HIS True Blessing in Disguise

I was waiting for my elder daughter since long at the old Delhi railway station; she was coming from Kotdwar by Garhwal Express train. The train was late for more than an hour; it finally arrived at the station after eleven O’-clock and we reached home in Gurgaon after mid-night from the Station.

The Next day morning she was to visit State Government University at Greater Noida with me for her personal interview for Admission into PhD. course. But I could not get up from the bed, the next morning, due to giddiness.

However, I arranged a private-taxi and sent her alone to Greater Noida, so that she could attend the said interview on schedule. Meanwhile, I have informed my senior about my sickness and requested for a sick leave, which was immediately granted to me.

I have experienced a totally new type of feeling & sense of belonging; first time in my life. I have realized, I am truly cared, loved & wanted by my family members. I am not a money making machine alone, who is working day-in & day-out for earning livelihood for the family; no, not at all. I experienced altogether new feelings of a human-being, who also needs: care, concern, comfort, rest & peace of mind in life. I do not have an iota of confusion or doubt in my mind anymore; they all truly love me very much from the bottom of their hearts, it's proven.

I have never fallen sick in my entire life. Therefore, I was not aware of these facts, which was discovered by me due to my current sickness. My beloved wife and all my three daughters were so much worried, tense & aggrieved that they were going out of their way to make me comfortable and all of them were on their toes to do everything possible, which could make me happy, healthy, calm and comfortable.

My wife, who has gone to her parents place at Jamshedpur to look after her ailing mother, was continuously over her mobile phone from Jamshedpur; my elder daughter was calling me from her University at Greater Noida, where she had gone in the morning to attend her interview; second daughter, who is working as a SST-Teacher in a Public School, was regularly sending me sms’s from her school to enquire about my health condition; and the youngest one was with me through-out the day. She did not go to her college, instead took me to the Doctor and informed him about my old habit of continuously using laptop till late night at home on regular basis. Thank God, my mother was not aware of my sickness; otherwise, she would have straightway landed at my place alone from our Punjab-home-town.

After thorough check-ups, the Doctor pronounced that I may be suffering from cervical symptom. I was advised to take complete rest, sleep on hard bed without a pillow, avoid watching TV and working on Laptop for some time. He opined-due to excess work on Laptop could be the root-cause. He prescribed me lots of medicines and also taught me a few stretching exercises, which I must follow religiously and asked me to report after few days, once I recovered from my present crisis.

After seeing the Doctor and on the way back home, we bought medicines too. They gave me the first dose of medicines and forced me to sleep. Thereafter they were closely monitoring my sleep, without making any noise. My room-TV was switched-off; Laptop & Mobile were removed from my room and they kept on visiting my room on an hourly basis. They used to have only one question on their lips, whenever they see me, face to face: “How are you feeling now, Papa?”

During the Rakhi Purnima day, my daughters used to feel very sad because they were having no brother and at the same time, I was having no sister as we are three brothers. But with the grace of God Almighty, that vacuum was also filled by my lord and my daughters had tied me Rakhi on that day. They possibly wanted me to have ‘Feel-Good’ feelings and that’s why they were making every possible effort to make me happy.

It’s very difficult for me to explain in words the care, concern, emotions & love I have seen in their actions, gestures & eyes, it was so genuine, honest, true & transparent, as if the Lord has sent HIS Angels to my house to take care of me, I am truly obliged to see HIS gratitude, love & affection towards me. I pray to God Almighty to bless every couple of this universe with such a great, holy & wonderful gift of our Mother Nature in the form of a Baby-Girl, Amen!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Main objective of our Life is diluted in the beginning and forgotten at the end

I was wondering, why two Individuals must enter into a relationship. Let me elaborate this further: my mother and wife, who I know personally, they don’t have any individuality of their own. Say for example, my wife was a daughter and sister till the age of 18; got married at the age of 19; at 21, she became a mother. She is 50 years old now but she still lives like a mother first, then daughter and at the end wife; that too, when she comes in front of me, face to face, she immediately changes into the role of a wife by compulsion and not by choice. But at bottom of her heart, she was and she remains to be a mother first.

I always tried to tell my wife and daughter that they are individual beings; they owe a lot to themselves first. Please listen to inner voice of your own soul and then act accordingly. But I am sorry; they don’t buy my logic, any more.

As someone rightly remarked - “Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains.” These chains may be bonds of relations or values or something else. We are so bound to act in a set pattern and according to norms, either to please our family or the society or the world as a whole. I fail to understand why this happens to us, always? Through out our lives, we all play different roles as different characters and at the end we die as parents, grand-parents or some times even as a child alone; but the matter of the fact is, this type of relationship goes all along our life. Though, for our relatives this relationship it stays till the end.

I have seen a man/woman playing different kind of roles in his/her entire life-span, in the form of different characters and relationships, say for example: -

1) An individual born as a boy or girl, 1st relation is with their mother

2) 2nd relationship they develop with their father, brother & sister

3) 3rd relationship with their respective spouse

4) 4th relationship with their In-laws, relatives & friends

5) And later, they become parent, and this goes on and on…

Here my point is: why two individuals can not remain as Individual human being only; without getting involved into any kind of emotional or physical relationship? I strongly feel that I am an individual soul born on this earth with a defined, definite and specific goal/objective/target.

This gifted Life’s prime objective was to achieve the said goal with our sincere, hard work and dedicated efforts. By not following it we are defying the will of the God. As per face value, this journey of life looks too long & on the way, we sometimes feel exhausted, tired, gone astray and/or get deviated from our main goal, objective & target.

Therefore, to cross this very long and unfamiliar distance, we need a guide, companion, friend, mentor or a true Master, who can help and support us in treading toward our final destination safely and without hindrance. In other words, we are actually looking for a fool-proof, safe, short & defined road map so that we can put our right foot forward towards the said destination with complete mind, body & soul.

On the way, when we feel alone, exhausted, worn out and tired, we strongly feel the need of another companion. At the same time, it becomes our only un-fulfilled wish to be with someone as our partner and co-passenger, who can come along on this dry, tough, rough, long, unknown road, which is bumpy all along.

We closed our eyes and started living in an illusion that this transit place is actually our permanent house, all relationship which we have developed on the way will remain with us forever & we will never die.

By default, during the said journey, we forget the main goal, objective and target for which we were actually born as human beings and this transit-point is not our final-destination, but unfortunately, the main goal, objective and target is completely forgotten or buried by us in a way that it never surface again.

We play so many roles as doer and not as decider, i.e. we act like a son, brother, husband, son-in-law, father, employee, friend, relative, writer, philosopher, preacher, lecturer and so on, but we must not forget even for a split of second that we are playing a particular character/role for the time being, because each of us have a unique soul and we will act until our role demands, but we can’t be a son or husband or father for rest of our life?

We do play a particular role for the time being and again we would get back to our original-selves, as an individual first. I was born as a human being, came on this earth with a mission to complete, a task given to me by my Master the Supreme God or you may call HIM by another name of your choice.

But, it’s easier said then done. I have always seen my mother and wife looking the whole world from Mother’s perspective only. Both of them are individual souls, must be having so many dreams, hobbies, likings, missions, objectives, tastes, targets and visions, which they might have thought of in their initial lives, when they were young, but they had to bury everything at their parent’s house and later they are trying to fulfill the ambition, commitment, dream, obligation, promise, short, mid and long term targets of their Husband, Children, Relatives and Friends first; while performing this role and fulfilling those commitments, suddenly, they pass away from this universe, without completing their prime goal, objective and target; how pathetic, sad and sorry state of affairs, isn’t it?

In our society, same thing is true for any other relationship for that matter. I have seen my Bapu ji (father) doing everything for me, my mother and brothers. He never used to buy anything for himself. I being the eldest son, he used to take me to the market on the week-ends and buy me lots of toys, food, soft drinks, chocolates, ice cream and clothes, but I had never seen him eating or buying anything for himself from the market. But, I had always seen him enjoying, having good feel with broad smile on his face to see me enjoying, laughing and dancing with excitement, happiness and joy. I used to enjoy those free goodies and he used to be satisfied just by looking at me and his biggest satisfaction came on his face when I used to tell him: “I am done, let’s go home now.”

In this whole gamut, we miss one thing and that is, the prime objective of our life, which the God Almighty had given to us at the time of our birth; that is totally forgotten. I was told, we got this life of a human being after completing a life-circle of 83, 99, 999 different lives and blessed in the 84th lakh life of a human being; the main and the only objective of this birth was to merge with the creator of the universe, like a drop of water merge with the ocean, which was diluted in the beginning itself and forgotten at the end.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

HE wishes us good luck, always! But strange are HIS ways

By the time I reached Gurgaon Toll Plaza, it was almost ten thirty at night but even at this late hour, there was heavy congestion and a long queue wait at the exit lane. I thought, the pre-paid tag lane would move faster but here also the scene was the same. I was waiting in the queue, when suddenly my car was hit from the back by another speeding car so forcefully that my car hit against another car parked in front of my car. My car was badly damaged from both ends. The owner of the front car came frantically towards me and when he found my car was also damaged, he proceeded towards the car behind me and started yelling.

As there was no response from that car, that had collided with our cars. I went towards the front window and knocked on the glass but still no response came. Meanwhile, the other car owner pushed me aside and opened the front door of the car in a fury. We both were taken aback when a body of a woman (who was driving the car) collapsed in his hands. The man started screaming in panic. Meanwhile, crowd gathered at the accident site and people in the other cars in the queue started shouting to move our cars from the main lane and settle scores separately.

I moved ahead and checked the pulse of the victim she was alive but had fainted due to the impact of the accident. Suddenly, I noticed that her fore-head was bleeding profusely. Immediately, I removed her from the car seat and placed her in my car, then pushed her car to one corner and rushed her to the nearby Hospital.

Before I could reach the Hospital, police arrived and started investigating me with a series of questions about the victim, car, accident and how and when and whys? With great difficulty, I could explain to the Police Officer everything in detail about the incident, who seemed to be a very reasonable person. After listening to my story, he went out of the way in extending full support and helped me all along to get the patient admitted to the Hospital’s Emergency ward.

Meanwhile, I almost forgot to call my wife in a hurry, I had left my mobile phone in the car. So, I went to the parking zone and picked my mobile from the car. I found that there were nine missed calls, five from my wife and four from my daughters. The Emergency ward’s big clock had struck 12'O-clock. I thought that my family members must have been damn worried for not answering their calls. With great hesitation, I called my wife and told her about the accident. On learning about the accident, she started crying. After lot of explanation, I consoled her and assured her that everything was fine and I would be back as soon as I am done with the Hospital formalities.

Meanwhile, I had to fill out the forms and submit my Credit Card for advance payment. The victim was rushed to the Operation Theatre [O.T.]. After fifteen minutes, the O.T. Nurse came out and told me to arrange three bottles of blood from the Blood Bank, on priority. She explained that due to head injury, the patient had lost lot of blood and her Blood Pressure was dipping down. I contacted the Police officer, he arranged for the blood using his influence with the Blood Bank on top priority.

I was sitting at the lounge, when the sister came out of the OT and informed me that the operation was successful and they will be shifting the patient to the cabin. Thereafter, I came to her cabin and sat down on the sofa lying near the bed. She was still under the influence of anesthesia and was sleeping. I found that she was a fair looking woman in her early-forties, and her head, nose, left ear, neck and chest were covered with bandages. I was feeling very sorry for her. I didn’t know who to call from her family as her purse and mobile phone were left in her car parked at the Toll Plaza office. Therefore, I had no option but to wait until her consciousness is restored and she tells who could be contacted in her family.

I was very upset, scared and tense thinking that her family members must be worried about her. I didn’t even know her name, although I knew, Police would be able to trace her family from the car registration no. I didn’t know when I went to sleep while sitting on the sofa. I woke up only when the morning shift Nurse came and called me. She thought I was her family and assured me that she (patient) would be fine within a couple of days.

I was told, she was driving at a speed of 90 KMPH, and on reaching the Toll Plaza she applied the brake which did not work and bumped into our cars with full force. The impact was so strong that she could not escape the serious injuries, she suffered from.

Meanwhile, around six in the morning an old lady (seemed to be her mother) came rushing into the cabin. She was crying and calling the patient ‘Simran’. She then looked at me and offered her heart felt thanks and handed me an envelope filled with thousand rupee notes. I refused to accept it and after much persuasion that I would settle my account later, she agreed to keep it back.

I left the cabin and assured Mrs. Kapoor (mother of the victim) that I will be back by noon and meet the Doctor. After getting relieved from the Hospital, first of all I left my damaged car at the workshop and collected a replacement car. From there, I went to Toll Plaza and arranged to shift the victim's car also to the workshop collecting her personal belongings from the car, which included her purse, two mobile phones and her laptop-bag. Then, I went home to take bath and returned to the Hospital around one 'o-clock.

Mrs. Kapoor was sitting near the patient and the patient was still fast asleep. I bought two cups of coffee and offered one to Mrs. Kapoor. With a bit of hesitation, she accepted the cup. Meanwhile, a team of Doctors entered the cabin and started examining the patient.

After thorough check-up, the senior most Doctor informed that the patient was required to stay for a longer period due to her injuries being severe.

Fifteen days had passed since the accident but she was still in the Hospital. The patient, Dr. Simran (Kapoor) Mehdiratha, 41 years, divorced, a PhD. in Micro-Biology was employed in a multi-national Pharmaceutical Company in Gurgaon as a Research Scientist. On the accident night, she was returning home after attending a wedding Reception of her colleague from a five star Hotel in New Delhi.

She was living with her mother in a 3-BHK Duplex and driving an expensive German car. Her daughter, a student of class-X, was in a boarding school at Ajmer. Her ex-husband was a Medical Practitioner, who remarried an MBBS-Doctor, leaving his daughter with Simran and at present settled abroad with his second wife. Simran decided not to marry again though her mother kept insisting. As a result of this accident, Simaran lost hearing of her right ear; two front teeth got knocked out, nose broken, forehead with twelve stitches, neck with a large scar mark and her chest still hurting. Apparently she seemed alright but her beautiful face had become somewhat dull and drab.

Doctors tried their best to restore hearing of her right ear with no success. These past fifteen days, I used to visit her daily in the evening but it was her mother who was talking with me all the time but Simran didn’t utter a word. She used to write on a piece of paper all relevant details, sign a few blank cheques for me to settle the expenses of Car repair and Hospital bills. I was little surprised, when nobody turned up from her office all these fifteen days. It was only her mother who used to visit her everyday. I would visit her in the evening and sit down for an hour or so every day, just to make her feel-good but she never exchanged any word though. Many a times, I saw in her eyes lot of pain, anguish and tears. The accident had caused her once bright face to look dull, drab and listless. She had sparkling dark brown big round eyes, which at a glance looked intoxicating.

During my last visit, Mrs. Kapoor asked me to come at 10 A.M. next day to complete the formalities at the hospital for her discharge. So, I reached the Hospital and completed all the formalities and collected the case-history, prescription, medicines and her diet-chart etc. I also made necessary appointments with the Neurosurgeon, ENT Specialist & Orthopedic Doctors at the OPD for her next week’s visit. By the time I returned to the Cabin, Simran had changed into Salwar-kamiz on her own and was looking totally different. Her mother, Mrs. Kapoor went to see the Nursing Staff to pay her sincere thanks while Simran sat on the sofa reading a book.

The moment, I entered, she got up, came rushing to me, hugged me and started crying non-stop. I was totally stunned. I tried to console her but she stopped me by putting her fingers on my mouth. Her tears were flowing uncontrollably and I did not know how to console her. At that very moment, Mrs. Kapoor entered the cabin and asked “Can we go now, Simran?” Simran shook her head and both moved towards the exit door.

In bewilderment, I asked Mrs. Kapoor: “why can’t Simran talk to me, Mrs. Kapoor", why, why?” Her eyes welled up and tears rolled down her cheeks and she answered in a gloomy voice- I am sorry son, she has lost her speech too in this accident. Hearing this new revelation, I was shocked and dumb founded not knowing what to say and tried to avoid eye contact with Simran and her mother but SRI GANAPATI BAPPA, the presiding deity of the Hospital Reception was staring straight into my eyes smiling continuously as if saying ‘strange are HIS ways’!!!

With Prayers

Gurcharan