SAMARPAN

I was sitting at the airport lounge and reading my favourite book; when an announcement was made for the further delay of my flight to Pune by another two hours, due to bad whether conditions. Monsoon had just arrived at Delhi and the flight services became the first victim of this late monsoon, as usual.

I had no option left but to wait at the airport. I was sure that my prospective client would understand the reason of such an unavoidable delay, which was actually beyond my control. I had planned to return to Delhi by the late evening flight, after meeting with the said client, but now it seems, I have to stay for a night at Pune Hotel.

I immediately conveyed this message to my Pune client and to my Boss at Gurgaon office, so that he was kept updated on my outdoor movements. Later, I told my wife also about the flight delay. Before I could speak to her, she asked me a question: “Have you reached Pune?” I replied to her in a very low voice: “No, I am still at Delhi-Airport, because my flight has been delayed”. After disconnecting the mobile, once again I started concentrating on my book.

I felt as if someone was watching me with very sharp eyes, when I lifted my head from the book, I saw one fair looking elderly person of foreign origin in a white ‘Kurta-pyjama’, standing opposite my chair and smiling. I immediately jumped to my feet and greeted the foreign guest with both my hands folded and said: “Namaste” and to my utmost surprise, he also responded by bowing his head and said: “Namaste.” After exchange of greetings, I offered him a chair next to me, which was vacant. He sat down and said with a broad smile: “Dhanayvaad.”

Few minutes later, I again looked at him and said: “Sir, are you alright?” Because, he was still staring at me and smiling, which made me upset, irritating and unnecessarily annoyed? He spoke to me in a very strong and deep voice: “I was wondering, the flight to Pune may get cancelled, so why don’t you go via Mumbai, because there are umpteen numbers of flights to Mumbai and sooner or later, one would definitely fly.”

I became suspicious, how he knew that I was going to Pune, and before I could think further, he satisfied my curiosity by offering his reply to my unanswered question: “I have heard you when you were talking to your wife; that’s how I came to know that you are also flying to Pune.”

Now I became very alert of his movements. Meanwhile I tried to concentrate on my book without any success. Thereafter, I was compelled to start my conversation with this old man who was sitting next to me but in spite of my very strong desire, I could not speak to him immediately, because he had by then closed both his eyes and was reciting shlokas in sanskrit.

He was reciting “Maha Mrityunjay Mantra”. And I was totally amazed, surprised and stunned to hear his clear, correct and right pronunciations of Mantras. After repeating the Mantra five times, he stopped, opened his sea-blue eyes, looked at me with a smile and asked - “Have I frightened you?” And before I could respond, he said again: “Don’t be afraid, nothing will happen to you, trust me.”

After long discussions of one and a half hours between us, I came to know that this old man was the owner of five billions US-Dollars company, based at New York City of USA, had come to India six months ago to take his daughter back home. But his daughter insisted him to visit the most beautiful places in India before returning to USA, which included: Dehradoon, Haridwar, Hemkunt sahib, Kochin, Kanyakumari, Lonawala, Mahabaleshwar, Nainital, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Shimla, Solan and Trivandrum. He came back from Rishikesh last night and that day morning he was going to Pune to meet his daughter, who was living in an Ashram there. He had bought a small house near Dehradoon where he was planning to spend rest of his life.

With regards to his company, he had divided his entire wealth in four equal parts; one part each goes to his wife, son and daughter respectively and the balance 25% of his share would be transferred to various religious Trusts in India in due course of time.

However, his daughter had refused to take her shares. That’s the reason why he was going to Pune, so that he could meet with her and request her to accept her share of wealth, as a token of his love and affection, which she could spend the way she wished.

Listening to his story, I was so stunned and turned like a statue that I could not speak a word to him. I was wondering whether this old man belonged to this world or he had come from heaven. I had never ever seen or heard someone giving his entire wealth to his family and Trusts and not keeping anything for himself.

Suddenly, the meaning of the word ‘SAMARPAN’ dawned on me and I realized its true meaning i.e. cent per cent Surrender to His Master.

Meanwhile, the announcement for the departure of Pune flight was made and we both started walking towards the Security-check.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Girls are more loving & caring but it’s rather very difficult to get them suitably married & settled

I left my client’s office at 8.30 P.M. and was driving back home when a call came on my mobile from an unlisted number. However, I put the mobile phone on speaker mode and started talking. The caller was one Mr. Rajbir Singh from Patiala and he was talking about his son’s marriage proposal with my daughter. He said his son was an IT-Engineer with a MBA degree, working in a multi-national company at Chennai as a Manager and earning around Rs. 75,000 per month. I was not very keen in the said discussion because my daughter wanted to continue with her studies for the time being.

Meanwhile, the caller also gave me the reference of a very dear friend of mine from Chandigarh from whom he got my number. Hearing this, I stopped my car at the road side corner and started talking to him in detail. After long discussion, I ended the conversation by saying that I will revert back to him, after consulting the matter with my family.

Back home, after dinner while going to bed, I told my wife about the marriage proposal received over phone for our daughter. In the beginning, she was much exited but later became emotional and all of a sudden, her eyes were filled with tears. I was wondering if these tears were for happiness or sorrow.

We were very happy the day our daughter was born; she was so beautiful, very fair and looked like an angel who was the blessing of the God Almighty, as if it was only yesterday and today we were talking about her marriage. Time flies so fast, why my Lord, why?

Next day morning, I told my little angel about the marriage proposal we received for her. She patiently listened to me and said at the end, “Papa, I am in no mood to get married now, I have just started my career as a school teacher and have to continue with my studies. Only after getting a PhD. degree, I would get married, I promise” and she closed the topic.

I was taken aback, as it meant I will have to wait for another three to four years for her marriage. Wasn't it too long a period, I wondered. Then I thought, she could continue with her PhD. studies even after marriage, if the boy gave his consent. We could talk to them in the beginning itself and only if they agreed; we would go ahead. Otherwise we would say 'no' to them, there is no big deal. We tried our best to convince our daughter to meet with the prospective groom at least and discuss each and every point in detail before taking any final decision. May be, the boy could accommodate and would allow her to continue with her studies after marriage. After lot of explanation and persuasion, we finally could convince her to meet with the boy’s family.

Meanwhile, we exchanged the bio-data and photographs and it seemed to be alright. So, we decided to visit Patiala and meet with the family of Mr. Rajbir Singh. We found them very civilized, decent, good and down to earth family. On the face of it, everything seemed to be good and perfect, as if, the Almighty had architected a “made for each other" couple.

Somehow, from inside, I was not comfortable the way things were going and I was wondering how everything was so smooth and hurdle free. I started doubting unnecessarily, although, I was not having any valid reason to say no to this proposal.

At the end, they wanted us to bless the boy by giving a token amount as "shagun", but I refused to honour their request by saying, please visit our house first, meet the girl, let both (boy and girl) talk to each other and let them take an appropriate decision, after all it was their lives and they must decide for their future life partner.

I could guess they did not like my suggestion. Mr. Rajbir Singh then gave a counter proposal and said, let both of them talk to each other over phone and seal the proposal. My wife immediately said no to this suggestion also, and again explained to them that over phone you can’t make a final decision. After all it’s a question of entire life of our children and how could you simply talk to someone over phone and take a final call, you are not buying a commodity, it’s the question of someone's entire life, which could be at a stake with one wrong decision; didn't it looked so absurd, stupid and unpractical, I said to them.

We finally convinced them and invited them to visit our house as per their convenience to meet with our family members including my daughter, for which they happily agreed.

Two days after we came back from Patiala, I got a call from Mr. Rajbir Singh that they would be visiting our place on that weekend. And as expected, their entire family came and met with our family. Later I requested my daughter to meet with the boy separately and discuss her concern. Both of them sat in a separate room and talked for about half an hour. My daughter told him about her hobbies, likes, future plans etc., and her intention to work as a teacher/lecturer after completing her studies and also asked him to talk about his views and future plans, freely and openly.

They left our place after lunch and promised to call us back within next few days. After a week or so, I got a SMS from Mr. Rajbir Singh, saying - “Boy not agreed”

I was shocked and stunned, what went wrong, why did they say no. Now my biggest problem was to convey this message to my wife and daughter. Moreover, what reason would I put forward for their refusal? I really didn’t know. I was in a dilemma. First I thought to talk to them over phone and ask the reason but later I decided to drop this idea and forget the whole episode as a bad dream. But how could I forget it so easily. I was angry and frustrated and did not know what to do and was not in a position to calm down either.

I came home and with great difficulty told my wife about the message from Patiala. As expected, my wife became very serious and started crying and within no time my daughter also came to know about it. But she did not utter a single word and went back to her room and closed the door.

At dinner table, we all sat together and we called our angel. She came out and sat with us and was looking very normal but I knew for sure, she must be deeply hurt as was clear from her face. Somehow, I was feeling myself to be the culprit for the whole episode. As in the first place, she was not interested for marriage, but I insisted her to meet with the boy’s family. My guilt became unbearable and I said "sorry" to my daughter. Hearing this, she came rushing to me, grabbed me and said: “Papa you don’t have to say sorry, it’s not your fault” and she could not control her tears which were eagerly waiting to flood her face. We both cried and at that very crucial moment, as usual, my wife, as a truly matured woman and mother, very nicely took the whole-situation in her own hands and said: “No more discussions on this topic please, I have prepared a special dish, so let’s enjoy our dinner tonight.”

Later on, I came to know from our Chandigarh friend that the boy was in love with another girl, but his parents wanted him to marry a girl of their choice. After returning from our place, the boy told his parents that: “If you don’t accept my proposal I will not accept yours”. What I fail to understand in the whole episode is that, what was the fault of our daughter? And who had given them a right to intrude into our lives just like that and disturb the family's atmosphere just because we are the parents of a daughter. Could any one ask them?

Only today, I realize why my mother used to get upset whenever a baby girl was born in our family or friends or relations; because she always used to say: “Girls are more loving and caring but it’s rather very difficult to get them suitably married and settled in today’s cruel world.”

With Prayers

Gurcharan

The best gift of God in my life

I reached home very late that night and over the dinner, my wife informed me that one Mr. Jha had come to our house in the evening and delivered an urgent message of Mr. S. K. Swamy (Personal Officer of a public limited company at Jamshedpur) and he wanted to wait for the reply for Mr. Swamy’s message. My wife with great difficulty could convince Mr. Jha that my arrival will be sometime at mid-night and that only tomorrow morning it would be possible to get a reply from me.

Hearing this from my wife, I got worried and all sorts of thought started pouring into my mind; what could have happened there, may be the machine we sold to them last month was not working or there could be some other problem. Carrying lots of negative thoughts, I finally went to sleep very late, with so many worries and tension.

The next morning, when I called Mr. Swamy over phone, he sounded very worried and asked me to rush to his office immediately. Over a cup of tea, he explained to me the whole story. A few months back, I gave them one Bio-data of Mr. Alok Kumar Karmchandani, who was then working as a Finance Head in an engineering organization at Ranchi. He was short listed for the post of “Chief Finance Office.” Last week, the Chairman of the company came back from abroad and wanted to meet with this new CFO, to whom they were thinking of appointing, but could not trace him at his Ranchi address because by then he had already resigned from that company, almost three months back, and had not left his contact address.

And when the Chairman enquired about the source of his Bio-data, my name came to light because I had given them the CV. Now Mr. Swamy’s boss: Mr. S. C. Sen (Chief Personal Officer) sincerely wanted me to trace Mr. Karamchandani and bring him to their Calcutta office to meet with their Chairman, who was to reach Calcutta the day after morning by his own plane.

Mr. Swamy happened to be a very dear friend of mine and so was Mr. Karamchandani. I therefore took one day casual leave from my job and proceeded to Calcutta the very next day to try and locate Mr. Karamchandani.

On arrival at Calcutta, first I visited Mr. Karamchandani’s previous company’s registered office and met with all the people in that office who could possibly know his address, but no luck. Nobody could help me out in this regard and I left the office with a heavy heart. While stepping down from the office stair, an old Peon of that office came running after me and said “You are looking for Mr. Karamchandani, I had once seen him near about the Red Building fast food restaurant on Camac Street.” He also gave me a tip that probably Mr. Karamchandani was working with a big builder of Calcutta whose Office was located near the Red building on Camac Street itself.

I thanked the peon and rushed towards the Red Building on Camac Street and started enquiring about the builder’s office near the restaurant. After visiting a couple of offices nearby, I finally located the builder’s office and when enquired about Mr. Karamchandani, the Lady sitting on the reception counter confirmed to me that yes, Mr. Karamchandani was employed there but he had gone to the Bank and would be back after 2.00 P.M.

She then asked me to wait at the visitor’s room and sent hot cup of tea along with biscuits and few magazines to read and relax while waiting. Mr. Karamchandani came back to his office around 2.30 PM and immediately came rushing to the visitor’s room on hearing from the receptionist that I was waiting for him since long. He was surprised and almost in a dilemma and shocking stage, as to what had brought me to his office and more importantly, from where did I get his address.

He came rushing in waiting room and first hugged me and literally pulled me-up, started laughing with great joy and said in an overwhelming tone, “So, at last, you have caught me, what’s up?” He met me as if we were meeting after ages and was so happy seeing me today at his new office. His emotions could not be explained in words and the genuineness of warmth was so clear and visible on his face. He immediately called his staff member to arrange lunch for us and started enquiring about me, my family and my job etc. I then told him about the purpose of my visit. He agreed to meet with the Chairman. He also invited me to have breakfast with him the next morning at his residence and from there he said, we would go together to meet with the Chairman.

We reached at the destination on schedule time and came to know that the Chairman had already reached Calcutta and would be in office within half an hour. On arrival, the Chairman immediately called Mr. Karamchandani and within fifteen minutes their meeting was over. Thereafter, the Chairman called me and first thanked me for locating and bringing Mr. Karamchandani to his office and later told me to meet him at Jamshedpur next Friday morning without fail.

I returned to Jamshedpur same night; and then became busy with my own job and almost forgot about the invitation of the Chairman. As expected, I again got an urgent message from my friend Mr. Swamy that the Chairman wanted to meet me today before dawn, it’s urgent.

I was sitting with a client when I got this message and the Chairman’s office was approximately 45 K.M. away from my present location. First I thought to make an excuse and avoid the visit, but later, I decided to meet with the Chairman; and it was mandatory also for me to visit him because, after all they were my existing client’s.

Therefore, after finishing my work, I rushed to meet the Chairman; and on arrival at his office, Mr. Swamy asked me to proceed to the Chairman’s chamber immediately, because he is waiting for me since morning and also wished me good luck.

The Chairman gave me a warm welcome and again thanked me for my sincere efforts. He then requested me to collect the expenses I had incurred on my Calcutta visit and at the end said: “I would like you to join my company, just sit with Mr. S. C. Sen (CPO Sir), discuss your emoluments and take your offer letter today itself, alright, and welcome aboard.”

I was shocked, stunned and almost fainted, what is he talking about? I never ever thought of joining this company even in my dreams and here the Chairman of the company himself offering me a job. Was I day-dreaming or is it true? After expressing my sincere thanks and gratitude, I came out of his chamber and went straight to Mr. Swamy’s cabin.

Mr. Swamy first congratulated me and said with his big smile “You did it Charan, Chairman Sir is very happy with you, now come and join us fast." He also told me that, the Company was offering me a job in marketing division, which I should accept without any hitch or hesitation. He then asked me to follow him to the CPO sir's cabin, for final discussions on my induction.

On my way back home, I was thinking and wondering about the whole episode. I never thought that I would ever join one of my client’s companies which not only gave me a good salary but also offered a Bungalow with servant quarter, company car with driver, free school bus facilities for children and full medical facilities for my entire family.

Mr. Karamscandani did not join them; instead he went back to Delhi to be with his previous employer. Now, after 23 years, when I think in retrospect, I strongly believe that it was all HIS doing and the blessings of my parents that a dear friend like Mr. S. L. Swamy, came into my life, who happens to be one of the best gifts of God in my life.

With Prayers

Gurcharan