SOME SMALL THINGS MAKE YOU FEEL TRULY BLESSED












Pic.: Nicole Gubin

I went off to sleep before 11, last night. I was blissfully undisturbed when crackers thundered all around at midnight. I knew whether the New Year, 2016, would be happy one or not was left to me… and not to my destiny. So, I chose to go off to sleep, as usual, with a simple prayer in my heart: “Guard me O Lord through this night… Thank-you for being kind, this long.”

New-year messages were getting piled up quietly on my phone and PC… But, no one woke me up from my sleep, last night, to wish me a happy New Year. But, a very elderly gentleman did.

Mr. Harwadekar is in his late eighties. He lives in the same building where I do. A well-read and informed person that he is, he has been a very proactive and zestful soul, too. He loves to dress up smartly and surround himself with good company. However, of late, his health has let him down… movements being restricted, considerably. While going to sleep, I had thought of this wonderful soul and decided to pay a visit to him today to convey my new-year wishes…

But, before I could do that, Mr. Harwadekar did it! At 12.20 in the night, he called me up… yes, just to say he cared for me, loved me… and wished a ‘peaceful’ new year…

There was a definite emphasis on what sir said: “I wish you a very ‘peaceful’ new year”!

Trust me, that’s the only call I received last night. But, it meant a lot to me.

When he was active, Mr. Harwadekar would come down with his little grand-children and inspire us with stories from his life. One of them was the send-off he had received on retirement from the Central Government job, more than twenty-five years ago. “I had specifically urged all my colleagues and well-wishers not to give me any presents or flowers,” Mr. Harwadekar would recount, “Your blessings alone will guard me through my retirement years.”

Yes, Mr. Hawadekar believed immensely in the power of true blessings…

Last night, when he had called me, I felt immensely blessed…

It was a special night… a blessed one. Very peaceful.


GERALD D’CUNHA


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