"HAMESHA DER KAR DETA HOON MAIN"

Around 11, last night, an uncle of mine called up. As we go off to sleep early these days, my uncle’s call had woken me up from my sleep. “Hello Gerry, we are in Goa on a short vacation,” my uncle said, “We are staying with a cousin of my wife. Their hospitality reminded me of you… I was telling them about you, and I just felt like saying a ‘Thank you’… Sorry for this late-hour call. But, I couldn’t hold it back!”

Recently, my uncle and his wife had been to our hometown, Mangalore, after fifty-five years. His wife, a Goan, had never been to Mangalore. So, a few weeks ago, when I had to go with my family to attend my nephew’s wedding in Mangalore, my uncle expressed his desire to touch base… meet up with all his relatives and fulfill one of aunt’s wishes, too… Yes, before it was too late to do that (They are in their late seventies, you see.). Thus, I, along with my brothers, went an extra-mile to make this trip of our uncle and aunt a memorable experience for them.

Late last night, uncle wanted to express his gratitude to me and my brothers… Yes, before it was too late to do that!

I had done a similar thing, last evening, before I was leaving my office around 7. Something inside me was prompting me to say “Hello’ to my Father-in-law. My in-laws, who are old and ailing, live on their own, not very far from our residence. My wife is in touch with them on a daily basis and our only son lives with them. I hadn’t paid a visit to my in-laws for many days and hadn’t even called, though I was updated about them by my wife regularly. Something prompted me inside, last evening, “Call… before it is too late!”

I did. Those five-six minutes, felt like precious moments, to me!

A month ago, a dear friend of mine, who was once my student, sent this message from his hotel room in Geneva (Switzerland):

“Dear Sir, thank you for being my Fiend, Mentor and Guide… Thank you for being there!”

The message of my friend was accompanied by a short video clip. It was a small poem by Munir Niazi, the famous Pakistani poet, and the poem was titled – ‘Hamesha Der Kar Deta Hoon Main’.

GERLAD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Chenthi Mohan/Journeys with Meaning

Video: YouTube