STRANGE ARE HIS WAYS!

I was waiting since long at the Patratu Railway station for the train which was late by four hours; the actual time of arrival was 5.23: AM and now its half past nine but there was no sign of the train. I came here from Jamshedpur on Monday afternoon by bus via Ranchi to visit one of our prospective clients who had invited us to participate in their Tender Opening exercise of industrial consumable products. They kept the second day for the final negotiation meeting with the Tender Committee, which was to be attended by the three lowest bidders and we happened to be the L-1 vendor.

After a long discussions and tough negotiations, we closed the sales deal in our favour with the client in a win-win situation.  They wanted delivery of the material strictly as per their monthly schedule and we requested for hundred percent payments against delivery. They accepted our payment terms with third party inspection clause before despatch which we agreed without any hitch, simply because we were fully confident about our product quality.

I was staying at the company Guest House for two nights and on Wednesday morning I was going back home to Jamshedpur. Luckily the JammuTawi-Hatia-Tata Express train was running late, hence I decided to go by this train. It was more than an hour since I was waiting at the Platform but there was no intimation of the train yet. 

Finally the train arrived at the platform around eleven o'clock and I boarded the AC coach.  After two minutes halt the train started, while checking my ticket, the ticket collector told me that this train will be divided into two parts at Moori Railway Station which will come after two and half hours; all AC coaches will be attached to the train going to Hatia Railway Station. Therefore, I must shift to the sleeper coach at Muri station to continue my journey towards Tatanagar. 

There was no option but to continue my journey in the same train and with a heavy heart I shifted to the sleeper coach at Muri station, which was almost empty. As informed, at Moori station the train was divided into two parts, and all the seven sleeper coaches and AC coaches were attached to the train going to Hatia and the remaining eight sleeper coaches, one general coach and one parcel van were attached with the train going to Tatanagar Railway Station. 

After thirty-five minutes, our train started again. I was sitting near the window seat when I saw one middle aged tall fair looking gentleman running towards our sleeper coach; he was carrying one soft luggage in one hand and a book in another hand. I rushed towards the entrance gate and took his soft luggage with one hand and simultaneously pulled him inside the train with another hand.  Meanwhile, the train had already picked-up the speed. 

The said gentleman was still breathing very heavily. He thanked me and we both sat down on our respective seats.  First I offered him my bottle of water, which he politely refused, at the same time he took out a water bottle from his luggage which was having very little quantity of water inside. He drank all the water available in the bottle and kept the empty bottle aside. He thanked me again for all my help and started reading his book an English fiction: Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand, one of my favourites. I also took out my book and started reading. But somehow, I could not concentrate on my book. I was having a very strong feeling that I knew this gentleman but I could not remember where I had met him before.

We had hardly travelled thirty minutes or so when suddenly the train stopped. When I looked out from my window, I saw no station nearby and the train was standing on a vacant land. I could see nobody on either side. Ten minutes had passed but the train was still not moving. I saw my co-passengers getting up from his seat and moving towards the exit gate, after few minutes he came back to his seat and started reading his book again. He wanted to say something but I was busy reading my book hence he kept quiet. 

Half an hour had passed since but the train had still not moved. I could not control myself and decided to find out the reason of the delay. I got down from the train and saw lots of passengers also standing on the opposite track and gossiping with one another. I moved towards the Guard’s Cabin which was at the rare end of the train. When I reached the guard’s cabin I saw nobody in the guard’s coach, I started wondering where he might have gone. I kept waiting for a few more minutes and I saw him coming from the other side. On his arrival I enquired from him about the reason of unscheduled halt in this desert land. 

He replied to me in Bengali language that he came to know from the railway crossing staff, whom he has just met, that somebody had stolen the fish-plates and some parts of the rails are also missing in-between the track; hence our train had stopped. The railway track mobile staff had noticed this and they immediately informed the concerned stations and saved so many lives and railway property. Otherwise, there could have been a big accident.  The railway’s repairing train was coming within half an hour from Muri station and they would take approximately two hours to get the track repaired. It was three o'clock in the afternoon and by the time I will reach home, it will be late evening. I was getting worried and I could see no hope to reach home early under the presence circumstances. I was thinking seriously and started moving towards the sleeper coach. On arrival at my seat I could not see my co-passenger, I thought he might have gone to the toilet and started reading my book again. 

I had finished reading one page of my book when I saw him coming back with empty water bottle in his hand, he was sweating profusely. After he settled down in his seat, he interrupted me with a straight question: “Why this train stopped in-between, any idea?” I looked straight into his eyes and narrated the entire version of the train-guard.

He shook his head in dismay and said: “Oh my God, we would have been in big trouble, how long would it take to complete the repair work?” I replied: “At-least two hours or more”. I could see him getting tense and worried, his fair skin was shining with reddish glow and he was uttering a few words to himself which I could not understood and requested him to repeat his question again. He then introduced himself and told me the purpose of his visit and the reason of his travelling in a sleeper coach.

When he told me what his name was and where he was working in a company in Jharkhand.  I immediately remembered who he was? He was the Managing Director of a particular company where I had met him in the past. Since his company used to take turnkey projects of material handling equipments, he must have come to attend the negotiation meeting with the same client where I have visited. 

He informed me that he was sitting in the AC-First coach and when the train started; his co-passengers informed him that the AC train is going towards Hatia and not Tatanagar. Therefore, he immediately jumped from his train which was still running in a slow speed. By the time he came towards our train this train had also started picking up speed; hence he was running to catch this train.

I also briefed him about myself and the reason of my travelling with him in this train. In the beginning he was behaving very strangely and keeping to himself. Maybe his position and his big status was the reason of his adamant and egotistic behaviour but in the present circumstances he was having no choice hence he started communication with me under compulsion. I offered him my Bourbon biscuits packet and water bottle which he accepted without any hesitation this time.

I saw lots of passengers going towards one direction, I told my co-passenger to wait in the train and I also rushed towards the same direction where all the other passengers were going. I was surprised to see a small Hut which was over crowded and I was immensely surprised to see an old tribal woman frying snacks and one old man sitting next to her preparing tea in a big aluminium tumbler which probably was not washed since ages. Everyone was asking for tea and snacks; the old lady was serving her clients with one hand and in-between was also frying those snacks with equal speed. I also saw one hand-pump near the Hut where lots of passengers were drinking water.

     

First I paid for one plate of snacks and tea which was served in mud-bowl, I rushed towards the train and with lots of hesitation handed over the same to my co-passenger. Although I was having my doubts that he would accept my offering but to my surprise he not only accepted it but also started eating without raising any doubt or suspicion. I went back to the Hut once again and bought snacks and tea for myself. I finished my snacks and tea standing near the Hut. Later, I filled both the water bottles from the near-by hand-pump and came back to my seat. I offered him his bottle of water and kept my bottle on my seat. 

He took out his purse and offered me a fifty rupee note for snacks, tea and water. With both my folded hands I returned his money and requested him not to bother about it anymore, simply because I paid rupees ten only for snacks and tea; water was free. If he was having five rupee he could give me; otherwise he could simply forget it because I don’t have change for his fifty rupee note.

I could visualize that my co-passenger was very upset and equally surprised to see the chain of events happening since morning. He was trying to connect the dots between the incidents but failed to justify the sequence in which it happened in today’s journey. For him, it was neither his Office nor the Board Room where everything  happens the way he would like them to happen in a precise manner with a very clear objective, proper planning and thorough road map. He saw today, how the train passengers were served hot snacks and tea by an old tribal couple for a bare minimum amount although they could have charged exorbitant price for the tea and snacks in a place where nothing was available at that point of time. Instead, they tried to serve everyone without discriminating on the basis of caste, creed and status or choosing buyers on the basis of the highest bidder. They seemed to be very honest, simple, straight forward and God loving people who simply wanted to serve humanity without being biased and expecting no obligation or reward in return. 

It was a story in contrast; one with his egotistic nature pretending to be a man holding high position in the society and here was one couple at the lowest rung of the society not bothering whom they were serving. Strange are the ways of the Omnipresent Almighty, who plays his own game in his own ways!

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Destiny has its own ways

I was returning to Delhi after attending Bhog-ceremony (Prayer Meeting) of my mother-in-law at Jamshedpur. I was supposed to board Puri-New Delhi Neelanchal Express train from Tata Nagar station at 8:PM but the train was running late by half an hour. By the time it reached station it was 9: PM and I rushed towards AC-II tier coach to board the said train. Since I had booked my ticket the day before by Tatkaal (Under urgent booking) I got the side-lower berth, which made me sick, simply because during the day time you can’t sleep on the lower berth, reason being the same seat would be shared by the person who has been assigned the side upper berth; but the person who got side upper berth could sleep throughout the journey without any interruption.

Meanwhile, the train left Tatanagar and was crossing Chandil station when suddenly an old Lady approached me to exchange her upper berth with my side-lower berth; due to her joint pain she was unable to climb the upper berth. I was left with no option but to offer my seat to the old lady and I made her sit on my berth. I simply picked my handbag and shifted to her upper berth leaving my lower birth seat for her. Since I was not feeling sleepy, I decided to sit on the lower berth (Which was still not occupied) and started reading my book. I had hardly read few pages when again I was approached by the same old lady and this time she offered me a plastic plate full of sweets and fruits. She also offered me a small bottle of mineral water. I was almost in a dilemma and was totally confused as what to do next, whether to refuse it or accept?

Before I could respond and/or express my views, she gave me one more plastic bowl full of sweet-curd; she told me in her soft voice to start eating my dinner. I wished I could eat so much of sweets in a day but very politely returned both items to her with thanks. She did not like my gesture and asked me to wait; and then took out two cheese sandwiches, packet of chocolate cream biscuits, two tomato ketchup pouches and handed over these items on another plate. Meanwhile, she instructed me to sit down beside her on her seat and start eating my food immediately without any-more argument or refusal. Simultaneously, she also started eating her dinner. Suddenly, she remembered something and immediately kept her food-tray on the seat, took out another plastic box from her bag and started preparing her injection which she was supposed to take before her meals. She must be a Diabetic patient and that’s why she was taking this insulin injection. But then how come she was eating so much of sweets, and fruits were anybody’s guess.

I was left with no option but to eat my dinner along with my co-passenger who was no more a stranger to me. During our dinner, she told me her part of the story without any hesitation as if I were no more a stranger but a very close relative whom she was meeting after a long interval. She came to attend a house warming party at her relatives place in Jamshedpur where her older son’s in-laws were living and she was going back to meet her daughter who was living alone in Delhi. She was having two grown up kids; older son was a big heart surgeon settled in Kolkata and her daughter was younger to him, who was working as a Neurologist in a private hospital in Delhi. Hence, the old lady would be staying for a few months with her daughter, who was a divorcee.

She keeps travelling between Delhi and Kolkata and very rare she visits Jamshedpur, She had been an extensively travelling woman because her husband was working for an MNC in Kolkata as a Director (Exports) and both had travelled around the world several times. But now she does not enjoy travelling alone at all. It was almost eleven o'clock at night but she was still talking and she had also not allowed me to move away from her seat. I asked her very politely if she was feeling sleepy but she replied negatively. She hardly sleeps at night, because she goes to the toilet several times at night; hence she was unable to get a peaceful sleep at night.

She must be around seventy years old, very fair looking lady with a very tall and bulky physique. She lost her husband when she was around forty years or so. Her daughter could not have a successful married life due to high ambitions and strong ego clash between the two personalities. Both were very successful Doctors in their respective fields but her husband was not from such a rich family whereas she was from a filthy rich family and came from elite society. One fine day he left India along with one of his Punjabi Doctor friend who was working with him as his colleague. They both got settled in Ontario City of Canada as permanent resident. Their only daughter was studying in the United States and was doing her Master’s in Gynaecology. 

Since then her daughter had decided to live alone, never to get married again in this lifetime and dedicated her entire life to the medical profession. But somehow the old lady was not convinced with her daughter’s decision and she was repeatedly requesting her daughter to give marriage one more chance. So she came to Jamshedpur with one hidden agenda to see one prospective and suitable match for her daughter also. Everything was fine except that the boy was not from a Bengali Brahmin family whereas they were much respected Brahmin family of Burdwan District of West Bengal.

The prospective groom was a Bengali gentleman belonged to the Kaystha community of Krishna Nagar town of West Bengal. He was working as a Chief Medical Officer in a private hospital. Although married at an early age, their marriage could not last even for one year and both had decided to separate amicably. Since then he was living with his old parents at Jamshedpur. And by chance he happened to be the next door neighbour of her son’s in-law’s place in Jamshedpur.

Everything was fine and the prospective groom was also ready to shift to Delhi if the need be but still she was not fully convinced with this proposal and wanted some more time to think about it. Although her relatives had arranged their personal meeting on Skype yesterday and both seemed satisfied with the first interaction. But the old lady was not very happy with her daughter’s approach. She took all the personal details of the prospective groom for horoscope matching and further consultation with her family priest. 

It was two o'clock at night as we entered Gaya junction. The old lady wanted to drink tea at this hour of night, but the tea available on the platform was with sugar. Therefore, I rushed to the pantry along with a small Thermos on Platform number one and requested the waiter for hot water (Tea bags and milk powder pouches were available with us) so that I could make tea for the old lady. The old lady added two sugar free tablets in her cup of tea and gave me lots of blessings. After that I said goodnight to her and went to my upper berth for sleep. 

I woke up around eight in the morning. I saw the old lady was sitting on the lower berth below my seat and sipping her cup of tea. I got down from my berth first touched her feet in respect and then proceeded towards wash room. I came back and sat down along with her and spoke to her in Bengali language whether she had a good night sleep at night? She was so shocked to see me talking to her in Bengali which made her stand still and she was almost silent for few seconds. Actually, last night we were communicating in English and Hindi language only. Then, she started laughing uninterruptedly and became very happy to listen to my Bengali-pronunciation. I gave her my brief introduction and my family connection with Bengal which made me more Bengali than a Punjabi. I was born and brought up at Kolkata and after finishing my studies I worked in Kolkata for many years. Thereafter, first I shifted to Jamshedpur and later at Gurgaon for serving my employers.

After having our break-fast, we again sat down together and started discussing about Bengali literature. I realized the old lady was a voracious reader of Bengali fictions and she had read all the top most Bengali Authors right from: - Ashapurna Devi, Ashotosh Mukherjee, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibhuti Bhushan Mukhopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, Budhadev Guha, Bimal Kar, Chanakya Sen, Mahasweta Devi, Narayan Sanyal, Rabindernath Tagore, Sharat Chandra, Shankar, Samresh Basu/ Kaalkoot, Sunil Gangaopadhyay, Shailesh Dey, Tara Shankar Bandhopadhyay and many more. She was wondering how come I have read these books. I told her that after attending my Morning College, I used to spend the whole day in the National Library, Kokata where I used to read, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Malayali and Marathi literatures (Most of the books were available In Hindi translation also).

Thereafter, she kept quiet and meanwhile I also started reading my book. The right time for arrival of this train at New Delhi station was eight pm but the train was running two hours late. Therefore we were expected to reach New Delhi station after 10 PM at night. By the time we entered the platform no. 12 of New Delhi station it was 11:30 PM at night. At this late hour, I could not get Metro train for Gurgaon; similarly she too could not get a Metro train for Noida, where her daughter lived. I enquired whether her daughter would be coming to station to pick her up. The lady said “no” and started walking towards the staircase along with her trolley and shoulder bag. 

I interrupted her in between and requested her to come along with me to my house so that I could drop her the next morning at her Noida home. She did not agree with me and rather insisted to go to Noida in pre-paid taxi. I could not allow her to go alone at that hour of night. Therefore, I made her round to come along with me in a Taxi; that will go to her Noida home first and after dropping her I will proceed towards my home at Gurgaon and to this arrangement she consented happily. 

We reached her daughter’s flat at sector 18, Noida at about 1 o-clock night. The flat was on the tenth floor of a high-rise building; with the second call bell, a beautiful lady of middle-age opened the door and I was literally very shocked to see Mrs. Sutopa Majumdar standing at the door. I knew pretty well that she could not recognize me; even then she invited me to come inside, have a cup of coffee and then proceed towards Gurgaon. I simply asked her pardon and got myself excused on the pretext of getting late and after making the old lady comfortable, I left for my residence.

While sitting in the taxi, I was wondering that world was so small and in-spite of so many crowds around, sometimes we bump into those people we have never thought of meeting even in our wildest dreams but our destiny has its own plans. Mrs. Sutopa Majumdar’s ex-husband was married to my first cousin (Punjabi Doctor) who was now settled in Canada. As a matter of fact my sister has discussed about her husband’s ex-wife several times in the past; whom that old lady was cursing throughout her journey in the train.

With Prayers

Gurcharan

She will always remain in our hearts forever!

My beloved wife had gone to Jamshedpur in the month of June-2013 to look after her ailing mother who was suffering from acute liver problem. Since then I was staying alone at my Gurgaon home without her physical presence. In our married life of over thirty years, this was the first time that my wife had stayed away from me for so long. After passing of each day my staying alone in my own house became more and more difficult. Although my two beautiful daughters were there and taking good care of me but the personal touch of my wife was missing and so was her powerful persona. The vacuum was so significant and apparent that it couldn't be ignored at all; and it was crystal clear to me that this void could not to be filled by any other person on this earth, except my wife, I am hundred percent sure about it now.

No doubt my daughters are the real proof of my existence in this world but they came into my life only after my wife’s arrival and I can say this without any hitch or hesitation that my dear wife is the only person on this universe whose physical presence can make me a complete man. I felt totally lost, incomplete in all respects and my creativity, confidence, patience, persistence and positive thinking had been drained; my understanding towards life went down with each passing day. It goes without saying that she is my life-line and without her, my life is not at all moving ahead, in short, it’s my wife who is the main inspiration of my life.  

Although my daughters were very much here with me but still I just couldn't make myself happy and at peace with myself. I could see my better half’s signature all around my house, mind and soul. I can also say this much without an iota of any doubt that she has become my habit and it’s next to impossible to get rid of my old habits. I continue to seek her advice, guidance and instructions at the same time I also miss her interference, fights, care, concern and last but not the least her constant worry about my well being, which has repeatedly reminded me of her affection and love towards me.

I have also realized one more thing today that she loves me and my daughters very much but she loves her mother the most, of course she does. I don’t feel jealous, scared or threatened by this noble act of her dedication, devotion and love towards her mother.  Frankly speaking, my respect towards her has become deeper and all of a sudden her personality became very tall in front of me. But still I am not at all feeling scared, insulted and ignored by her present behaviour. She deserved all the praise for her kindness and it’s obvious that there is no substitute of motherhood. Nobody can take mother’s place in this world because she is the first person in our lives who introduces us to this world. I came to know about my father through my mother only. I can make a statement without any doubt that I have not seen my Lord but I am sure HE must be like my mother only?

I can’t forget the day, when for the first time, I met my mother-in-law, who had come to Calcutta to meet with us from Jamshedpur along with her husband. She did not ask my salary or enquired about our residential accommodation, whether it was our own house or rented? However, she had already met two prospective boys for her daughter earlier on that day and I was the third option in the row. She was looking for a suitable match for her daughter who was then studying in school but due to the pressure from the senior members of her family she wanted to finalize a suitable match for her daughter. And her only condition was an educated boy who must be earning fairly good salary and could take good care of her daughter.

I must say, that day was a very lucky day of my life because on that very day I got my first appointment letter from my employer. I showed the said letter to them but they simply returned without even looking at it and offered me their congratulations. I think that was the most important incident of my life that had turned the wheel of my life to a different direction altogether which has proven right at a much later date.

In-spite of being the mother of three grown up daughters my wife still looks very elegant  simple, sober and very straight forward person. I can straight-away confess without any hesitation that from every aspect and angle she was much better person, daughter, wife, mother and a very nice human being as compared to me. There can be no comparison between two of us. It was our Mummy ji (My mother-in-law) who had influenced and convinced my wife to accept me as her husband without giving much consideration to my simple looks and not so developed personality; and I will never forget her far-sightedness in blessing my family.

Last year she had a paralytic attack and since then she could not stand up on her own feet. She was provided with all kind of medical help but no improvement was noticed in her condition. Gradually her diet also started dropping down drastically. In-spite of sincere efforts of the family she could not recover. And one day her family physician advised to admit her in the hospital so that all the necessary medical tests could be conducted on her.

On hearing about her mother’s deteriorating health condition, finally on June-13,  2013 my wife along with her sister rushed to Jamshedpur to look after her ailing mother. Mummy ji was admitted in the private hospital where the entire prescribed tests were conducted except one test which was sent to Kolkata for final investigation and results. The said report came after three days, as expected; the results of these tests were another big shock to the family when the attending doctor announced with a very heavy heart that she was suffering from lung cancer which was at an advanced stage. The doctor advised the family to take the patient home, take good care of her and pray for her fast recovery.

Although it was very clear in the eyes of her Doctors that in-spite of their best efforts nothing more could be done and she was discharged from the hospital to avoid their helplessness. After spending a week long in the hospital, Mummy ji came back home. Meanwhile, she stopped communicating with the family members any-more  She also stopped taking solid food and was shifted to liquid diets. Her health was going down day by day; simultaneously, her pain was also increasing with each passing day. 

One fine morning she stopped taking the liquid diets also but her body was getting swelled, all her clothes started bursting from the seams particularly from her stomach. A group of senior Doctors were called again to check the new development which was very alarming. And after the thorough check-up, they expressed their helplessness and advised the family with a very heavy voice that her days were numbered and all the family members should pray to God Almighty so that the patient can get fastest relief from her existing pain which was not only very severe but unbearable also. As expected, all the members of the family were continuously offering their prayers but at the same time their eyes were over-flowing with the unstoppable tears.

On the morning of June-26, Mummy ji started vomiting blood and she was immediately shifted to the hospital. All the resident doctors and nurses at the hospital were very sincere and they took all major steps under their control and tried everything possible to keep the patient alive. Finally on the fifth day, after long discussions with the medical fraternity at the hospital, they decided to put the patient on ventilator. While the nurse was planning to shift the patient to ICU our Mummy ji decided to take her last breath at around 3-PM on June-30, 2013 and she left us all alone without uttering a single word to anyone.

All of a sudden our Mummy ji had gone far, very far away, leaving us all alone in this cruel world but she left with us her sweet memories and a gave us a big relief that finally she was free from all her agonies, pains and sufferings. We are sure our Mummy ji must be at peace and residing in our Lord’s paradise; but she will always remain in our hearts forever!  

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Success has no short cuts

I came to attend a prior appointment at Mr. Kumar’s Kolkata office right on schedule but Mr. Kumar - General Manager (Purchase) was still busy in a meeting and I was told to wait in his chamber for some more time. As usual I started reading my book and I almost forgot that I was waiting for someone. More than an hour had passed since I came in but my client was still missing. In between I was served one cup of tea and the second time the steward came with two cups of tea and snacks, I inquired about the second cup and he replied to me with a smile that it was for GM sahib who was coming soon. 

As expected he landed within next five minutes and entered the room with a big smile and simultaneously offered his apologies for the delay in arriving for our scheduled meeting. He started eating the snacks and also offered me the same. While taking a sip of the hot tea he inquired about the book which I was reading and was still holding in my hand. The next half an hour was spent on the books and the exchange of names of various books and their authors. Although Mr. Kumar was commerce graduate but he was fond of reading fictions. Finally he asked me about my favourite author and book, without any hesitation I said: 'Ayn Rand' and the book: 'Fountain Head'.

He gave a very broad smile, stood from his seat, came to my side of the table first shook my hand and thereafter hugged me with lots of affection, fondness and warmth. He then told me that his favourite book was also ‘Fountain Head’. He called the steward again and instructed for one more round of tea. But I was not very keen to have another cup of tea but Mr. Kumar insisted and I could not refuse his offer. 

We kept on discussing for next one hour continuously on our product features and benefits for their commercial project and suddenly between the said conversations he asked me a very personal question about my salary. I was almost in a shocking state but he understood my dilemma and told me the reason why he asked this question. And without listening to my answer he uninterruptedly started talking about his part time job which he does for a south based company where they are recruiting sales agents for the company and in return the new sales agent recruits new members and hence the chain was extended and a very big team was formed. With every addition of the new member in the family the income of all the members increases by default in proportionate manner. 

Today he belongs to Gold club (There are Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum clubs based on the membership strength of individual sales agent). Right now he earns more than his salary. He simply appoints new sales agents; give them training and the wheel starts rolling. His Kolkata branch office is having five thousand members as of date and he wanted me to join his winning team. 

Thereafter he explained to me the modus operandi and work profile of a Sales agent, later he told me about the sales training programs and the handsome returns I will get in the form of foreign tours, expensive gifts, fat incentive and last but not the least the recognition in the society. I can earn more than what I am earning today and my income will be at-least many-fold if I work sincerely. With this additional income, I can fulfill all my dreams, buy properties, gold/diamond jewelry, foreign trip and can retire from the job at an early date of my choice. Enjoy my remaining life by becoming my own boss without working for others, isn't it a wonderful proposition?

I coolly listened to him and at the end very politely said no to his offer and took his permission to leave. At the outset, he was very upset, shocked and surprised with my refusal but still concluded the conversation with a request to reconsider my decision and let him know my final answer within a week’s time. I left Mr. Kumar’s office after 6 PM in the evening.

While driving home, I was evaluating and weighing the pros and cons of Mr. Kumar’s proposal and I reached home in partly confused and wavering state of mind. After dinner I sat down on my writing table and noted down brief notes about today’s activities and required actions. I wanted to concentrate on my book but I could not read more than two pages and closed the book in between. My wife was watching her favourite serial on the TV and I was still moving around with Mr. Kumar’s proposal. It was half past eleven, my wife had already gone to sleep and I was still trying very hard to sleep but could not succeed. 

Next morning after breakfast, I left for office around nine in the morning. While driving to office I reached to my final decision and that was to sincerely concentrate on my present job, with aggressive approach, positive attitude, serious efforts, hard work and adopt new strategies to exceed/over shoot the existing targets of sales, revenue and margins by enhancing our present business in value/volume and giving excellent performance throughout; finally putting all out efforts to get an extra ordinary results in the present job itself rather than opting for an extra income outside.                  

The week passed away without any problem and then came the weekend. I was at home on Sunday morning when I got a call from Mr. Kumar, who was passing Gariahat-crossing and he wanted to visit my house at Jodhpur Park, Kolkata, that's why he inquired about my home address; I was left with no option but to give him the direction to my house over phone and within next fifteen minutes he reached my place along with his wife.

After introduction, he straight away talked about his proposal with me in front of my wife and daughters. Mrs. Kumar was also sharing her experiences with us. I could see my wife’s expression/reactions which were not very positive, she was totally in a dilemma; the reason being: first I had not told her about Mr. Kumar’s visit and secondly his proposal about part-time job of Sales agent has totally put her in an off-mood. Mr. Kumar repeated the same story to my wife but this time supported with colored photo album, product literature and samples which his company sells directly to the end-users through Sales agents without involving any middlemen/distribution channels in between.    

He even started telling me not to think about my present job and said: “I can take the agency in my wife’s name and I can work on her behalf as he used to do. I am employed there for 9-AM to 6-PM job and I can do any other work after office hours, on Sundays and holidays. Nobody will object to it, because I have already informed my boss and in my views, neither it’s unethical nor wrong. Moreover, if we both work for one full year seriously and appoint maximum number of new members, your income will cross your present pay-packet without much problem”.

Mr. Kumar seriously feels and believes that ours will be a great success story because I am from marketing profession and my wife is from teaching profile; he liked me personally that’s why he wanted me to join his team without any further delay. They stayed for three hours with us and after lunch they left and invited us to attend the monthly star celebration and prize distribution function at Kolkata’s five star hotels in the evening which will be followed by dinner and cocktail.

I was more worried about my wife and daughters who have never witnessed such drama in their entire lives before. I was wondering what I will tell them now. Who were these guests, why they came and what their objective was? They stayed for few hours with us and while leaving they stole all our peace. I never wanted to tell them about Mr. Kumar’s proposal at the first place but I had been left with no option but to tell them the entire story now without any further delay.

After listening to my part of the story, my wife asked me only one question: “You really want to join him but before that please remember your own views on value system, ethic and loyalty?” I told them in a very crystal clear voice that I don’t want to join Mr. Kumar; moreover, I don’t need this kind of money, perks and luxury. I have decided to concentrate in my present job, because I have been looked after by my present employer well and why should I buy problem unnecessarily by doing part-time work for the third party which was not appropriate, authentic, correct, ethical and right at the first place.

We did not attend Mr. Kumar’s party that evening and I sent a personal note to Mr. Kumar informing him about my decision of not joining his team and politely asked for his forgiveness. Thereafter, I have tried my level best to erase the influence of all the big talks on ambitions, assets, fame, money, respect, reputation and wealth from my mind, body and soul. At the same time I also thanked my family and God Almighty for giving me the right advice, courage, direction, instruction and inspiration to move ahead towards the right path without getting influenced in between with the boastful attraction of big money, fame and luxury which I would not have earned in the right manner. 

The next day morning I informed my seniors about Mr. Kumar’s visit to my house, his proposal and my final decision. My Boss listened to me patiently and then congratulated me for taking a right decision in that regard.

Later during our annual sales meet at Darjeeling Hotel my boss told this story in the conference and advised all the team members to keep one thing in my mind: “When you are employed you are in the service for full time (24X7) and you are answerable to one master. You must stick to your main job only, any deviation from the primary objective and responsibility will put you in such an awkward and embarrassing situation which you will regret whole of your life. Moreover that route will be one-way traffic only and returning will not be possible. Therefore, this is an individual’s conscious call which every one of us has to take in our lives from time to time but we must never ever forget the core issue and that is before responding to anyone else in this matter we are first answerable to our own conscious and soul and we must put our right foot forward towards the right direction with hundred percent dedication, devotion, trust and take an appropriate, correct, final and right decision fearlessly without being biased and prejudiced.”   

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Her life is most important for me, by all means!

I had just finished my breakfast and after picking-up my laptop bag, lunch-box and newspaper cuttings, I was proceeding towards the exit door of my house, while leaving I instructed my wife to take some biscuits with her morning cup of tea. She did not respond, but put up a very soft smile on her face and simply lied down on the bed. I went back to ask her casually: “Still Feeling sleepy?” She whispered in a very low voice: “I am not feeling well; this chest pain is getting unbearable.” She closed her eyes with severe chest pain; I could see the tears flowing from both her closed eyes.

I moved towards her and pulled her in my arms, started calling her by name in panic. She told me to go to office so that I may not be late but I was not feeling comfortable and my instincts were indicating me otherwise. Moreover, I had never seen her in such a state before. She is a brave woman who has suffered two big operations on her body but today’s scenario was totally different. Therefore, without wasting any more time, I lifted her from her bed and made her to sit on the back seat of my car and rushed to the hospital. On the way, I tried to contact our family doctor but his line was engaged at a stretch; within next 15 minutes we reached the hospital. 

I parked the car in front of the EMERGENCY ward and called the nurse for a stretcher but my wife, with great courage, slowly walked towards the emergency room on her own without any help. One doctor and two nurses came rushing towards us. I briefly told them about the morning incident. Meanwhile, one nurse told my wife to remove all her ornaments, slippers and changed her clothes. I was getting impatient, because they were not providing any medical help to her. The doctor asked me about her problem, one nurse was instructed to take ECG and another nurse was advised to take necessary blood samples for various tests. 

After preliminary investigation the doctor told me that they doubt a heart attack but they were not sure because her ECG results were normal. Therefore they advised an angiography test to be done immediately to know the actual cause of chest pain. [Angiography is a imaging technique used to visualize the inside of blood vessels and organs of the body, with a particular interest in the arteries, veins and heart chambers. This is traditionally done by injecting a radio opaque contrast agent into the blood vessels and imaging using X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy]. Meanwhile, I was instructed to fill-in the admission forms, provide her medical policy details and deposit necessary cash-advance.

I was very disturbed and worried; they made me sign 18 different forms. I could not understand while her ECG report was normal, why they wanted to go for angiography test? After completing the admission formalities, I came back to the emergency ward, but, I could not see my wife there. I enquired from one nurse who was attending on her: “Where is my wife?” She said, not to worry, she has been shifted to ICU on the  second floor and she gave me one plastic bag in which my wife’s clothes, slippers and ornaments were kept, which she was wearing at the time of admission.

Until now, I  gathered myself well and was keeping control on my mind, body and soul but somehow my patience was withering away gradually and when I was stopped at the entrance of the ICU gate by the security guard, I lost my cool and shouted on him, who stopped me from going inside the ICU. And suddenly I saw one nurse coming out of the ICU, who scolded the security guard for creating unwanted noise in front of the ICU. 

The security guard immediately raised his finger towards me and said I was shouting on him and forcefully trying to enter the ICU. The nurse looked at me with a very sharp gaze and said: “Why are you creating disturbance and making noise here, don’t you know this is an intensive care unit (ICU) where complete silence is required?” I could not control myself and confronted the nurse by saying: “Look sister, my wife is inside and I am supposed to meet with her Doctor, I want to know what course of action the doctor wants to take for her treatment, so let me go inside.” The nurse seemed very upset with my arguments and furiously asked me a counter question: “Are you a doctor and how will you understand what treatment we want to take on the patient; you see, investigation is going on, she is under observation and once we have all the test-reports, the concerned doctor will call you and tell you the next course of action, please wait till then?” I was losing my patience and insisted: “No, I am not a doctor but that does not mean, I can’t see my wife and her doctor.”

By that time, another nurse came out of ICU and called my wife’s name and said who has come with this patient? I raised my hand and enquired; “What happened?” She said, “The doctor want to see you”.  And without wasting a moment, I rushed towards the ICU but I was again interrupted by the security guard, who instructed me to wear polypropylene shoe-cover on my shoes before entering the ICU and handed over one pair of polypropylene shoe-covers. With great difficulty I wore those plastic blue color covers and rushed inside.

There were 12 beds in the ICU and all were occupied by the patients. They all were looking similar to me on the face of it due to their common light blue colour dresses but I could not see my wife among them and shouted again: “Where is my wife?” One nurse who was standing with a doctor near my wife’s bed raised her left hand and instructed me to come to her side. I walked straight towards them and first enquired from my wife about her pain. She said it’s still there but in between the Doctor interrupted me and enquired about her past health record, current medication and medical history. I gave detailed information about her past two operations, her cervical and sciatica problems along with her present medicines with prescribed dosages.  

After noting down all the details, the doctor gave me one printed form of different packages offered by the hospital for the heart patients and said, I may choose one package as per my budget. And he further explained to me about the proposed treatment procedures for my wife: “After angiography report, either they may insert stent or implant pacemaker or go for bypass surgery based on the percentage of blockage in the heart. Therefore, I may choose the package out of silver, gold and platinum and let them know my decision now and arrange funds so that after my consent they can immediately start next course of action, to save the patient’s life.   

I was standing still numbed in front of the doctor in ICU; I was almost in a shocking state after listening to doctor’s explanation. I could not speak out for a few seconds. Somehow I mustered strength and with great courage I asked the doctor about her angiography report. The doctor told me that they have not done it yet and only after my decision they will proceed further. I was advised by the nurse to consult my family, arrange funds and sign the form for the selected package.

The package started from Rupees 2.5 lakhs to 10 lakhs depending on the treatment opted. Although I was covered by the healthcare policies but the amount was not sufficient. I never thought even in my dreams that I would land up in this situation where my true lifeline and better half would become a victim of this dreaded disease. She is inside ICU and I am facing all alone the worst crisis of my life, fully confused, uncertain and baffled about the next course of action.

I was fully shattered, scared, feeling very sad, low and disheartened. At that moment, saving my wife’s life was the top priority for me. Arranging money was also a difficult task but I was confident that I would be able to arrange the required funds without much problem or difficulties. 

Today, saving her life was more important for me and I was not thinking much on the financial issues. As a matter of fact, without her consent, I had never done anything in my life and whenever, I had decided to do something on my own (without her consent), I always failed miserably. She had always advised, instructed, guided and inspired me to put my right foot forward to do thing in the right prospective and proper manner without harming, hurting and hitting others and keeping the family interest on top. And today, when I needed her advice the most, she was on the bed in the ICU and not there with me as I couldn't take a risk of telling her anything about her treatment. Because I knew for sure, she would never allow me to spend such a huge amount of our savings on her treatment, because for her, the top most priority today was our two younger daughters’ marriage, but for me, saving her life was the foremost and important thing in life, and I decided to sign the documents so that the best treatment could be arranged for my wife by the hospital without any further delay.

I know for sure, if I am not there, she will be able to manage my family very well but if she will not be there, I just won’t be able to manage myself, forget about managing my entire family. “Oh Lord! Have mercy on us and save her life by all means. If you want to punish someone it can’t be her, it will be me, it’s obvious, you must have made some mistakes, please recheck your accounts and take corrective action and fix the mistake immediately. You also know that she is a much better person and very sweet human being who loves her parents, brothers and sisters so much and in the same intensity as she loves her mother-in-law, husband and daughters. She extends the same warm hospitality to one and all, whether they are relatives, friends, neighbors or strangers. She is too good, a perfect host, companion, friend, philosopher and guide par excellence.” She deserved to return home fit and fine in good health without any alteration, amendment and correction on her body.

I was waiting in the lounge opposite ICU where more than fifty men and women were waiting for the feedback on their near and dear ones; I was one amongst them, who was in total dark, fully dependent on the hospital staff who used to come out of the ICU with a good and not so good news for the relatives of the ICU patients. It was almost 6 'O’clock in the evening and still I was waiting for the angiography report of my wife. I didn't know when, I started crying and my face was immersed in tears; and suddenly one old aged man handed me one religious book and asked me to have faith on the Lord and pray. I wiped my face with the handkerchief thanked to the aged man and started reciting from the holy book praying for the fast recovery of my wife and all the patience’s who were inside the ICU.   

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Some time taking right Decisions become more difficult than its Implementation

I have received an offer for a new job last week itself but I was not in a position to decide whether to accept or reject it. Moreover, it had always been a tough task for me to choose between my existing employer and the new master. It’s equally true that in new environment one has to start afresh and prove his credit worthiness, performance and strengths again with positive attitude, right-capabilities, strong will power, high degree of confidence, strong-inner-strengths and credit worthiness; no matter how difficult, hard or tough it may sound; in the beginning what matters the most is the performance of a new candidate. During the first six months of the probation period, where the new candidate is treated as a stranger and an outsider, everyone looks at him with curiosity, probing eyes and suspicion. Besides, every word, action and deed of the new comer is being looked upon with much curiosity, concern and caution. After induction, one is known only by the achievements he brings on board and the personal likes or dislikes takes a back seat. Moreover, in any new job the primary responsibility of a new employee is to achieve the targets of the company; while keeping the company’s mission, motives, objective and perspective in mind while keeping high moral, strong ethics and value system; and last but not the least, in any given situation keeping himself away from the office politics, by all means. 

I was not very keen to join a new company but the person who had invited me to work with him is very close to me personally and professionally. As a matter of fact, we have worked together in my previous company at Kolkata where I was working as a Regional Head and he was the General Manager-Marketing based at Mumbai. First time, we had broken all past sales records by selling the entire depot-stocks of building materials before the year-end (31^st March), which had never happened in the past.

At 11:30 PM night when I called my boss and told him about the depot stock which was finished, he could not believe it at the first instance and his spontaneous response was: “Is it true, what about the payment?” I informed him that everything was sold against our Cash & Carry scheme. He simply said congratulations and hung the phone.

I was a bit surprised with his cold response; but never mind, I coolly shrugged my shoulders and moved ahead to send the official e-mails to my seniors for immediate dispatch of fresh stocks of materials. The entire branch office and depot staffs were on their toes and had worked very hard for last couple of days to fulfill our mission. It was our well organized plan and appropriate sales strategies which became very successful and hit. Tonight, we were left with nil stocks; we were the largest manufacturers of this particular building materials in the country and in any given situation, 100 metric tons of stock used to be there in the depot for catering the entire eastern zone which included Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and North-Eastern States. After billing to all the eastern states Dealers we left out with 32 metric tons of materials more which were mainly in small batches of old design and unpopular colours; everyone in our team was looking at me with doubts and was not convinced with our sales promotion scheme. Except our depot manager, but still, they took the challenge and started contacting small builders in and around Kolkata, Howrah and 24-pargana areas and accepted even small orders against cash and carry scheme.  And finally on the night of 31st, we achieved what we had planned and the last consignment was dispatched from our depot at 11.30-PM night, leaving behind nothing in the stock.

I was driving on my way home when I got a call from Mr. R S Menon: my Boss that he was arriving by the next day morning flight and I must meet him at Kolkata airport. I was amazed, stunned and worried thinking that, what might have happened and why he was arriving so soon; moreover, he had also not told me the objective of his visit which was not usual, because he never does anything without any objective, purpose and  planning; but this time he had not shared his plan with me. Never mind, I put the car into top gear and moved towards my home.

Mr. Menon’s flight from Mumbai was right on scheduled time; I reached Kolkata airport and on the run way his flight landed. Within next 10 minutes, I saw him walking straight from the arrival gate towards me and first statement he made: “Good morning, great job done and accept my congratulations”. First time he hugged me and patted me on my shoulders. He told me to take him to the office first. I advised him to go to hotel because office will be opened at 9.30 AM and it was only 8:15 AM in the morning. But he was not ready to listen and asked me to drive him straight to the office. Somehow, I did not like his instruction, I thought, he might doubt my words and wanted to cross check whether the stocks were actually sold out or not. On our way to office, I called my depot manager and requested him to come to the office early.

We had to wait for just a few minutes and the depot manager arrived and opened the office. We were having our depot and office at the same premises and by ten o-clocks the entire sales, depot and back office staff were present in the office.  Mr. Menon first visited the depot and after thorough inspection he instructed me to get the depot repaired and painted before arrival of the fresh stocks. Later he sat down with our accounts officer and checked the stock-ledger, accounts books, invoices and payment details. Finally after 12.30-PM he announced company lunch for the staff and declared half day off after the lunch; later he personally thanked every member of our team along with one box of Bengali-sweets each.

Immediately after lunch Mr. Menon wanted to leave for the airport, because his return flight was scheduled at 4.30-PM. While driving back to the airport, Mr. Menon told me the objective, purpose and reason of his sudden visit. It was the Company President and his immediate boss who was having some doubts about depot stocks; hence he had to rush to Kolkata for confirmation in such a hurry.  Mr. Menon seemed to be very comfortable, pleased and relaxed and he also promised me a handsome increment with promotion during our annual sales conference which would be held in the month of April. As he promised, I was promoted to the post of Marketing Manager with a very good increment and handsome perks.

We both worked as a very successful team and understood each other so well. He always wanted me to join him at Head Office but I was not very keen to go to Mumbai. And one day I got the news that he has resigned and moved to a big Multinational company from Building material segment, as a Vice President (Sales & Marketing) with a handsome pay-package.

This incident was more than ten years old and in between we constantly remain in touch with each other and suddenly one day Mr. Menon called at my residence, because he was not getting through my mobile number and left a message for me to call him back at the earliest, stating it to be very urgent. During that period I was on an official tour to north eastern states and on my return my wife told me about Mr. Menon’s call. I immediately called him back on his mobile number, within the third ring he picked up the phone and said: “Where were you Charan?” He was the only person who used to call me by this short name and I also used to enjoy it because it gave me a deep sense of belonging and I used to feel wanted.

He advised me to forward my current CV and salary details at his personal e-mail id; somehow I could not say no to him and half-heartedly forwarded all the relevant details. After three rounds of interview with the HR Head and the Chairman of his company, I was offered a job of General Manager (Sales) with head quarter at Delhi, along with company flat, car and good pay-packet.

I was not feeling very comfortable with my present state of affairs and I was cursing myself for buying the present crises by accepting Mr. Menon’s job proposal at the first place. I was well settled in my present job and had spent best years of my life in my present company at Jamshedpur; I was doing extremely well and having excellent relationship with my clients, senior management staff and my team members. I was being looked after by my the management so well that I could not find a single logical reason of my resignation to offer to my immediate boss.

Neither was I having any justification nor any solid reason of my resignation. If I think logically, rationally and reasonably, I must not resign at the first place, simply because, I am well settled, enjoying my job very much, my family is very happy and my daughters very studying in the best school; we have made good friends and were also having the support of our relatives, who were living in the same city.

Although my wife did not say anything but I knew it, she was also not very keen to shift to Delhi with our grown up daughters. But I was thinking emotionally rather than rationally. I was literally listening to my heart and not mind and finally informed my boss about my decision of leaving my present job with a very heavy heart. As expected, he did not like my submission and told me to give it a serious thought and called me the next day evening for further discussions on the subject. Although I have categorically told him that I have not submitted my resignation for the sake of bargaining or negotiations, I have no problem with the company, job profile or my present emoluments, I simply wanted to quit. He was not at all convinced with my reasoning and felt very bad with my unprofessional approach and unwarranted decision. First he never expected such an act from me second he had never thought that I will be so adamant, stupid and upfront in taking such a suicidal decision. Later he informed my decision to the senior management team. As expected, the HR head called me first and later our Business Head; both of them very calmly listened to my emotional reasons and stupid logic's which could not sound convincing to them at all.

At the same time they did not want me to feel hurt or get upset, therefore, after long hours of meetings and discussions, finally they promised to forward my resignation to the Chairman Sir who was out of the country at that point in time and requested me to wait till he came back to India. Meanwhile, they also advised me to give a serious thought about my decision and suggested me to drop the idea of leaving the company for the time being, if possible.    

Sometimes in life it so happens that our mind drives us towards one direction and our heart pulls us to another, almost different route altogether and we remain stand still at the cross roads of our lives where, on the face of it, all the roads and directions look similar but the actual destination can be reached only if we can put our right foot forward towards one direction, but which way to go, only the time will know the right answer.  

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Leave the results in HIS hands

It was the coldest New Year night in my life and the wind chill was further making it impossible for me to walk on the street comfortably, although it was very warm inside the car due to heater, which had maintained the temperature inside the car at comfortable level. This is the first time in the last 44 years that the mercury has dipped below 10 degree during day time and 2 degree Celsius during night in Delhi-Gurgaon regions.

I wanted to go to Connaught place-Delhi to buy cake, pastries and gifts for my wife and daughters but later I decided to drop the idea and I took a u-turn and drove back home, simply because, they all had gone to nanny’s place at Jamshedpur and will be back only the next week, therefore, I decided to postpone the gift buying idea till then.

By the time I reached home, it was half past nine, I parked the car and as usual rang the door bell, again unmindful of the fact that nobody is home and I have to open the doors myself. It took me five minutes open and then shut all the doors and shifting myself in the closed-room. After entering my bed-room, I first switched the TV on for news hour and then changed my clothes.

I was having a very strong urge of having one cup of hot tea and decided to make it myself; I moved towards the kitchen; suddenly I saw the land lady, who was staying on the first floor, coming straight to our kitchen carrying a big tray in both her hands, which contained my dinner, fruits and sweets. I accepted the same with big thanks and wished her Happy New Year.          

She inquired what I was cooking; I said, “Tea” and also invited her to join me over a hot cup of tea. She very politely refused my offer of the same by saying: she will ruin her sleep if she takes tea at this hour of night and went back to her room after wishing me good-night.

But I was dead sure that my night will never be good. This is the first time in my entire life that I am sitting all alone in my room on the New Year eve. I have once again realized the importance of my beloved wife and angel-daughters in my life. As a matter of fact, I used to enjoy loneliness and often cherish the freedom of staying all alone in my hotel room while travelling but today, staying alone at home without my better half and kids were totally different experience altogether, which I have never felt before. I realized it to be very annoying, lonely and scary which would instantly kill me, if I stayed alone for few more days. 

Therefore I decided to call my wife and wanted her to fly back with kids immediately, but then I recalled, she has gone to her parents house after so many years and thought to let her be with them, I will somehow manage alone, not an issue and immediately dropped the idea of calling her back. They were physically not with me but I could see their signatures all around and at each and every place of the house; on top of it, this was very chilly winter which had further dropped my morale down and these types of things I have never experienced and witnessed in my life before.    

I kept the food tray in the kitchen and came back to the bedroom with my cup of tea. I was going to have my first sip of the tea when suddenly my door bell rang. It was almost ten pm at night, who could come at this hour of winter night? I opened the front door and came out in the lobby and asked in a louder voice: “Who is it?” I saw one old man in the outfit of a temple-priest with very heavy grey beard and long hairs in white clothes standing in front of my gate and smiling. I noticed that he was not wearing any woolen garments instead his neck was flooded with lots of garlands (Made out of Chandan, Rudraksh, Sputik & Tulsi beetles).   

He inquired about one Dr. Sengupta who used to live in this house earlier. I first folded both my hands and wished him and later very politely told him that no person by such name lives in here any longer. He immediately apologized, said sorry and preceded towards his SUV parked next to my house. Immediately thereafter, I very politely called the old man and invited him to come inside for a cup of tea at that chilly winter night provided it’s alright with him.

He willingly accepted my invitation and came along with me inside the house without any hitch or hesitation; I requested him to sit on the sofa-cum-bed and went towards the storeroom to get him some woolen clothes. I offered him the blanket but he refused with broad smile and said he does not require it, because he is not feeling any cold as such. I was a bit surprised; he seemed to be a person of mid sixty years of age, very bulky but solid physique, tall with whitish complexion and wearing white cotton clothes, omega wrist watch and branded sports shoes.  

I inquired if he wanted to use the washroom for which he said yes. I gave him one new towel and soap cake. Meanwhile, I went towards kitchen and started making one more cup of tea for my guest. By the time I finished my work; he also came out from the washroom and went towards the drawing room where his soft luggage (which was pasted with the stickers of different international airlines) was kept on the floor. He sat down on the carpet and took out some religious books and started performing his evening prayers.

After half an hour of worship he got up from the floor, looked at me, smiled and said: “You may have to warm up the tea again.”  I accepted his advice and went towards the kitchen to do the needful. We both sat down on the sofa and finally started sipping the tea; he first spoke about himself and started communicating with me freely as if he knew me since long. He was speaking in fluent English, besides his command on Hindi and Sanskrit languages were also excellent. He seemed to me a very brilliant, learned and highly qualified scholar. 

He was there to meet his old friend who was a Homeopathic Doctor by profession. He came here after five years, most of the time he used to travel abroad to meet with his clients and disciples while keeping his head quarter at Dehradoon city of Uttara-khand State. By profession he was Hindu-priest of international repute, He did his PhD. in Sanskrit with adequate knowledge of astrology, numerology and palmistry. His clients’ list included all the big names from the corporate world, entertainment and film fraternity, politicians, sports stars of national and international fame.     

During our long conversation, he talked about everything except politics. He was a well read man and had read almost all the best-sellers of English literature; it came as a big surprise to me when he also talked about Hindi, Bengali and Marathi literature with the same depth, length and detail. It was almost five o-clocks in the morning and I requested him to take some rest now. Instead he informed me that he had to catch a flight to Zurich from Terminal-3 of Delhi international airport at eight in the morning. Due to fog at night, his flight was postponed for the next morning. That’s why he came here last night from the airport to spend some time with his old friend.

He knew everything about my family members and spoke at length about them in details. He even disclosed those things related to my childhood which only I knew about and nobody else in the family. Later, he invited me to ask him any question about my future and my family member’s future as well but instead, I turned down his offer very politely without showing any interest or excitement. Moreover, I was not very keen to know about my future and my family-member’s as well. He was totally taken aback and was surprised and shocked as to why I’m not asking him any question/s. He again asked me for the second time, if I had any kind of question or query, with great humbleness, I again refused to ask him any question about my destiny, fate and future without any excitement, interest and inquisitiveness. 

Finally he decided to use the washroom again so that he can get fresh and properly dress-up for the morning flight; meanwhile, I also went straight away to the kitchen to prepare tea and bread-butter-toast for his breakfast. After his morning prayers he sat down with me and finished his breakfast without raising any doubt or suspicion.

Later, he sat down on the floor to do his meditation in silence mode and he was uttering some phrases of Sanskrit in very low voice. With lots of courage and conviction I asked him about his Blood pressure, Heart and Piles problems; and to my utmost surprise he responded in a very low and sad voice that those physical problems are not under his direct control. I also inquired about his spouse’s health who was suffering from acute gynecological and sciatica problems. He again replied to me in a negative tone but immediately thereafter he asked me very bluntly: “How did I know about his personal problems?”

As a matter of fact, giving predictions was his profession and not mine and I was having no suitable answer to offer him at that point in time. Even I was very surprised, how I uttered those words to Pundit ji, it was a big surprise which only our Lord can answer, who happened to be the biggest astrologer, numerologist and palmist of this universe who knows what to do, when to do and how to do it; we have to simply keep our eyes/ears open, obey HIS instructions and perform our duty honestly, sincerely with hundred percent dedication, devotion and trust, on day to day basis without expecting anything in return and leave the results in HIS hands without any doubt, fear or scare.

Today I was really very surprised at the same time fully satisfied to see the outcome of today morning’s discussions with Pundit ji, which were so appropriate, correct, convincing and positive with cent percent accuracy, as if it directly comes from the Perfectionist who seems to be the original Creator of this Universe! 

With Prayers

Gurcharan