Matches made in Heaven - Marriages performed on Earth

By the time I reached Ludhiana railway station it was 6.30: PM and the Swaran Shatabdi train to New Delhi was running on schedule. Its departure time was 6:55 PM. I gradually moved towards platform no. 1 which was over-crowded with passengers and I started proceeding towards the front side of the platform so that I could get some standing space.  By the time the train entered the platform, it was already 7 o’clock and I could see heavy rush of passengers to board the train in front of every AC coach. I was waiting at the entrance of my AC coach no. B2 when one middle-aged lady pushed me aside and hurriedly boarded the train carrying two big suitcases in both her hands; the entrance space was narrow and the suitcases were big; hence she could not move inside the coach easily. Moreover, the suitcases were making it impossible for her to move forward. People at the entrance gate were shouting and pushing themselves forward to the door but couldn’t enter the coach. I requested the lady to first carry one suitcase at a time with her and the second suitcase I took from her. Then, we both entered the coach with great difficulty. It took three more minutes to finally settle down in our respective seats. By this time, the train had left the station and the service boy had already started distributing mineral water bottles to those passengers who had boarded the train from Ludhiana railway station.

I had visited Ludhiana town this morning by the same train but the objective of my visit was badly hit as my purpose of the visit was totally defeated. Still, somehow, I was trying to control my emotions but was failing in my attempts miserably. I could pretty well feel the heat of my hypertension and the blood sugar level which were moving north. On top of it, my co-passenger had further added to my frustration by her adamant behaviour. I was trying to cool myself off without having any positive solution in my mind. Suddenly, I woke up when the service boy started serving tea and snacks in the compartment. I requested him to provide me with the sugar free pouch. He obliged immediately with two pouches of sugar free powder for my tea.   

I was enjoying my hot cup of tea when the lady sitting on the next seat offered me her thanks and enquired about my destination. She was the same lady who had trouble boarding the train with her two heavy suitcases. I politely accepted her thanks and replied: “I am going to Gurgaon.” She instantly acknowledged:  “me too” with a broad smile on her beautiful face. She must be around fifty years of age, very fair, charming and gorgeous looking. She was gifted with a heavy body structure with a very decent looking personality. To continue the conversation she said - “I am going to stay with my in-laws’ place at Gurgaon and tomorrow night I am going to catch a flight to Canada. Before I could answer her question, she shooted another one: “You live in Gurgaon or Ludhiana, Mr. Singh?” I answered her question and after a long pause, I started narrating her the whole story of the day which had forced me to flush out my whole day’s frustration in front of the lady whom I had met just half an hour back, but I didn’t know why, the after effect of my utterances were so soothing that I felt much relieved!

It all started a month back when I first advertised for a suitable match for my second daughter in an English national daily newspaper. The responses were very encouraging and we short-listed five prospective matches. Out of these, the 5^th one was from Ludhiana - a B.TECH (Mechanical) with MBA (Operations), working as a Product Development Manager in an automotive component manufacturing company based at Chandigarh, and my today’s visit was to this boy’s house at Model Town-Ludhiana.

The initial talks were very cordial with the boy’s parents. They had in-fact invited me to fix-up the date of the engagement and discuss other marriage related formalities. Although we had met them once in Delhi where both my daughter and their son had met and liked each other. I repeatedly asked them if they had any demand and if so, I must know in advance. The boy’s father was decent and politely brushed aside my worries by saying: “we don’t want anything from you because our Lord has given us everything - we only need a decent girl for our boy from a fairly cultured and decent family, that’s all.”   

I repeatedly asked the question of any demands etc. to them including the boy but I got a similar reply from both father and the son. They both seemed extra-ordinarily simple and sweet people. I was praying for this alliance to the God Almighty as to me they appeared to be a cultured decent and gentle family.    

Once I briefly informed them that we want the engagement ceremony to be conducted at Gurgaon first and then the marriage could be performed at Chandigarh or Ludhiana as per their choice because we were comfortable with both the places. They were too good and they had not objected to any of our suggestions. Also they gave their consent for every proposal or suggestions offered by us. In the beginning I was having some doubts but later I was convinced to accept them as a fairly ideal family.

Only the last week, I got an invitation from the boy’s father to come to Ludhiana by the morning Shatabadi Express train so that they could discuss and finalize the marriage related matters which included engagement ceremony, ring ceremony and the marriage reception. They also assured me that they would pick me up from the railway station and also drop me back in their car.

Therefore, today I came by the morning train carrying with me five boxes of sweets, two buckets of fruits, one box each of dry fruits and chocolates/biscuits/toffees etc. I saw boy’s father standing at the platform holding a big bouquet of flower, who welcomed me with a warm hug. The driver standing next to him took all the things that I was carrying from my hands and offered me a bottle of chilled mineral water for drink.

Within twenty minutes or so, we reached their Model Town home. It was a double-storied bungalow built on a 500 yard plot. I was being driven in a Honda city car and one Toyota Innova SUV was standing at the portico of their house. At the entrance door, the boy’s mother welcomed me with a broad smile. First they offered me fresh fruit juice and later served varieties of sweets/snacks/biscuits and at the end they served me with a cup of tea with separate milk and sugar pots.

I was feeling awe struck seeing their style of hospitality. Moreover, the house seemed to be very big, fully furnished, well decorated with all the material goods to make life comfortable.

   

We were discussing about the present political and industrial scenario of the state when I saw the house lady entering the Drawing Room with a very serious face. She straight-away came to the subject with a very blunt question - “Mr. Singh, which model car you have decided to present to your daughter?” The house owner warned the lady by saying: “Don’t you worry madam ji, Singh Sahib is very intelligent, he must have planned something extra ordinary for his daughter, isn’t it Sir ji?”

I was taken aback; suddenly I got up from my seat and started staring at the lady who had just hurled a bomb in front of me. Before I could answer her question, she shot another arrow aimed at me loaded with heavy ammunition and this one virtually pierced me tearing me to pieces. The pain was so severe that my mind, body and soul started bleeding profusely on the lady enquiring about the status of one 3-BHK fully furnished flat in Gurgaon which I was supposed to gift to my daughter on her marriage.

I was dumb-founded and finding it so difficult to speak at that very moment but with great difficulty, all that I could utter was only one sentence -“Are you asking for Dowry?” This time, the house lady started speaking rudely to her husband in loud voice: “What did he say: Dowry” what nonsense is he talking? We are not asking anything for ourselves; damn it, he will only give us one suit each that’s all, but will definitely gift, a foreign make sedan Car, 3-BHK furnished flat and foreign trip to his lovely daughter on her marriage; what’s so new about it? All the girls’ parents do it - there is no big deal?”  

With lots of courage and confidence I finally told the lady with both my hands folded: “Madam, I can’t give even a motor-cycle, forget about gifting a car to my daughter. At present I am staying in a rented house in Gurgaon so how could I offer a furnished flat to my daughter? Sorry, I can’t fulfill any of your demands and moreover, I had repeatedly asked you in the beginning whether you have any demand but you simply denied everything, and today you are presenting me with such a long list of items which I just can’t afford and moreover your demands can’t be met by me”

After listening to my submission, the house lady started shouting at her husband and she very rudely spoke to him in a very loud voice: “I told you not to contact these service class people, they are worst than beggars, what can they offer us, nothing, this relationship is over, just tell the driver to drop him at the nearby bus stop, from where he will get an auto for station - you hear that.”    

The house lady went inside and her husband also followed her. I was still standing at their Drawing Room totally confused not knowing what to do next. I didn’t know when my eyes were filled with tears and with a very heavy heart I left their house alone without talking to anyone. I slowly walked out of the house and after walking for twenty yards or so, I got a rickshaw which dropped me at the main road from where I got an auto-rickshaw to reach the railway station.

Somehow I reached station but was still under the influence of today’s episode, something like which had never happened in my life before. My eyes were still moist with tears which were refusing to dry up and flowing uninterruptedly. Suddenly, I was shaken up from a ring from my mobile phone. This was from one of my very dear friend from Jamshedpur. In that moment I was not in a mood to talk to anyone or take any call,  but he being very dear I could not muster courage to miss his call and picked up the phone to talk. After exchange of courtesies, I started narrating to him about the incident that had happened today. After hearing the story and a long pause, he asked me only one question - “will you marry your daughter outside your community?” And my answer was: “Why not, If the boy happens to be from a decent family?” He then hung up saying “please wait for my call”.

I got a call again from my Jamshedpur friend and this time he was very excited. At the outset he said: “would you like to marry your daughter with my sister’s son. The boy is educated, serving in New Delhi and belongs to a Brahmin family. I could not believe his statement and enquired again: “Have you discussed with your family members about my daughter and did they agree for a Punjabi girl. What about dowry etc.???” His answers were in the affirmative as he specifically mentioned ‘No Dowry’. He then asked me to forward the CV and photograph of my daughter so that he could share the details with his sister.

Meanwhile, I discussed this matter with my wife and daughter over phone and also forwarded the details of my daughter to my friend. Within ten minutes I got all relevant details of the boy on my mobile and within half an hour I got the approval and acceptance from the boy’s family also. In between, my friend, whom I refer to as “Anna” (which means elder brother in Tamil) and his wife (who happened to be my Rakhi Sister) spoke to my daughter and asked about her consent, and my daughter’s reply, was: “Whatever you, aunty (Anna’s wife) and my parents will decide shall be acceptable to me.”           

After listening to my sad story the Canada going lady sitting nearby started showing her empathy and even asked for my daughter’s resume and photograph so that she could look for a suitable match in Canada. She was literally feeling very sad and offered her honest consolation and prayers that everything gets settled smoothly in my daughter’s life.

This had happened just a month ago and today sitting at home while penning down this story of mine, I am feeling deeply grateful to the God Almighty that finally like fairy-tale story everything ends well, my tale also reached to a final stage of re-union of two soul-mates with the help of a friend indeed; Anna who had not only accepted my proposal but also decided to arrange my daughter’s marriage with his nephew under his direct supervision.

Who said - matches are made in heaven? Correct, but they are arranged here on this earth by good friends and well-wishers like my most beloved respected friend Anna who truly understood the feelings of a lonely helpless father in need of help for his lovely marriageable young daughter and assisted in bringing together a similar helpless parents in search of a beautiful bride for their handsome son.   

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Language of Silent Prayer

Our company’s product stall at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan’s Hall no. 18 was in the centre and the foot falling was excessive. It was an international building material exhibition where our company has also participated in the said trade fare. It was mid-January and the outside temperature was quite cool but still the crowd was not reducing. I was standing with my colleague at one corner of the stall when I saw one very beautiful and gorgeous woman entering our stall accompanied by an equally handsome and smart gentleman who was carrying lots of product literatures in his hands.

After thoroughly looking at displayed products she started asking questions about the product’s features and benefits to one of our team members. Since she was asking probing questions, I decided to join the conversation and gradually started answering her questions supported with relevant data. After satisfying herself with all details, she wanted us to visit her office at Karnal where she would like to use our products.

At the end, I offered her our product literature along with my visiting card and she also gave me her business card and also introduced the gentleman standing next to her as her husband: “Mr. Raman Kapoor” and she were: ‘Ms. Shushmita Kapoor’ both were Architects by profession.

Almost a week later I got a call from Shushmita madam and she wanted to know the date of my visit to her office for further discussions on our products. After due approval of my tour I decided to visit her office and I drove down to Karnal town for our second meeting. We had long discussions and question answer session on our proposal and at the end she decided to give us an order with due advance along with an immediate delivery request. I collected the order with advance cheque in the very first sales-call itself, which is not a done thing in our profession. We had not only delivered our product on time but it was also installed within specified period. She was very happy with our product and after-sales-service.

Thereafter, she started recommending our products to many of her friends and clients. Since then I was in touch with her family. She was very kind and helpful person. In between I have changed my job but still we remained in touch with each other through phone calls and emails. Ten years later, suddenly, one fine morning I got a call from her, enquiring about my present Company. After greetings, I told her about my present job, company, product details and job profile. She wanted me to help her in finalizing building materials required for her own house which is being constructed at her home town.

Therefore, the very next morning I left by car around seven so that I could reach Karnal town by noon and return home by late/same evening. Since the highway road was clear smooth and traffic free, I reached her office around one o’-clock in the afternoon. I parked my car in front of the office building and rushed towards her 1^st floor office but to my utmost surprised instead of Shushmita madam I saw her husband: Raman sir welcoming me at the entrance gate, after offering my greetings I straight-away asked him: “Where is madam?” He gave me a broad smile and offered me a chair first and said: “Please relax Mr. Singh, first sit down and have a glass of water, Shushmita is not in the office right now and she has told me to show you the construction site first and later we will come back to office and meet  with her, al-right?” But somehow I was not satisfied with his answer.

We both proceeded towards the destination after spending five minutes in the office and I followed Raman sir’s BMW black sedan car. It was a short drive of 10 minutes and we both entered one posh colony near civil lines area and his car stopped in front of one vacant plot where land digging work was going on; my searching eyes were still looking for Shushmita madam but somehow she was not seen around.

I saw one worker came rushing towards us with two folded chairs in his hands; he first put both the chairs on the ground and later greeted us with folded hands. Once seated on the chairs, Raman sir started explaining about this site. It was amalgamation of two plots of 600 square feet each merged together and made one on which Kapoor family will be constructing their big Bungalow.    

I was called by Shushmita madam to advise them on building materials to be used in this bungalow which includes: Air-conditioning plant, Architecture glasses/fittings, Bathroom fittings, Cement, CP fittings, Electrical fittings, Elevator, Fire fighting and safety equipments, Garage equipment, Lightings, Paint, Sanitary-wares, Steel wire rods, Tiles, UPVC windows/pipes and Wooden Doors/flooring.  

I was literally feeling very hesitant/shy to know about their opinion and trust on my capabilities and knowledge on civil construction products. It’s true that I have been in the profession of selling and marketing building materials throughout my career and I can propose multiple brand options of building materials and its sources but the final decision would be of Kapoor family. Moreover, Shushmita madam herself is very famous and renowned Architect of India then why I was called in a hurry? It still remained a big mystery and unless and until I speak with her this puzzle will not be solved, till then, I have to bear with Raman Sir.      

  

Today afternoon, instead of Madam I was sitting with her husband and having a hot cup of tea. But there was no news of Shushmita Madam as yet. I again asked about her and in reply Raman sir said to wait for some more time and very carefully he diverted the topic on their proposed bungalow plan.

After spending half an hour at the site one worker informed us that the lunch is ready and we both started walking towards the dining table temporarily arranged for us. Raman sir said: “The lunch was planned by Shushmita and she wanted us to have the lunch on the open ground under the sky, which will be a great fun and also give you immense satisfaction.” The food was prepared from the grain, green salad and vegetables grown up in their own farm house. I was having home-made food and was also wondering about the whole day’s activities; somehow I was not comfortable with the way things were happening around me but at the same time I was not in a position to find out the real root cause of her absence.      

Raman sir sat down with me in my car and instructed his driver to follow us. On arrival at his office he took me straight to his chamber and first shared with me the structural drawings of the bungalow and later showed me the prototype sample of the bungalow which was kept next to his table. Thereafter, he started discussing about the construction plan, materials and finishing schedules of the building. Meanwhile, he also started asking for the names of the best brands of building materials available in the country and simultaneously noting down the details against each question written in his file. Although all the big brands were now available in the country but he was very keen to import system aluminium slider doors from Italy for all the bed rooms and balconies of their bungalow.

By the time we finished our long exhaustive and thorough discussions it was 5.00: PM but there was no trace of Shushmita madam till then. The office boy brought evening tea and snacks for us. After hurriedly drinking hot cup of tea I tried to leave his chamber without actually meeting with madam. However, it was not a very happy moment to leave without meeting her but there was no choice left for me accepts to leave without asking any more questions about her whereabouts’.

Raman sir walked down along with me near my car and very  warmly hugged me with both his hands, thanked me and wished me a safe journey; he very politely instructed me to drive slowly/safely and also requested me to call him back after reaching my home at Gurgaon. I left Raman sir’s office with a very heavy heart without meeting Shushmita madam and knowing the main objective/purpose of my visit. I was very worried about her, where was she, why was she hiding and not coming in front me and meeting with me; whereas it was she who had actually invited me to visit her today then why was she not there. All these and many more questions kept coming to my mind.

I left Karnal within half an hour and was approaching Panipat toll plaza on NH-1 when my mobile phone started ringing; I read the name of the caller: ‘Shushmita Kapoor’, I immediately parked my car at the roadside and connected the call. Indeed it was Shushmita madam’s voice, after wishing her good evening I asked about her well being. She first offered her sincere apology for not being able to meet with me today in-person; but she said she had seen me and also listened to my views and suggestions very tentatively which I offered to Raman sir today. I interrupted her in between: “But you were not there madam so how come you know?” She replied in her soft/silky voice:  “I watched you on my laptop screen because our office is connected with CCTV cameras.” In fact she had watched and listened to our conversation and in-between has also raised many questions which were sent to Raman sir through SMS.

Thereafter, she said: “I am sorry; I could not meet with you personally simply because I was not well and our Doctor had strictly advised me not to meet with any visitors for some more days. I am admitted in the ICU of a private nursing home in Karnal due to serious infection of H1N1 virus called Swine-flu”. Although Raman ji wanted to tell me about her problem but she requested him not to disclose her problem because she herself wanted to convey about her dreaded disease and also wanted to submit her apology for not being able to meet with me. Since the work must go on; that’s why she had invited me to have a detailed discussions with her husband on building materials requirement of their bungalow, hence she proposed this plan.  

I didn't know when my eyes started flowing with tears and I came to know only when my fingers touched my face and it became wet with my tears. Within few seconds the whole thing was clear to me, she wanted to meet with me but at the same time she was worried about my health and safety that’s why she stayed away from me and not came forward because she was afraid of my getting infected with the deadly virus which kills people.

Although I don’t have any blood relationship with Shushmita madam but her graceful and kind act had deeply touched my heart and brought me very close to her as if she is part of my own family. I kept quiet for few seconds and she enquired in-between if I am still there.

After a long pause I spoke with her with a very heavy heart and hesitant voice and asked about the name and location of her nursing home but she refused to answer my question. I offered my well wishes and told her to get well soon and I again repeated my question with humble request but without any success; with my repeated request she finally disclosed the name of her nursing home, but she also informed me that the visiting hours are over for the day and they will not allow me to meet with her. Therefore, I should not insist visiting her tonight instead I must go back home and should not worry about her. She also promised that we will meet again soon in a very near future.  

Meanwhile, I wished her fast recovery, disconnected my mobile, turned my car back and proceeded towards Karnal nursing home where my well wisher and a good soul was lying alone and fighting with the dreaded virus. I offered my prayers to God Almighty to protect and save her so that she could get well soon and join with her family in healthy mind, body and soul, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

You may forget your past but it won’t

There were three missed calls from the same number on my mobile; it was from a land-line number from Mumbai but since I was busy in my official work I could not attend to it.  After reaching home, when I wanted to call back, it was already half past nine p.m. so I dropped the idea.

The next day morning, on my way to office, I got the call from the same number again. I took the call; a soft female voice answered from the other side.  She first confirmed my name and later asked my permission to discuss about an excellent career opportunity in one of her reputed client’s organization. I interrupted her and said: “I am not interested in any such offer” but before I could disconnect, she pleaded not to and requested me to give her few more minutes to complete her message.         

She first thanked me and started narrating me about her client, job profile, emoluments, position, posting and at the end she started requesting me to speak with the HEAD-HR of her client’s organization once before taking a final decision. I told her upfront that I am not interested to talk to anyone at the moment. Neither was I having the inclination nor interest to change my job. I was quite happy with my present profile and had no valid reason to even think of changing the job. I was having a busy day ahead and I couldn’t afford to waste a single minute on irrelevant matter. Therefore, I disconnected the phone after assuring her that I would speak with her client later.

After reaching my office I forgot everything and got involved in the office work without any problem. Finally, I closed my laptop and called it a day. I left the office by late evening. While going back home in my car I got another call from the same consultant again and this time she informed me that her client would call me now and that I should accept the call; before I could confront her, she disconnected the phone by saying good night.

Exactly after five minutes, I got a call from an unknown number on my mobile and this time it was from one gentleman who introduced himself as the HEAD-HR of a very respected and reputed engineering company of Kolkata. He very politely told me the objective of his call and took my permission to continue the conversation. First, he spoke in detail about the HR policy of his Company and later inquired about CTC, notice period and my family members.

Thereafter, he spoke to me about the initial offer, which he had already sent by email to me, for my approval and on receipt of my confirmation he will send me the final offer by courier.  He discussed in detail about the proposal: they had offered me the post of the CEO at their Kolkata Head Quarter with fully furnished company accommodation, chauffeur-driven car, fantastic salary with equity participation. I listen to him uninterruptedly and at the end I very politely turned down his good offer. He was not perturbed with my response instead he requested me to think on his proposal saying that he would call me back after 48 hours.               

To be honest, on the face of it, I was trying to calm down myself but the offer had disturbed me internally and I almost lost peace of my mind.  After dinner, I straightaway went to my bedroom. But in-spite of my best efforts I could not sleep and the whole night I was thinking about the offer and with great difficulty I could manage some sleep only in the early morning hours.

The next day, first time in years I reached office late. But there also I could not work sincerely. Therefore, I decided to take casual-leave for the day and I left office in a hurry. Such things had never happened in my life before, although I got several offers in the past but I had never got indulged so much into it. Such offers came and gone and slowly I forgot about them. 

But this time, the Kolkata offer was haunting me and I was not getting enough inner strength to straight-away turn it down. The offer was not only lucrative but also very rich in nature from all aspects/angels. To be honest, I had never come across such a fantastic offer in my life ever; and with every passing minute, it was pushing me little closer to the said offer. I was divided into two parts, my mind and heart both were speaking in different languages and I was standing at the center totally confused and uncertain not  knowing which side I should put my foot forward. I was also finding it very difficult to concentrate on my existing job. Although we just had a talk on the phone; so far no personal interview, no written confirmation given but still the verbal communication had influenced my mind,  body and soul so much that it had very severely affected my own performance at my present job.       

At present I was working in an MNC with much respected job profile and decent pay packet. Fully satisfied with my Company, clients and colleagues and I have never thought of leaving this job but suddenly everything was trying to go haywire and whatever had happened in the past 24 hours had practically ruined my peace of mind, present position and literally forced me to think otherwise. I always used to advice my colleagues and friends not to change the job often and stick to one company and build the career there but then why I was not following the same rule for my-self now?

I came home early that day and the first reaction of my wife was: “What happened, how come you are back home so early from office, are you alright?” And before listening to my answers she touched my forehead and later rushed to the kitchen and brought me a glass of water. I could see her worried and disturbed face. Suddenly she asked me bluntly a straight forward question: “Have you resigned?” After drinking a glass of water with very heavy heart I said: “No”     

I could see her tense face relaxed and she sat down on the sofa with a sad face. I also sat next to her and after a long pause I told her about the last day’s phone calls and the job offer of a Kolkata based company. My wife also became tense after listening to my conversation. I could see her anxiety and her eyes filled with tears. She simply told me to quickly take a final decision and close the subject tonight itself. I tried to calm her down and explained to her in few selective words that I would not accept Kolkata offer.

The next morning I got up early from the bed and left home for office before the schedule time so that I could reach office on time. I tried to concentrate on my work and pretended to myself and my staff that nothing had happened and my life was running as usual-normal, no problem at all. But deep down in my heart the job offer made a very strong dent which was not so easy to erase. By the time I left office for home, I got a call again from Kolkata.

I kept my mobile on silence mode and did not answer any of the calls. He called me only once and later sent me an SMS to attend an interview on video conferencing with the MD of his company tonight at 9-PM, I wanted to say no but could not do so. I kept thinking about the job offer seriously on my way back home.

After reaching home, I sat-down on the study table while sipping tea, I started noting down few questions which I should ask the MD on Video conferencing. Five minutes to nine I again got a call from Kolkata to be ready with my laptop-on so that the MD sir could have one to one conversation with me.

Sharp at nine, the MD sir was on my laptop screen. To my utmost surprise the conversation of our proposed meeting started in Bengali language and it continued for thirty minutes to be precise. He was very straight forward in his approach and wanted to convince me by all means so that I can accept their job-offer without any hitch or hesitation. Meanwhile, he answered all my questions and told me to send an email on his personal email ID if I still had any more doubts or queries about his company, people, product, pay-packet or future plans.

This was the third night and I could not sleep properly. I tried to analyze the whole situation from beginning to the end and with lots of courage and conviction I wrote an e-mail addressed to the MD sir wherein first I thanked him for his offer and at the end submitted my sincere apology for not being able to accept his job-offer. At 4-AM in the morning I sent this email and went to sleep.

A week had passed since I sent the regret e-mail to MD sir; I simply got a confirmation note, Thereafter, no calls from their end. I took a deep breath and offered prayers to God Almighty for saving me from lots of embarrassment from my family and friends. Suddenly in third week, again I got a call from Kolkata office that their Chairperson would like to meet me in Delhi tomorrow any time between 10 AM and 5-PM. I was asked to confirm the timing of our proposed meeting by night over SMS on particular mobile number which was sent through SMS on my mobile.

I again became disturbed with that one call. I was literally getting scared of meeting anymore person from Kolkata. Therefore, I again sent my apology for not being able to meet with the chairperson the next day. Within two minutes I got the reply asking about my convenient date/time. My reply was same, not interested in the job hence I see no point meeting in-person. I got the reply instantly saying: “No harm in meeting” I kept quiet for few minutes, again another SMS came which read: “Date/time/venue you decide, but please come for the meeting”

I was left with no option but to forget about the whole episode as a bad dream and without confirmation I went to sleep. Next morning I got another SMS saying: “Please don’t be so angry, give confirmation” Finally I decided to meet with the Chairperson on the coming weekend and confirmed the date/time/location of our proposed meeting accordingly.

As agreed, I proceeded to meet with the chairperson at the most reputed five star hotel of Gurgaon. As soon as I reached the reception of the hotel, a staff accompanied me to the 9^th floor of the hotel and took me to Room 901.

There was nobody in the room but the laptop was open, one Executive Diary, Executive Planner and a Cross gold ball pen were lying on the study table. Few famous business magazines and news papers were also lying on the side table. One Bengali fiction was kept near the bedside table. Small soft luggage was kept at the corner and the lady’s purse and I-phone were also lying on the bed.

By the time I settle-down on my chair and I saw, the washroom door opened and a very young and beautiful lady coming out of the washroom. She straightaway came near my chair introduced herself as Ms. Debyani Chakraborty and offered her right hand for a handshake but somehow I could not muster courage to extend my hand instead offered greetings by folding both my hands and she followed suit. She inquired about tea/coffee and I said: “Tea” She moved towards side table where electric cattle, cups, tea bags, coffee, milk powder and sugar pouches were kept. She inquired about sugar, and I said no sugar. She came towards my chair carrying two cups in her hands and offered me my cup of hot tea without sugar.

Over a cup of tea we talked about Kolkata weather, political environment and business scenario. And with little hesitation, I asked the objective and agenda of this meeting. She first laughed and later became serious and said, she wanted to know the reason of my denial for accepting the job-offer of her company.

After listening her for half an hour I proposed several names of some young professionals who could be ideal for her company. But she did not show any interest in my suggestions instead she requested me to reconsider her offer and suddenly I saw her moisture filled eyes but very smartly she wiped her eyes with handkerchief and gave a broad smile. Later she told me to look at her laptop screen displaying the photograph of an old couple.     

It was the photograph of her parents Mrs. and Mr. Sukumar Chakraborty who died last year in a road accident while coming from Malda, their home town. Since then she took over the reigns of her company as a chairperson and her maternal uncle (Brother of her late mother) is working as MD. She was looking for a highly experienced professional between the age group of 45 to 50; who could take over as a Business Head/CEO of her company and run the show independently. 

She had interviewed many candidates in the past but could not find any suitable candidate. Later her consultant from Mumbai had recommended my candidature and after thorough check/verification they shortlisted my name and the rest is history. I was still not very happy with the last meeting and the whole episode was not at all convincing to me and somehow I was not getting the right answers of my questions: WHY ME? After an hour or so I took her leave and promised her that I would reconsider my decision of joining her company.

While driving back home, suddenly I remembered about my friend Ms. Sumita Mukherjee who was my childhood friend in Kolkata. She belonged to a very rich business family of south Kolkata. Today I met the daughter of my very dear friend who died in a road accident. Probably, her daughter knew about our relationship or it could be a sheer coincidence also. I last met her mother when she got married and thereafter I shifted to Jamshedpur. And today after 27 long years my past was in front of me as if it were only yesterday.  We may forget our past but it never leaves us-come what may. I folded both my hands in the air and offered prayers to the God Almighty for Mrs. and Mr. S. K. Chakraborty. May their souls rest in peace, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

In the hands of God

I was invited for an urgent meeting with the Managing Director of a fairly large (IT) multinational company, for preliminary discussions on providing training to their managerial staff, at 3-PM in the afternoon at Sector-16, Noida. Ms. Mini Varghese the Vice President (HR) advised me not to visit Noida by car and instead, she suggested,  I should take a Metro train from Gurgaon’s Huda City Centre  to reach her office at Noida-Sector-16 metro station; that would be convenient, easier, faster and safer mode of journey for me.

It was a very hot afternoon, temperature crossing 45 degree and I felt the effect of hot air when I came out of my AC car and walked towards the ticket counter at Huda City Centre Station-Gurgaon. The queue at Counter No. 2 was smaller so I joined the line; there were 15 odd people in front of me but I could see no movement at all, a group of female passengers were standing at the ticket counter and the counter-clerk was not issuing them the tickets (Metro-Token) he was repeatedly requesting them to come in one line because there were no separate queue facility for the female passengers and he refused to issue them the journey tickets.

It was already 1.20-PM and I was getting impatient. Moreover, my shirt was fully soaked/wet with my sweat due to the excessive heat and humidity. Slowly my line moved forward and within the next five minutes or so I came very close to the counter. The female passengers were still standing at the counter and not allowing counter-clerk to issue the tickets to the other passengers of our line. Finally, my turn came and I asked him for one ticket for Noida-Sector-16; I also requested the counter clerk to issue tickets to those ladies who were standing for a long time in the hot weather. He looked at me with a mischievous smile and nodded his head in acceptance of my suggestion.

After collecting my ticket I moved towards the security gate when someone called me from the back: “Sir, your money please” and I saw the same lady who was arguing with the counter-clerk for ticket, kept one Rupee coin on my palm and said: “The counter clerk has given this for you”. The token price was Rs. 29 and I paid Rs. 30; hence this refund. By the time, I could offer my thanks to her she moved ahead and within a fraction of a second vanished in the crowd.

Since this was the starting point/station, I got the sitting space very easily and after settling down on my seat I opened my briefcase, pulled out a book and started reading. After about 45 minutes or so I looked up from my book and enquired from the person sitting next to me about Rajiv Chowk station. He replied to me by saying: “Two more stations and the third one will be your station”. I decided to close my book and got mentally prepared to get down at Rajiv Chowk station so that I can change over the train for Noida. My coach was fully packed with passengers and the exit gate was over crowded. I got up from my seat but could not move further, finally the station came and within the next 30 seconds I was out of the coach along with other passengers, all without any effort on my part to reach the exit gate as people pushed me to come out of the coach.

Around three o’-clocks I reached Sector-16 and when I got down at the station, I saw one car-driver in company’s uniform waiting carrying a placard of my name in his right hand. He wished me with his folded hands and said: “Mini Varghese Madam has sent the car for you, Sir.” On arrival at the office, first Ms. Mini Varghese received me at the reception and straight away took me to Mr. Sujit Koushik’s (SK Sir) cabin who happened to be the Managing Director of this company. He greeted me so warmly as if he knew me since ages. I got my second surprise when he spoke to me in Bengali language. I never expected such a warm and personal welcome from a person whom I am meeting for the first time. It deeply touched my heart in the first meeting itself.

I asked one straight question to Mr. SK Sir: “Can you please tell me who gave you my reference?” He answered with a big smile: "Ms. Mini Varghese is your big fan as she reads all your blogs and articles and it was her idea to arrange a training workshop for our management team, hence this meeting." We discussed for two hours for the proposed workshop and at the end the question of my remuneration propped-up; I told them at the outset that I am basically a Marketing Professional and selling is my passion. Manpower training is my hobby but both are very close to my heart and I don’t charge anything for the training programmes.

SK sir very politely changed the topic and requested me to develop one more programme for his field Sales and Servicing team also. At the end, he offered me one envelops (Training Contract) which he told me to open only after reaching home. Therefore, without further arguments I accepted the said envelops and I left his chamber after wishing him goodbye.

Ms. Mini Varghese came out along with me and requested me to accompany her. Since her request was so humble and honest, I could not turn-down her invitation and followed her. Ms. Mini Varghese’s chamber was fully furnished and on her table one laptop was lying along with her mobile phone; on her side table a photograph of an old couple was kept who seemed to be her parents. She first told me to sit down and thereafter she took her mobile phone; she made a casual look on the missed calls and also browsed her in-book for any urgent mail, within few minutes she was done with her mobile and then she opened her laptop where there were more than 60 e-mails in the in-box and she immediately shut her laptop by saying: “I will look into it later”.

Meanwhile, I saw two office staff entered her cabin with two big trays carrying one chocolate cake and one plate each of sweets, snacks, biscuits, two glasses of water and tea cups. She came next to my chair and took my right hand into her hands and said: “Please pray for my father, you see that photograph, (By showing me the photograph of an old couple lying on her side table), they are Mr. and Mrs. Varghese, my parents staying in Kochi at Kerala state. Her father had retired from central Government job in Ranchi and now settled down in their native home town in Kerala. She has two brothers, both married and settled abroad. She stays in Noida along with her husband who is not from her community and presently working with a private organization at Ghaziabad.

Later she told me that today happen to be her father’s 62nd birthday and since he is not with her here, she wanted me to cut the cake on behalf of her father. I could see, she was trying her best to control her tears but somehow those emotions could not be stopped by any means and at the end she could not control herself any longer and busted out with her emotions, tears started flowing and an uncertain fear was very prominent on her face.

I was feeling myself totally in an awkward position and I was almost at a loss without knowing my next course of action. She later told me the reason of her sudden breakdown. She is the youngest member in the family and was highly pampered by her father and brothers. She was much close to her father who had recently been detected with lever disorder and the damage is so severe that the possibility of any cure is meagre. First, he was having fever later it was diagnosed as jaundice and after thorough investigation it was confirmed that the lever is 90% damaged. Now he is taking treatment under Ayurveda at Kerala and is responding to those treatments positively.      

I tried my best to console her but she was not in a position to accept the fact that patients with fully damaged lever can also survive for long. Her father was having severe lever problem which is in advanced stage and Doctor’s were also not ready to operate on him.

Since Ms. Mini Varghese had read my blogs and came to know about my father (Bapuji) but who had left me 12 years back and I am left with his old memories only but he is still in my heart and not a single day passes without remembering him. I missed him so much because I loved him from the bottom of my heart. Therefore, I could understand the feelings of Mini Madam. Now I have understood why I was called here today and invited to conduct training programme. It was her idea only. Indeed, she had done a lot of home work and made a very impressive power point presentation on my work and convinced the management to call me for a formal discussion and to my surprise today’s date was also chosen by her.   

I requested her to invite SK sir and other management staff also so that we all can pray together for the well being of her father. I persuaded her to cut the cake on behalf of her father as that would be really nice. But she did not accept my suggestion even after my repeated requests and almost forced me to cut the cake. Finally, she invited MD sir, all the management staff also and after a small ceremony everyone left the room except us.

Thereafter, she connected her father on internet and told him about today’s episode in details in her mother tongue. After formal introduction I noticed Mr. Varghese was really looking very pale and sick. I saw her mother standing next to him looking at us with a smile hiding her fear and sadness in it. She was rubbing her wet eyes with a hanker-chief after every few seconds but in-spite of her best efforts she could not hide her agony.    

I don’t exactly know when even Mini madam also started sobbing. I wanted to console her but failed miserably. We both sat quietly for a few minutes without uttering a single word. I started reciting sermons from Shri Guru Grant Sahib (The Holy Scriptures). She had also drifted silently into her own world and forgot that she was still sitting in her office. After half an hour or so, she stopped weeping and a soft smile came on her face. She slowly came towards me, bowed down and touched my feet by the time I could realize what was happening, then she came back to her seat and asked me in a very soft voice:  “Care for one more cup of tea, Sir” and before I could answer she picked up the phone and instructed the peon to serve two hot cups of tea.         

Within the next ten minutes, tea along with biscuits came. Over a cup of tea I explained to her about the next course of action. I promised her that I would pray to my father (Bapuji) and also visit Gurudwara Sahib to offer my prayers for the well being of her father and I assured her that with grace of God Almighty her father would definitely get well soon, very soon, trust me.

I left her office with a very heavy heart knowing full well that  I could do very little to save her father; to be honest it’s not at all in anybody's hands to give a new lease of life to any human being. I could neither   save my own life nor the lives of my family members, simply because life and death are "In the hands of God" only and no human being on this earth can do any miracles in such matters. But yes, one thing is for sure, prayers have lot of power and sometimes answered also; so, let’s all pray for Mr. Varghese so that he may be blessed with a happy, healthy, cheerful and peaceful life in the days ahead, Amen! 

With Prayers

Gurcharan