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