HE TOUCHED ME AND MADE ME WHOLE

















“He touched me, Oh, he touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul,
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole…”

I have no count of the number of times I have listened to and soaked in the song – call it ‘hymn’ if you wish – by Bill and Gloria Gaither. And, every time, I listen to it, yes, ‘something happens’ to me and tears simply flow down my cheeks. Frankly, to me, it is not a Christian hymn and it is not about Jesus and how He touched my life… To me, it’s about that Jesus in disguise… the one who comes as a simple, loving soul and touches me and makes me feel ‘I am no longer the same’…



Today, just after my morning walk at 6, I had this strong urge in me to listen to this song. That’s when my eyes fell on two messages of love and gratitude, both happened to be from two of my dear friends, and both happened to be on birthdays… but, from two different perspectives…

Dr. Deepak – to me only Deepak – had come in my life as a young boy who had just given his tenth-standard exams. It was twenty-five years ago… They were three brothers and they lived in a one-room house, with common toilet… with hand-to-mouth existence. As hundreds of young kids like Deepak and his two brothers did, and still do, he and his brothers went to the reading-room facility in the nearby area and, through that, Deepak became Dr. Deepak, his one brother became Fr. Rupak and another brother ended up with a Masters in Social Work (TISS)… All three brothers were laser-sharp when it came to what they wanted to do in life… I owe Deepak a life-time debt because, he who came to THE DAWN CLUB s a boy to pick a lesson or two ended up staying back to help me and the organization to impart tons of lessons to boys like he was once…

Today is Deepak’s birthday. Here is the message sent by him to me:

Dear sir, today I want to deeply, deeply thank you for being t a true source of inspiration through the phases of my life… Your love actions have left as profound impact on me. Tenderness, follow up and massive actions in very, very difficult times are what I have learnt from you…

Irrespective of how one feels, get up, dress up and show up… is what I have tried to emulate from you.

Thank you for being there…

Love
DEEPAK

Tandra, too, came in my life as my student some twenty-seven years ago. No, she did do involve with THE DAWN CLUB the way Deepak did. But, Tandra was there when when we, together, started it. Then, as life is… we lost touch for many years till FB brought us together. It was through this medium and our subsequent interactions that I learnt about her hubby Ashutosh and young talented daughter, Priyanka… Above all, I was delighted to watch the beautiful family bond… about which, yes, I haven’t been able to express before Tandra…


I had felt immensely happy for her. For, I know, it takes true hearts to build faithful and loving families… I had been silently admiring Tandra’s family for that… And, I sincerely pray they stay blessed for eons…

Here is the message I had sighted early this morning… Tandra, who generally shies away from expressing such messages in public, did it today for her dear hubby Ashutosh, who is away in Germany on his b’day:

I have known you for nearly 25 years now
and can say this with conviction:
You are a man who knows his priorities in life…
A man who makes a daughter respect men…
You are a man who knows how to nurture
the person that gave birth to you…
A man who knows how to hold
a family and its extension together…
A man who never lets life be taken for granted…
A man who makes me feel proud to be called his wife!

Happy birthday hubby dear.


So, who touched whom?
Jesus comes in life always in disguise… and makes us deeply, deeply feel and say:


“He touched me, Oh, he touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul,
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole…”

Happy b’day dear Deepak and Ashutosh… Stay ‘touched’!!!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Pawan Khatri
Video: YouTube

Comments

Tandra said…
Touched
October 26, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...