You may forget your past but it won’t

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With Prayers

Gurcharan

In the hands of God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With Prayers

Gurcharan

 

A man become senior by his Karma and not by age

  

More than two hours have passed but I am still waiting at the Pune airport to catch my flight to New Delhi. There was no further announcement for the delay also. The scheduled departure for Pune-Delhi flight was 17.30 hours. Initially the delay was by one hour only but later it crossed two and half hours but no announcement about the flight departure yet. This unexpected delay was due to late arrival of in-coming flight from Mumbai. There was cloud burst and heavy downpour in the city which upset the normal city life, all roads, railway tracks and even the airport runway was flooded with excessive rain water logging and the bustling city life of Mumbai had come to a standstill. Though I had since checked-in and was holding my boarding pass for a window seat standing at no-smoking zone and still anxiously waiting at the airport-lounge to board the flight.

Meantime, suddenly, I heard someone conversing behind me at my back seat over a cell phone in Bengali language and explaining about this unusual delay of Delhi flight. I could feel the nervousness in her voice who was communicating with her family members over the phone and when I walked towards her with a water bottle I could see her eyes over-flowing with tears. I first offered her the water bottle and paper napkin which she accepted without any hesitation and continued talking about the flight delay.  

I sat down on the vacant chair next to her and tried to console her but she was not yet ready to calm down. I asked her with lots of courage about her concern and she again broke down and started crying. I immediately withdrew my request and told her to calm down, control her emotions and keep quiet for some time; meanwhile, I requested her to wait so that I could collect the latest information of the Delhi flight from the enquiry counter.

The Delhi flight departure status had not changed and chances of more delay were evident. I was feeling quite hesitant to tell her about any further delay and with lots of courage I finally informed her about the actual flight status. She kept quiet for few seconds and did some calculation in her mind and suddenly she decided to cancel her Pune-Delhi ticket and proceed to Mumbai by taxi-car so that she can take a direct flight from Mumbai to Delhi.    

She told me to look after her soft luggage and rushed towards the enquiry counter. She slowly came back after ten minutes and sat down quietly on the chair without uttering a single word. I decided not to ask any probing question as such and tried to be silent. After five minutes or so she again spoke to me and said: “Chances of getting a flight from Mumbai will be very difficult because reaching Mumbai airport itself will be difficult task due to heavy water logging all over the city of Mumbai”.      

She started offering prayer with both her folded hands in which she requested her Lord to take care of her father in her absence. And her tears were also joining her prayers with equal dedication, devotion and trust. I could not control myself any-more and tried to console her by saying not to lose hope, pray and everything will be al-right. She looked at me with wet eyes and said: “Noting will be al-right, I am afraid, tonight, I may lose my father forever!” I tried to keep her calm and quiet but I miserably failed in my repeated attempts to make her normal.

She was Mrs. Sutopa Mukherjee, 35 years old, qualified engineer (M.Tech), working in an IT firm, married and settled in Pune with her husband, who was also working in the same company as a senior software engineer but at present had gone to the US on an official assignment. Her parents are living in Gurgaon with her elder brother who was working in a multinational co. as a Chief Finance Officer. Today afternoon she got a frantic call from her mother that her father had a massive heart attack and has been admitted in a private hospital in Gurgaon. He has been kept in Intensive Critical Care Unit and all the family members were waiting outside the ICCU to know his present health status but the Doctors have told them that his situation is very critical and they should wait for another 24 hours to know the further updates on the actual health status of the patient.  

I could easily understand how she must have been feeling at this very moment but I was not in a position to improvise her situation by all mean and I decided to offer my sincere prayers for the well-being of her father and submitted a few kind words to console her at this difficult moment of her life. It was over 9 'O-clock and there was no news of departure of our Delhi flight. I requested her to have some food but she declined my offer. I insisted her to take at-least one hot cup of coffee and sandwich which she finally took after lot of persuasions. Meanwhile, her cell phone was constantly busy with numerous in-coming calls mostly from her immediate family members, in-laws, relatives, colleagues and friends.       

On the other hand, I also conveyed my wife about the unexpected delay of my Delhi flight and she was equally worried to know when I would come back home? Suddenly Mrs. Sutopa realized something and straight-away asked me a blunt question: “How come you speak so fluent Bengali Mr. Singh?” First time in this difficult moment I could see her face brighten-up with mixed expressions of excitement and eagerness. I briefed her about my Kolkata background and also informed her that I came to Pune by today morning flight from Delhi on an official tour and now I am going back home to Gurgaon. I also told her that I have over-heard her talking to her family on cell-phone about illness of her father that’s why I came forward to offer my assistance and support to her at this most difficult moment of her life.      

She thanked me many times in-between and also made a request to offer prayers for the well being of her father because she was highly religious person and she strongly believed in the power of prayers. Therefore, in front of her, I closed my eyes, folded both my hands and offered my prayers for her father in silence for his fast recovery. After finishing my prayers, when I opened my eyes I saw her two big eyes staring at me with deep intensity which were still not dried and she asked me a very innocent question: “What happened?” I answered her back: “I am sure my prayers will be answered and your father will get well soon.”  

She literally embraced me with both her hands and said: “Thank you sir, you being very kind, may God bless you!” and I could see her eyes started flowing with tears again but this time it were filled with gratitude. I tried to console her and make her calm and in the very next moment I heard an announcement about the departure of Delhi flight at 23.30 hours. That meant, we would be reaching Delhi airport around 2: AM at night and by the time I am home, it will be mid-night. I called my wife and told her about the departure of my flight and Mrs. Sutopa Mukherjee also conveyed the same news to her family.

By the time we reached Terminal-3 of the New Delhi airport it was 2.30: AM and I decided to take a pre-paid taxi for Gurgaon. I was wondering how she would go home alone at this hour of night, may be her brother would come to the airport to receive her, I didn't exactly know but I was feeling very hesitant to offer her a  lift in  the first place because in-spite of everything she was still a stranger, I hardly knew her and we had met only a couple of  hours before tonight for the first time; it’s also true that we had shared sandwich and coffee together at Pune airport that is it, nothing more and nothing less; but still, I did not exactly know her as a person, how could I offer her lift? Who knows, how would she react when I will offer her a lift in a private taxi that too in the city like Delhi; where trusting a stranger is a very difficult task. At the same time, I could see through her present family crises which seemed to me very genuine on the face of it but still I could not take any chance with a stranger who happens to be a female also.

We were approaching towards an exit gate together and we both kept quiet; maybe, she was also thinking in the same way as I was thinking. I saw her walking towards exit-gate very slowly and talking to someone over phone and suddenly she stopped in between, I wanted to say her goodbye before leaving but then I saw her raising her left hand and instructing me to wait. Therefore, I stopped and waited for her to join me. After disconnecting her cell phone she came running towards me and said: “Please don’t go, my brother is coming to pick me up and we will drop you at your place on our way home, al-right?”   

I was dumb-founded, stood still for few seconds in almost shocked condition; I could not believe what she said and I asked her to repeat her sentences again. She said the same thing twice and finally asked me abruptly: “Why, you don’t want to join us, any problem?” What I could say, I immediately responded by saying: “No problem at all, but I was wondering, why should I bother your brother at this hour of night?” She again repeated her request and said: “I and my elder brother will be truly very happy if you can accompany us!”

We were standing near the paid-taxi booth so that her brother could easily locate us. Her brother came within next ten minutes and one Audi black colour car stopped in front of us. The driver opened the car-door and Mr. Shubojit Mukherjee (Elder brother) came-out and first met his sister and briefed her about father’s present health status and later he came to me and thanked me several times for accompany his sister and offering moral support to her at this difficult hour. I was feeling so low, guilty and nervous with my own behaviour. I wondered, what I was thinking about her and what she and her family was doing for me, there was no comparison between us at all.

Her brother requested me to give the direction of my house to the driver so that he could straight-away drive and drop me home without any further delay. Due to less traffic at night, we reached my place within the next 30 minutes. On arrival at home, I invited them to have a cup of coffee with me but they very politely turned-down my request by saying family members must be impatiently waiting for them and they left immediately by saying good-bye.    

The next morning around 10: AM I visited private hospital to meet with Mrs. Sutopa Mukherjee’s ailing father. On arrival at the hospital reception, I was told that senior Mukherji sahib had died last night itself and his body has been taken away by his family members in the morning around 7: AM. 

I was standing there in totally shocked condition and was wondering how it was possible. When they came to drop me home, Mr. Mukherji’s father was already dead but still he had not talked about his deceased father and decided to drop me at my place first without uttering a single word. Although Mr. Shubhojit Mukherjee was much younger to me by age but I found him more matured, tall and senior in all respect. Suddenly, my eyes were filled with tears; both my hands rose in the air and I offered prayers to God Almighty: ‘Oh Lord, Senior Mukherjee sahib’s soul may rest in peace and his family get enough strength to bear this sudden loss, Amen!’  

With Prayers

Gurcharan

A Messenger of God

I was not feeling well for the last couple of days although physically fit and fine but still, inside something was constantly haunting me and all of a sudden I started crying without knowing the reason of my sudden break down. This sad mood continued for a week and I was not behaving normally. It so happened that I stopped reading and watching TV which never happened in my life before and the first person to notice this change in my daily routine was my beloved wife. While going to sleep last night, she asked me casually: “Not watching TV now a days, what happened ?” and before she could go any further on the subject, I replied “Nothing at all, please don’t bother” and I coolly went to sleep without giving any opportunity to discuss further. But sleep seemed miles away; I was constantly tossing on the bed. I could see my wife already gone to deep sleep but my eyes were still wide open and filled with tears which were flowing down my cheek wetting my pillow..

The very next day morning, I got up early from the bed and after completing my morning breakfast, left for my office rather late but instead of going to the  office,  I turned my car towards the opposite direction. After driving for twenty odd minutes, I stopped my car in front of a cemetery where dead bodies were being buried. I parked the car at one corner and went inside. There were few people standing at the centre of the cemetery and a priest was reading from the Holy book; after half an hour or so everyone left and no one was around. I was still standing alone for quite some time wondering what to do next. I saw an old man coming towards me, firstly speaking in loud voice but when he came nearer, he stopped talking and started staring at me with mixed feelings of shock and surprise; he wanted to say something but was found it difficult to speak out. I greeted him with both my folded hands and said: “I am here to pray for the departed souls, can I pray for them, please?”      

The old man turned back without answering my question and after few minutes, he returned again this time  along with the priest, who was wearing white rob, holding a book in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I greeted him with respect and told him the purpose of my visit. He first listened to me very tentatively but later posed a question: “But how come you are here?” I answered him in detail as to why I came here, what I wanted to do and how he could help me in solving my problem. He suggested me to accompany him to the church, which was approximately ten kilo-meters from there. I was left with no option but to follow him in my car.

We reached the church within the next 15 minutes. I stopped the car in front of the church. Instead of getting down from the car he requested me to proceed further towards his guest house which was behind the church, where he was residing at present. Therefore, I moved the car as directed by him and reached his guest house. I parked the car in front of a double storied building and walked inside along with the priest.

He requested me to sit on the couch at the drawing room and went inside. He came back later wearing white shirt and trouser and sat down on a chair opposite me and said: “Its twelve noon now and the church is closed, I have decided to bring you here so that over lunch we can discuss in details about your problem". Then he asked me “Are you feeling comfortable now, tell me what you were saying at the cemetery?”

I told him about my present dilemma; by each passing day I was getting old and I didn't exactly know how long will I live. I have two grown up daughters who are yet to be married, old mother and an ailing wife to look after. I have lost my father long time back; neither I have an elder brother nor a son, in case of my sudden demise, who would take care of my family? I was feeling very low, disappointed and sad for the last one week. I was missing my father very much and I wanted to communicate with him who had left me over a decade back; but I didn't exactly know how to contact him. Today, I don’t exactly know what happened to me and I straight-away drove towards this cemetery. As a matter of fact, I wanted to communicate with those people buried there lying under the ground in their eternal sleep. Somehow I wanted to connect with them, so that they could answer my questions.

The priest listened to me very attentively in a deep silence mode. He then started narrating his side of the story; that he was born in Thrissur town of Kerala state, where his family members were still residing; he had lost his parents, they are seven brothers and sisters in the family; he is in the 4^th position, all are married except for him, only his elder brother is staying with his family in his home town rest of them have settled in different cities in India and abroad. It was his mother who wanted him to become the priest; therefore at the age of 14 after completing his matriculation, he joined the Church at Kochi town. He is around 60 years old, serving humanity and for the past two years he was stationed at a local Church here. 

The priest later told me that his entire property/wealth could be accommodated in a small suitcase filled with few sets of his clothing’s and books. He had got no bank account, no investments, no house of his own, nothing in his name which could be converted into cash. He had not bought any Life Insurance or health insurance policies. He neither felt insecure nor ever wanted to buy any property in his name or saving money for the future.

I asked him about his salary and perks which he gets from the church. He told me with a smile that he is not getting any salary or perks from the church. Yes, free accommodation is provided to him wherever he goes and he also gets necessary meal, clothing as per the necessity and requirements, nothing more, nothing less. And when he falls sick, all arrangements were made to provide best treatment to him. And last but not the least, all his requirements are closely looked after and fulfilled by the Lord himself simply because he was at the service of his beloved God Almighty round the clock on 24X7 basis.        

He also told me that he was the chosen one to be at the services of his Lord and his people. He came here with a definite objective/purpose of serving humanity. He was never scared of death and he was always ready to perform his duty in any given situation without any hitch or hesitation and that too without expecting any reward, recognition or remuneration in return. He never felt the need of a family of his own because he treats all the people in this world his family. He concluded his conversation by saying: “I am truly blessed that I have got an opportunity to serve my Lord and if given a choice, I would love to come back again in this world as a priest, Amen!”

I was totally confused listening to his tale and found it difficult to understand what he was saying though it was a plain, simple and straight forward reply to the questions awaiting for answers in my mind. Although he answered all my questions with full honesty but I continued to ask probing questions about his family, friends and relatives. He told me in a very simple language that all the living beings of this universe are his family and he loved them all, above all, he loved the Lord most.     

I was in two minds and not yet ready to accept his answers on face value, if I could say so, replies were actually corrects but I was not in a position to accept such simple and straight forward answers which were like pure gold. Since I was a family man married, having a wife and children have unnecessarily created so many anchors and emotional bonds of my own.

I started thinking about the life of this old priest who had no money, tension, worry and has left everything in the hands of God Almighty; whereas on the other hand, I needed a family to support for everything in life and I just could not think of living my life alone without my family, it’s just not possible. The sheer idea of living alone moved me very deeply and my whole body started shivering from top to bottom; the only thought that upset me so much, I wondered, how would  I survive even  for a day without seeing my angels and other members of my family, oh my God, it’s just not possible. At the same time, I was literally wondering about the priest who had spent his entire life alone serving the Lord and his people without expecting anything in return, no money, no family and no house; but how is it possible, I still wonder.

I sat down there for quite some time without any agenda or plan. I was feeling totally exhausted and blank. My eyes were still filled with tears, but this time it was out of happiness. I had gone to deep meditation while still sitting there in the presence of a holy man. Inside me, I felt total silence and suddenly I realized as if all my questions had been answered automatically which were puzzling me over the past couple of weeks driving me to the cemetery today. I was left with no more questions or queries and I started feeling a deep sense of satisfaction, peace of mind and my whole body started floating in the air as if I have become weight-less, almost zero without any desire of my own; finally I got solutions to all my problems through this priest. 

This eternal journey continued for quite some time and for me the whole experience was so new, strange and un-thoughtful that I can’t express it in words but one thing was crystal clear that this happened in the presence of an honest, pure and pious soul who was blessed and had direct connection with the God Almighty!

With Prayers

Gurcharan