Great Gift of God

I left Siriska Palace resort (Near Alwar Town - Rajasthan) around two o'clock in the afternoon; I was thoroughly enjoying my drive. I pulled down the glasses of the front side windows of my car and also switched-off the music system. I wanted to feel the fresh air filled with pure oxygen blowing with speed as if competing with the car speed emanating from the surrounding greenery. I covered the distance of 35-KM (between Siriska and Alwar) within an hour.

After reaching Alwar bye-pass I got free road ahead, the 90-KM plus road between Alwar and Bhiwadi bye-pass was clear, smooth and wide. It was Saturday’s winter afternoon in January and the flow of vehicles was less on the road and so was the human crowd. I saw an old person fully dressed up in white clothes walking very slowly on the left side of the state high-way alone; which seemed strange to me because nobody would walk alone on the lonely highway. My curiosity forced me to stop the car near him. I came out of the car and stood in front of him with folded hands in order to greet him. He was not at all disturbed to see a stranger greeting him on the road. I asked him: “Baba ji, can I drop you somewhere, I am going towards Gurgaon?” He looked at me with a smile and answered: “I am going to a nearby place, please don’t bother”. And he slowly started walking towards his destination. I again requested him to sit in my car. He looked at me with surprise but slowly walked towards my car. I opened the front left door of the car and helped him to settle down comfortably.

Once he settled down, I came back to my seat and started the car. He must have been above 80 years in age, very tall, fair and well built; his face was covered with long white beard. He was wearing white cotton robe, full sleeve shirt, jacket, white turban which was not properly tied on head and black plastic shoes without socks. I was driving at a modest speed of 50 KM/hour. On the way, I offered him a bottle of water but he refused. Very hesitatingly I asked him about the purpose of his journey. He first kept quiet but after a long pause he answered “I stay in Alwar town; all the members of my family have already left for the condolence meeting being held at Choudhury sahib’s place which is only five miles away from our house. And I preferred taking a walk instead of travelling in bike or car".  After few minutes he asked me to take a left turn from the next crossing.  I obeyed his direction and three kilo-meters later we reached in front of a very big duplex Bungalow known as Choudhry Sahib’s Haveli.   

I parked the car at one corner near the Haveli where many expensive cars were already parked which included Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and Volvo cars. First I came out of the car and later I helped Baba ji to step out. He slowly got down from the car and requested me to accompany him inside the house. I saw huge crowd of men and women dressed in white sitting on the floor covered with carpet. The young boys were serving tea to the people gathered there.

The moment they saw Baba ji walking in; everyone got up from their respective places and bowed their heads in respect. Baba ji was responding to each and everyone while slowly walking towards an old man who seemed to be Choudhury Sahib sitting at one corner of the house surrounded by his family members comprising of men, women and children.   

As soon as Choudhury sahib saw Baba ji, he came rushing towards him. He greeted him and thereafter took his right hand in his hands, first kissed it and later took the hand towards his eyes and touched both his eye-lids and started crying profusely. Baba ji first pulled him close and embraced him. Choudhury Sahib was crying like a child and Baba ji was still holding him in his hands patting slowly on his back with his right palm uttering words which seems to me in Arabic language. Actually he was reciting from the religious book and trying to console him. Baba ji also said: “its God Almighty’s decision and we will have to accept HIS verdict without any hitch or hesitation; be strong and obey Lord’s instructions; keep faith in him and he will never let you down”.   

I realized much later that Choudhury sahib was the richest farmer of his area. He lost his only son in a road accident a few days ago. He was blessed with one son and three daughters out of whom the son was the eldest and he was running the family business, he had left behind his widow and two grown-up children. Today all his relatives, friends and well wishers have come to attend the condolence meeting.

Lots of people were looking at me with curiosity and wondering what I was doing there. I was the only stranger among them but I could not leave the place without Baba ji’s consent, he has asked me to wait. As courtesy demanded, I thought to take his permission before leaving because I was also getting late. I was getting impatient sitting quietly at one corner of the house in very sad mood. After few minutes, one young girl came and told me: “Grandpa is calling you inside.” I was still sitting and wondering why I was being called? Little later one middle aged lady came to me and said: “Choudhury sahib has called you inside, please come with me” and she ushered me to a room which appeared to be the drawing room of Choudhury sahib.

Once I entered, I found a very large room, equipped with the entire latest gazettes of house-hold things comprising of designer sofa-set with centre table, 42” LED TV plugged on the side wall, multi-door fridge, very big chandelier hanging in the centre of the roof, at one corner, a big writing table along with sitting chairs and one wall fully equipped with wooden racks fitted with front glasses full of books. Nobody was present in the room, so I started looking at the books; there were Law books, English literature, Urdu literature and Hindi literature. On the writing table all the national daily newspapers and magazines in English, Hindi and Urdu languages were stacked properly.            

I was still standing in front of the table when I saw the side door being opened and Choudhury sahib and Baba ji entered the room, following them was a house maid, who was carrying a big tray filled with tea cups and biscuits. Choudhury sahib straight away came walking towards me and took my hands in his hands and said: “I am so grateful that you have brought Baba ji with you. Please sit down” And he very politely first allowed Baba ji to sit and after I took my chair he sat down. He enquired about me; I gave him brief introduction of myself and handed over my business card. He also pulled out his wallet and gave me his business card. He was Dr. Alaha Rakha Khan Choudhury; MA (History), LLB, PhD. (Mugal History), he had served as a Dean in State sponsored University; at present he is the chairman of many social and welfare organizations.    

His elder son Abdul Rehman Khan Choudhury was Commerce Graduate+MBA besides running his family business of construction, farming and wooden furniture; his wife was the TGT (Trained Graduate Teacher) of Social Studies of an English medium School at Alwar town which was managed by Chaudhury sahib’s family funded Trust. His grandson has celebrated fourteenth birthday on March-10. Last Friday night, his son was coming from Delhi after attending an exhibition of Building materials at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, when he met with an accident on National Highway No.-8 near Dharuhera town and by the time he was rushed to the nearby hospital, the doctors declared him: ‘Brought Dead’.  

I offered my condolences to Choudhury sahib and thereafter asked their permission to leave but Choudhury sahib told me to stay for some more time with them. He was looking very sad and his eyes were still filled with tears but I didn't realize how and when I also started crying and my eyes were wet with tears. Though I have no direct or indirect relationship with them but I don’t know why I also felt very deeply about the sad demise of Choudhury sahib’s only son.  Neither I met him before nor I ever saw him but yet I don’t know why I was feeling as if I have lost someone very close to my heart.

Meanwhile, I heard Baba ji was talking to Choudhury sahib: “Please stop crying, be brave and accept God Almighty’s verdict with open heart. I know it’s very difficult to bear this loss but never mind; he has taken away your son and he will bridge the gap by deputing a messiah in your life soon, because in his wisdom, nothing is impossible, you simply wait and watch”.

I was shocked and so was Choudhury sahib, I don’t know why Baba ji has made the above statement, maybe he wanted to console Choudhury Sahib because he seemed to be very upset with the sudden demise of his only son which has further pushed him into this void. The impact of his son’s death was so strong and severe that he could not accept the present situation and come to terms with it so easily.   

I was still in a dilemma and was not in a position to think further. I looked upon Baba ji but he seemed to be in a silence mode both his eyes closed but I could see his lips, which were continuously murmuring religious hymns.  After ten odd minutes, he opened his eyes and got up from his seat and sat down next to Choudhury sahib’s chair; simultaneously he pulled Choudhury sahib’s hands in his hands and started reciting the holy hymns again. He continued to do the same for another five minutes; finally he spoke to him with a broad smile: “Choudhury sahib, the God Almighty is very kind to you, he has given you everything, therefore, treat all persons at par as if they are part of your family and you will see the reflection of your son in every young man’s face, trust me, you will from this very moment”. 

Choudhury sahib was looking confused but he follows Baba ji’s instructions because he was not in a position to disobey or deny them, therefore, he came straight towards me and pulled me up from my seat, holding me from my arms and said: “I am sure, you will give me the honour and privilege of calling you my son” and simultaneously he embraced me and started uttering: “I am truly blessed to have you as my son, thank you”.

I stayed there for another hour; Choudhury sahib called all his family members in his room and introduced me with each and every member of his family. At the end, Choudhury Sahib’s three young daughters came and greeted me with so much compassion and love as if I was their real brother. Finally I saw one old lady coming towards us while sitting on the wheelchair, she seemed to me, Mrs. Choudhury; I slowly walked towards her and greeted her by saying: “Mrs. Choudhury” but she interrupted me in-between by saying: “No-no, call me mother, my son” and she embraced me in both her hands and started crying loudly. Mr. Choudhury came running towards her and said: “Mrs. Choudhury, please don’t cry, God is very kind to us, you see, he has returned our son in the form of this angel, now stop crying please.”   

While driving home I was thinking about today’s incident; I could not rationalize the whole episode and was wondering about the wisdom of my beloved Lord.  I am a very small creature in this earth full of sins without having any skill, standard and strength; I have repeatedly committed blunders and today, the Lord has given me the great gift of my life by introducing me to such a wonderful family which is highly blessed on this universe. May the Lord give strength to respected Choudhury Sahib and all his family members to bear the loss and peace to the departed soul, Amen!  

With Prayers

Gurcharan

Miracles do happen!

I was stepping down from the staircase of Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, New Delhi, when someone called me from the back “Charan-Charan” I immediately stopped and looked back to find an old Sikh couple standing along with one young Sikh boy. They were looking at me with eager eyes and a very soft smile was on their faces. I instantly recognised them as Mrs. and Mr. Surjit Singh Gill. They used to live in Kolkata near our house and their younger son Manjit Singh Gill was my classmate in school. I first tried to touch their feet but they stopped me in-between and grabbed me with both their hands and embraced me one by one. Behind me, my wife and daughters were staring at me with curious eyes full of unanswered questions? I immediately called them and formally introduced them to Mr. Gill’s family. Mrs. Gill first met my wife and later with my daughters. I gave them a brief introduction about Mr. Gill’s family.

Mrs. Gill advised me to walk towards one corner of the Gurudwara sahib near the sarover (water-pond) where we could sit and talk. Therefore, we all started walking towards the sarover side in silence and after settling down at one vacant corner, I asked my first question, “How come you were here Gill sahib?” He wanted to speak but before he could utter a word his wife Mrs. Surinder Kaur Gill said, “We are going to Jalandhar city to drop our grandson Sardar Manpreet Singh Gill in the Engineering College. We came to Delhi today morning by Rajdhani express train and thought of visiting Gurudwars sahib to take blessings from Baba ji and then proceed to Jalandhar City by Shatabdi express train in the evening because tomorrow will be his first day in the College”.  

I was still confused, who this boy Manpreet was? His face looked familiar to me but his eyes were different that’s why I could not recognize him. Before I could ask any further questions, Mr. Gill answered with great excitement: “Charan, did you not recognize Manpreet Singh? Oh my God, he is the son of your childhood friend Manjit.  Have you forgotten him? He is the one whom your father had located first when we all had lost hope of his survival, remember? And within a flash the whole episode came alive in my mind. Oh yes, how I could forget about that incident which brought lots of sweet and sad memories from our past making my eyes wet with tears.  

I had shifted from Kolkata to Jamshedpur with my family due to job transfer in the year 1984 but my parents and brothers were still staying in Kolkata and so were Mr. Gill’s family. I still remember, it was 26^th January, 1985 and due to the Republic Day, it was a National Holiday. I was at home when I got a call from my mother on the landline phone about Mr. Manjit’s missing news. Mr. Manjit Singh had studied with me till Higher Secondary. He was a good athlete, 6 feet 3 inches in height, big black eyes with very fair skin. He was the most smart and good looking Jat Punjabi boy with long list of crazy fan following of beautiful girls.

After graduation, I joined a private firm in Kolkata and he opted for his father’s transport business. During his College days he was involved with one local girl who belonged to a different community; he wanted to marry her but his family was dead against his choice of this girl for marriage. He was very adamant and rigid about his decision and due to this reason he had delayed his marriage plans. I also came to know from his elder brother that he had stopped communicating with his father and his marriage was a big issue in his family.

During the Ganga Sagar Mela,  my dear friend Manjit along with his few close friends went to have a holy dip at the  Ganga Sagar [This Island is known as Ganga Sagar or Sagardwip, 105 KM from Kolkata by road] is a place of Hindu Pilgrimage. Every year on the day of Makar Sankranti (14^th January) hundreds of thousands of Hindus gather to take a holy dip at the pious river Ganga in the Bay of Bengal and offer prayers at the Kapil Muni Temple.

After having a holy dip at river Ganges everyone came out of the river but there was no trace of Manjit. His friends first informed the local authorities to locate Manjit but when he was not found, they informed his family. By late evening, Manjit’s family arrived with lots of well wishers and searched for Manjit the whole night and the next full day but he or his body was not found. After the search the family came back empty handed. Meanwhile, his family members started contacting all his relatives and friends; they also published “missing person report” in the local news papers. Days passed into weeks but there was no news of Manjit.

One evening, Manjit’s elder brother Ranjit came to our Kolkata house and met with my father and told him about Manjit’s missing episode. He then requested my father to give some idea about his whereabouts.   In our community my father was known as a very spiritual person and lots of people used to visit him with their family problems to which my father used to give some solutions due to which he was much revered in the locality and was known as Bapuji. Therefore, Manjit’s mother had requested Ranjit to enquire from my father about Manjit’s present status.

First Bapuji kept quiet and later he told Ranjit to come the next day with Manjit’s photograph and his used/unwashed clothes. On the second day, Ranjit came again with Manjit’s photograph but he was unable to bring any of his unwashed clothes because all his dresses were already washed. Bapuji kept the photograph and requested him to come the next day. Ranjit again came with his mother the second day and she requested my father to pray for her son and give some positive reports about his presence. Bapuji kept quiet for some time and after a long pause said in a very heavy voice, “I couldn’t feel anything about Manjit and I have no answers to offer at this moment” and he had shown his helplessness in giving any positive answer. Manjit’s mother again requested my father with both her folded hands to do something about Manjit. My mother also requested Bapuji to again offer prayer at the Gurudwara sahib for the well being of Manjit.

In the late evening, Bapuji wanted to visit Manjit’s house and requested my younger brother to drop him at his place. Everyone at Manjit’s house were first very surprised to see Bapuji and later felt very happy. They thought that Bapuji must have come with some good news but when Bapuji nodded his head in the negative, everyone felt very sad. He later wanted to go inside Manjit’s room so that he could have the feel of Manjit.

Ranjit took him to Manjit’s room; there was one double bed in the centre, writing table and a chair at one corner, tape recorder, audio cassettes and a few Punjabi books and magazines kept on the table. One very big black and white photo-frame of Manjit was hanging on the wall. Later Bapuji told Ranjit to come in the morning and he closed the door.

Bapuji first sat down on the chair and started touching all the books and magazines lying on the table, then he started listing to audio cassettes, few were Gurbani shabads and some of them were Punjabi pop songs. Later he sat down on the bed and started reciting Gurbani. The whole night he could not sleep and repeated the above exercise.

In the morning Ranjit came with a hot cup of tea and saw my father fully awake and reciting Gurbani. After offering his morning prayers, my father told Ranjit to call all the elder members of the family in the room. Within few minutes all the members of his family were present in the room. Manjit’s mother's eyes were filled with tears and rest of the members were having pale faces and looking very quiet; but his father seemed much disturbed and was not very optimistic about the whole incident.

Bapuji started speaking in a very low and soft voice and said,”Manjit is very much alive” later he said “I have felt him in my lap wrapped in white woollen shawl playing with both his little hands”. I could not communicate with him but he has long non verbal conversation with Manjit. He seems to be very happy, healthy and well settled.

There was pin drop silence in the room and after few second Manjit’s father first spoke and said my son was very tall, healthy and smart how could he come in his lap that too wrapped in a white shawl? And everyone started making comments, some of the young members made funny statements also. Except his mother everyone refused to accept Bapuji’s verdict and one by one everyone left the room. Bapuji felt very sad and he left Ranjit’s house with a very heavy heart.

The very next week Ranjit came rushing to our house and requested my father to come along with him immediately, because it’s an emergency. Bapuji was not very keen to go but when my mother again requested him to go by saying Manjit was Charan’s childhood friend and he must go with Ranjit. Within half an hour, they reached Ranjit’s house. Ranjit’s father came rushing at the main door to receive Bapuji as soon as he entered the drawing room along with all members of their family joined together and paid their respect to him. Once Bapuji settled down on the couch, Ranjit’s father narrated the whole story.

One very young, fair and good looking woman came to their house along with one baby boy of a month old claiming to be Manjit’s wife, who had given birth to Manjit’s son. She had also shown the marriage certificate and photographs of their marriage. She was living in Siliguri with her parents. She met Manjit when she was studying in Calcutta Women's College. First they fell in love and later got married last year. Since Manjit’s parents were not ready to accept her as their daughter-in law she was staying in a separate flat at south Kolkata. She heard about Manjit’s missing report when she was in her eighth month of Pregnancy and MTP was not possible at that point of time hence she decided to give birth to his child. She wanted to first handover the baby to them and if they didn’t want his child then she would have no option but to drop him in any orphanage in Kolkata.           

They immediately remembered Bapuji’s last verdict about Manjit; hence they immediately summoned him.  Now they wanted to know whether this new born baby is actually Manjit’s son. Bapuji asked for the baby boy and took him into his lap. He was actually wrapped in a small white shawl and after coming in his lap he started playing with Bapuji’s long-beard. After playing with the little child Bapuji confirmed with a big smile, “Yes yes, this is Manjit’s son and that night I have felt about the same child in my lap in this house. He will look like Manjit except his eyes that he has borrowed from his mother”.

After listening to Bapuji everyone kept quiet for some time and later Manjit’s mother smiled and wished my father with folded hands and asked for forgiveness for that day’s behaviour. Thereafter everyone came and touched Bapuji’s feet and took his blessings. Finally Manjit’s father requested Bapuji to bless Manjit’s son and gives him a name. After reciting Gurbani for half an hour Bapuji announce the new name of the baby boy, “Manpreet Singh Gill”.     

Today the same little Manpreet was sitting in front of me who did look like Manjit excep for his eyes which were different. I was not in a position to stop looking at him therefore I grabbed him towards me and embraced him as if I was actually meeting my very dear friend Manjit after a very long time. I was looking at him with lots of love and affection and at the same time I was also remembering my father, my Bapuji, with lots of love and respect who is no more with us but I am continuously getting his blessings in different ways and means and hence believe firmly that “ Miracles do Happen!” 

With Prayers

Gurcharan