give them comfort and assurance of these golden words…

This life which we all are living will give us many challenges as a test of time…all we need is to seek refuge and company of people who can give back a strong assurance of you enduring the test of life…. Once you emerge from it, you yourself become the carrier of this phenomenon…because HE has chosen you to be one…as “Woh Hai Na…”!!!!

~ Regrets of a lifetime…~

As each day is passing, we are moving one step forward towards our death , the end of our present existence as you are by your name, family and relationship in society – for that will never be repeated for ever again!

Today, I write about the top regrets of people who have surpassed their age and are almost on the verge of exiting this world. Quite recently, I had the fortune of meeting a lady who paid us a visit just to give us a surprise – though she did this quite reluctantly as due to the current pandemic, she was herself quiet cagey of the precarious times we are living by! On a tea cuppa, we all sat together and started to chat and soon went into a mode of reminiscing our past – thinking of those who have left us behind, the goodness they had, the style of life they lived and all the other sundry topics which one could have aimed and chatted in due course of a meeting.

Out of nowhere a question came to my mind and in no time I popped the same abruptly during our discussion. I asked “Aunty what has been the best moments of your life and what has been your top regrets!”

Sejwal Aunty – as she has been popularly nicknamed by my family ever since I have got to know her, went into her ecstatic best and with a wicked smile told us “ It was when I wore the bridal dress for my marriage and the honeymoon time 😊, which I still cherish sometimes, though your uncle is no more in this world but he has left the memories as my everlasting companion!. She paused and then suddenly started to speak – “Also , the birth of my son was another proud moment – suddenly you felt responsible out of nowhere – his growing up years were moments to watch and that time which I spend was admirable though tough!”

After a brief dud moment, I reminded Sejwal aunty about the second important question “What has been your top regrets in life.” The second question made her think for some time whilst I stared at her expecting some interesting answers from a lady in her 70’s who has globetrotted and has seen every leaps and troughs of life!

Her mood became sombre as she started to speak – “ My top regret in life was that I could not worked after marriage – I did my Msc in Chemistry and wanted to pursue a career as a researcher but as luck would have it , I got married and had to stop chasing my dreams of becoming one!

The second more profound regret was that I lost touch with my childhood friends and didn’t bother to chase them up whilst I shifted my base from Chandigarh to Delhi, though I used to go to my hometown but never thought of meeting them blaming lack of time as an excuse.

Another heavy regret I had is that I didn’t spend much time with my parents as I always was busy doing my own things and didn’t bother to sit with them and spend quality moments with them. Suddenly , the time passed and I grew up to be a woman and it was time to get settled via the family life which I did . It was only when my son was born and when he grew up to be a young man and I wanted him to be beside me for some precious moments of my life , I realized he had no time for me and he was on the same path as I was in my adolescent years !”

Finally, she cheered up and said “ the last sweet regret was that I wanted to die before my husband and didn’t wanted to live in the dogma of lonely figure passing her time in an aimless life!”

I kept on hearing Sejwal Aunty patiently – every word that she spoke of was filled with the brim of wisdom!

The regrets made much sense to me as many of us are on the same path as she spoke of – there would come a time when we would realize and of course regret the cost we paid to earn our pedestal in society and when we will look back and see the steps below through which we prodded, we will find our missing friends, our parents and those fiery moments which held us up in pride!

I profusely thanked Sejwal Aunty to share her inner emotions and took in my stride every word which she uttered knowingly so that one day I would be of her age and someone quite younger to me would pop me the same question “ Sanjeev Uncle – what has been your greatest regrets in life?” – to which I have to prepare from now on with many changes - each one of us should prepare to give to our next generation a satisfactory answer to this life-end question!

~ 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….!!!

~ Human Being to Being Human… ~

There is a big cardinal difference between a human being and being human. Your day to day conduct and behavior of situations and handling them transpires on your character and individuality. During the day and also in your life, there are ample situations and scenarios which occur in front of you where there is a demand for you to turn a human.

A small incidence in your life can change the course of it – its entirety can dissuade your spirit and you can blame yourself to the cause of the happening. I get these thoughts as I get to talk to a soul who blamed himself for the sad predicament and an eventual loss of a life. The two friends binged on beer whilst they met after a long time as they were home isolated due to the current scenario. Their joy knew no bounds and travelling through a reckless pass in the solitude of Himalayas, their car ditched them and fell into a ravine – as luck would have it , my friend Manoj though got admitted to the local hospital but his dear other half Kishore lost his life. After two weeks of medical care, eventually Manoj came back to his home in Delhi, but the memories of that fateful day could not get over him. The sudden night hauls and insomnia took over him and he went into depression – that one event had changed his composure to a 360-degree turn.

He drilled down those last moments and even started to curse them for why at the heat of the moment they drank too much and drove to the treacherous roads in the upscale mountains. These thoughts perplexed him, and he suddenly made a big decision – to never drink and also started to campaign in the name of the lost soul – his thinking changed drastically – the long phone calls and repeated talks of that fateful moment made him sad and resentful – “ I wish , I would not have gone for that excursions and not have over indulged myself in drinking!”. The sobs continued but the vent out made him look at life in an altogether different perspective. He has become reticent and humbled with the power of the invisible or destiny as what you call it! “It is all pervasive and it will occur when the time is ripe – you cant change or ignore it” , these words of wisdom has made Manoj humane enough , though he thinks he has paid a heavy price for it!

The other day, he rang me up and vociferously spoke about an online teaching campaign free of cost for the downtrodden kids – the response has been phenomenal for him and his spirits have got enlightened – all in the name of his friend! The other day I jokingly told Manoj – it took a life for you to come to the right track – the drunkard is fast changing into a thinking soul! The best part of this whole incidence has a sweet culmination – the proceeds from his latest endeavor is directly being transferred to Kishore’s ageing parent’s account. Though nothing can fulfill the void – Kishore’s parents have slowly moved on with life but Manoj’s regular visit to his friend’s house must be a cool comfort for the septuagenarians.

To end this note of thought, as yesterday I was chit-chatting with Manoj, the discussion went into the futuristic plans of him to launch a website and may be a foundation for his friend – I surely know that Manoj has not got over this incidence and deep inside he is reluctant to admit and acknowledge that he was the triggering point of this fateful event – All I said to compose him was “ God has his own ways to showcase his presence, sometimes the event is far bigger than all of us can imagine or think – though every event has a silver lining, and for this it was “ You becoming  ‘Being human’ from just a Human being was one!           

~ A Ragpicker's Saga...~

She sits on the pavement and watches the world move; she is also amongst us but with a different tone attuned to life of misery and no pelf. Her appearance of dilapidation surely gives a thought about the quality of life she is living. She was along sitting near a closed shop, the dark night with twinkling stars had just ended and dawn was on its way. The moonlight was showcasing its presence and all I could see was a frail woman meekly sipping a cup of tea which a street hawker had just made for her as a first customer. From the appearance, she looked like a ragpicker – a fact which was later proved when I saw the huge white sack lying next to her.

She had one faithful companion – a street dog, who seems to be sitting with her and occasionally used to jump over her – quite unlike a behavior which these canines portray on seeing such a diluted figure. She was quite mindful of her presence and frequently was looking here and there as if she was afraid of someone. Then suddenly she had an eye-to-eye contact with me as I was watching her closely for a few minutes gone-by. I was also on my morning halt (it was pristine early morning with clock ticking its way through 5:00 a.m.) and was basking in its midst of silence and clean air – I could smell the newness of the air I was inhaling.

After a few minutes, the lady started to wave hands and started to call in her own regional dialects – I mistook it to be a call for myself but suddenly was stopped of being stupefied when I saw her pals – a group of 4-5 street urchins with their white garbage bags approaching and hugging her lovingly. The laugh was all that was that captivated my eyes and my senses. It seems to me that she was being greeted by her familial ties – I rightly assumed that she was mother of 3 small kids – all of age between 10 to 12 years who have been pushed into penury by their life circumstances and were accorded this task. What I was missing was the presence of her husband, though I could closely observe the vermillion on her forehead – a visible sign of married woman in India.

As the family met, I could see the gala event – they all seemed to have forgotten their circumstances and started to peep and look into each other sacks, as if they were expecting gold out of it or the morning prized catch.  How beautiful that small incidence was, the kids started to play amongst themselves quite unmindful of the fact of being looked by me and alike! They seem to be living in perfect harmony of family sans the big and costly toys that their mother could not have afforded – leave alone going to a school, a basic human right ingrained in our constitution!

Their cheerful stance was a sight to be looked at again and again – soon the first rays of the sun started to cover the skies overhead and there was more light, the family seemed to be getting prepared for their next round of work , don’t know what it was but for sure, they had to dump their prized possessions to a safe pit for which they would get their daily wage – the source of their daily income.

As I stayed in my own thoughts, sipping through the cup of tea, the nomads just started to fade away from my sight and soon a time came that I was not able to see them. Time changes quickly, and it was my time to move on and start my day with a little marvel which I witnessed that will be amassed in my memory for a long time!

~ Mir Chand - An unexpected Encounter...~

Life makes you meet the unexpected. All you need to do is to keep your eyes and ears open and there would be signs everywhere that will give you your daily dose of learnings. One such incidence I write today made me almost bet on the existence of ‘Faith in the Almighty’ – Now that I am wording my thoughts past midnight I am still in remembrance of an autorickshaw driver I recently quite accidently met during my annual religious sojourn.

His quite demeanor and his acceptance of situations of life made me carry towards him and in just ten odd minutes that I took a ride with him we shared the world and the real life’s meanings! His name was Mir Chand and he was as polite in his speech as his appearance.

Whilst I was lookout for a means of transport, probably an autorickshaw  which is most common at a place I was travelling, I went towards a serpentine queue of auto’s ready to pick up customers as they arrived one by one – the rule being that once an auto is hired, the next one gets its turn. Whilst my turn came and I started to bargain about fare from this gentleman, he quite subtly told me the fare per person. To which I replied “Sir, you are charging much, we are five people and it will cost us much!”

He smiled a little and replied with equal verdict “ Sir, I will not charge even a single pie extra – you can please have a look at the government rates which have been allocated to us auto drivers per sitting.”

I turned my head and he was right – he was charging Rs 50 per customer as was mentioned on the big hoarding as a government order. I felt defeated and humbled – my argument stood no point. He smiled and we all five accommodated ourselves in his auto to start our quick journey.  

In the midst I started the conversation by asking his name. He replied with a humbled tone “Mir Chand”. Now that I had found the title, I asked him “Mir Chand Ji, how are things now here, now that tourists have started to flock this place.”

He laughed silently and replied “Sir, I have been standing here since 11 a.m. in the morning and now it is 3:30 p.m. – you are being my first customer and all I will earn is Rs 250. The situation is grim, and things have not improved since last year due to Covid. Everyday is a struggle for us!”

The manner in which he told me his predicament made me his fan – how can one tell his sordid tale in a subtle manner  here I was communicating with a man who has been waiting for 4.5 hours in a queue for his turn and telling me his sorry state of things with a laugh and a composure. He was not in a hurry and was totally comatose and had resigned himself to the situation he was living BUT was doing his Karma with aplomb and honesty – with all dignity of labour!

I chatted thus “Mir Chand ji, how many people are there in your family and what they do?”

He replied “Sir, I have an old father and mother and a 6-year-old son and a wife who is a homemaker. My son studies in class 2^nd and is now not going to school due to the pandemic”

I soon realized thus, Gosh - he was feeding a family of five including himself and his struggle was genuine – his salt and pepper hair was a telling tale of his life. But the only thing which catapulted me into becoming his fan was the calmness of his stature. A man in such a precarious position in life and still a smile on his face and his belief in the existence of living was truly remarkable.

Soon our destination came and it was time to get off our ride – whilst making a payment as I didn’t had the change, I took out Rs 500 and expected the balance from him – He again smiled and said “ Sir, I don’t have the change and he showed me his open purse which had two Rs 10 rupee notes.!” I felt ashamed and quickly corrected my folly and thought of going-dutch and thus gathered Rs 300 to be given to him.

He again reminded me of his inability of not being able to give back Rs 50 as he had no change.

This time I put my point and told him “Mir Chand ji, keep the change Sir.”

He quickly spoke “Yeh mat kijiye” – Don’t do this and held back my hand. I insisted but he had made up his mind and took the money and asked me to wait. In no time he came back with the change and paid me Rs 50 which was over the charge.

He smiled again and said “Ok sir, time to go!”

I finally asked him “Where will you go now?”

He quickly replied “Sir, back to the queue, may be this time my turn would come in few hours.”

Quoting this, he kickstarted his auto and soon vanished from my sight. He made me stood in silence of time and deep down inside me something shook my conscience made me thoughtful of the situation.

What on earth such a man was doing and from where he had the courage to live a life as he was living, chasing the timelines and that too with a façade of silence, patience and all smiles whilst he talked to me!

Now as I jot down his story, I am continuously thinking about him as I know for sure, he must be in his queue for the next set of customers that he might be expecting to catch and make an honest living!

Before we bid a final adieu, I had taken his number and finally messaged him today  – “ Mir Chand ji – Next time I am there ( which will be this year only!) , I promise, I will hire your auto and ask you to show me the entire town – all day! As having lived more than half of my life, I have found very less souls as him – honest, polite and living in situational harmony!!!