I came back from my official tour on Sunday morning by train after three days of traveling in and around Siliguri and Gangtok markets. Along with me, my Dy. GM (Sales) was also there, but he left Siliguri a day before by flight to Head Office at Hyderabad via Calcutta.
In the evening we (me and my wife) visited my younger brother’s house at Bhowanipur where both my parents were also staying with him. My father was sitting on the chair in our balcony, with his eyes closed and he was reciting Gurbani as usual. After touching his feet I sat down on the floor. He immediately opened his eyes, simply hugged me with a broad smile, pulled me up and made me sit on the chair lying in front of him.
He started asking questions about my health, my tour and my boss who was traveling with me to Siliguri. Before I could start responding to his questions, he started speaking on his own, he explained everything to me in minute details about my tour. He told me the name and colour of the car in which we were traveling from Siliguri to Gangtok. He even told me about the conversation we had in the car and I was amazed and surprised to know all about it. He was very happy when he was telling me those things but I was not concentrating on his conversation, because I was getting suspicious, tense and worried to hear these things from him.
How the hell he knew everything in details and the most worried thing was the conversation which I had with my Boss was in English and my father cannot read, write or speak any other language except Gurumukhi, then the way he was explaining to me everything in details which had happened between us during the said tour as if he was also traveling along with us.
Before I could ask him any more question/s he suddenly became very serious and said “Charan, finally my letter has come and I have to leave next Sunday night, at 8:40 P.M., therefore, please don’t go on tour, alright” and I answered him jokingly, “Bapu ji, where are you going, leaving me alone here?”, he answered to me in a very sad and low voice, “Charan, how long can I stay here, I am 80 (years) plus, I have to go one day and that day has come, it’s that simple, try to understand, it’s Almighty's wish”. And he reminded me about Shri Guru Nanak Sahib’s Gurbani which says: 'Hukum Razai Chalnaa Nanak Likhiya Naal'.
Thereafter, he started telling me about many things which I had to do being his eldest son. He also told me to look after my mother and both my brothers as an obedient son and elder brother and I should not run away from my duties and responsibilities.
With regard to my Daughters marriages, he said, “do not worry, they all will get married into good families in due course of time so you need not worry at all”. But to be very honest, I never believed what all he said that night, I thought, may be he was feeling very low that’s why he was saying such depressive things to me and I left that night with total confusion, chaos and a very heavy heart.
Next Sunday, my younger brother came to my house with his wife and children to have dinner with us and when we were about to have our dinner, suddenly phone rang and my sister-in-law (youngest brother’s wife) informed us that Bapu ji is not feeling well and he is calling us immediately.
All of a sudden, last Sunday’s conversation flashed in my mind and I started shivering on remembering his last statement. It was already seven past ten and I was staying at Behala which was 20 KM away. We immediately rush to Bowanipur and reached there at 8:15 P.M. and by that time, the Doctor had also arrived and he told us to rush him to the nearby Hospital immediately because he had severe heart attack.
I could not speak a word, my brother called a taxi and we took him to the Hospital which was very close to our house. Meanwhile, my brother had called his friend whose sister was working there as a nurse and we reached emergency ward of the Hospital around 8:30 P.M.; although the Hospital was over crowded but still the Doctor immediately attended my father and after preliminay check-up, he called the nurse, gave some instructions and told us to wait for some time due to very heavy rush at the emergency-ward.
Meanwhile, all of us were standing and waiting for him to be admitted. My father was lying on the stretcher when suddenly he told me in a very low voice, “I have to go now” and all of a sudden he stopped talking to me, his eyes and mouth were wide-open but he was not there and at that very moment the big watch hanging on the wall of the emergency-ward was showing the time 8:40 P.M. to be precise. I started shouting, crying, yelling and calling for the Doctors in a very loud voice, because my father stopped talking and was not responding to my repeated calls. Everyone came rushing towards us and the Doctor also came forward and after thorough check-up he said “ I am sorry”.
I was looking at my father, weaping and uttering following words repeatedly, “This is not done Bapu ji, you can’t go like this, leaving me alone, how I will survive without you tell me, I love you very much, don't go please, wake up because I can't live without you, Bapu ji”.
And to my utmost surprise, I am still alive and survive although more than eight years have passed since he left me alone but I strongly feel and believe that one day I will definitely meet him, but I don’t know when, where and how?.
With Prayers
Gurcharan
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