WHEN SOMEONE GOES SILENT

 

“I blinked my eyes
and in an instant,
decades had passed.”

― John Mark Green, ‘Taste the Wild Wonder: Poems’

 

An old neighbour of mine had invited us to visit their home… The Ganesha was to leave for the visarjan, late last evening. Before visiting their house, I visited another resident of that colony, where a friend of mine lived with his wife. A month ago, late one night, this friend had messaged me, saying, that the cancer (of his wife) had relapsed, and this time, aggressively at multiple places. Two surgeries later, and after a clear chit from some renowned Oncologists at Tata Memorial and elsewhere, my friend was unable to believe, that the relapse could happen. Anyway, he stood like a rock beside his wife, who had to undergo very strong Chemo’s (surgeries were ruled out)… Today morning at 7, the last chemo was scheduled… When I met my friend and his wife, late last evening, I could sense the anxiety behind the smiling faces…

“Be strong, Ma’am… Be strong, my friend… All will go well… We are praying.”  Were these not just words, no matter how sincerely expressed?

Then, I visited Ganesha… “Lord, have mercy on the distressed family… Please give them strength and hope.” Yes, I prayed with folded hands to Vigneshwara…

“Just words? Just faith?”

Lord knows…

Thirty-four years ago, one morning, I was teaching in my classroom. Melvyn, my brother-in-law, came with a message (no phones at home, leave alone mobiles)… “Gerry, Flavy (that’s how my wife is called by the family) delivered a baby boy.”

Our son, Kenrick, wanted to come out weeks before the scheduled time… Well, I wound up my class and rushed to the nursing home. Then, from a nearby PCO, I called up a few dear and near ones to share the good news. One of them was Late Dr. V. K. Iya’s residence (at Saras Baug). He was the Group Director (Isotope) at BARC. He was personally handpicked by Dr. Homi Bhaba… and, I was privileged to teach his second daughter, Rekha, at their bungalow. Sir was such a fine gentleman, unbelievably unassuming… He and his wife (who he would call ‘Shrimati’) treated me like their own son. And, for a new comer in this big city, who still carried the heavy baggage of low self-confidence, an acceptance meant validity… the world!

So, that morning, Mrs. Iya picked the phone, “Good morning aunty, there is good news: We got a baby boy.”

There was silence from the other end. “Aunty, are you there?” I asked.

“Yes, yes… I am there. I am very happy. Congratulations to both of you, and blessings to the baby boy.”

I was a bit puzzled about that short pause Mrs. Iya had given before responding… But, I left it at that.

Some moths earlier, THE DAWN CLUB had brought out its latest edition of the inspirational magazine – ‘THE BLOOM’. We had made a cover story on Dr. Homi Bhabha in our ‘Great Motivators’ series. Dr. Iya had written the cover story alongside renowned scientists from BARC, Dr. Murthy and Dr. S.M. Rao. Late Mr. Tapan Basu, the exceptionally gifted artist, had done the cover… Dr. Iya was kind enough to organise for us some amazing images from BARC library…

When the Magazine was out, I sent my office assistant to Dr. Iya’s house to handover a couple of copies. Mrs. Iya opened the door to receive the magazine copies. My assistant, when he returned, was glowing with confidence… “Madam asked my name, “ he said, “When I said ‘Vasudev’, she was very happy and said… ‘Bahut achcha, beta… Bhagwan ka naam hai’.”

Dr. Vasudeva Kilara Iya was born on September 16, 1927… He would have completed 100 next September…

I am connecting the dots… Why Mrs. Iya went silent when I gave her the good news of our son’s arrival… Why she said to my office assistant – “Bahut achcha, beta… Bhagwan ka naam hai”

Dr. V. K. Iya (center) being felicitated by former P.M. Late Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Early this morning, the elder daughter of Dr. Iya, Dr. Vidya (a Cardiologist in Leelavati Hospital) messaged me:

“Gerry, please wish your son, Kenrick, a happy b’day… May all his wishes come true and have a long and healthy life.”

I knew, along with  families of Dr. Vidya and Rekha, our family, too, were remembering the gentle soul –- a very rare gem --  Dr. V. K. Iya.

There was another message, early this morning, which, a die-hard reader and a well-wisher of mine had sent from America: “Long time, no blog.”

I smiled and replied instantly, “A dry spell is on, ma’am… Perhaps, your drizzle might cause a bloom, today.”

Frankly, I wanted to tell her this: “Ma’am, the world doesn’t revolve around my blogs, you see.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA  

Pic’s: 1. Pixabay/jplenio  2. Pixel  3. Tapan Basu  4. Rekha Bhartee

Video: Ganeshaya Dheemathi