Age and diplomacy!!!

Look at the picture... With my nephew Diptakhya... Observe the contrast between the two, and you will have the same smile that both of us are displaying... :-)

Ok, coming to the point... That day we had a family gathering. One of my brother in law was surfing through the pictures in my handset.. As he was looking at this picture, something clicked my mind. I asked him,

"Dada, wait a minute!! Look, how much fairer I am as compared to Diptakhya... What do you say?"

Though I asked him humorously in a funny way, he took the question seriously... He answered,

"Actually Partha, as a guy, your facial complexion is good enough... Anyway dark colour suits the boys most.."

I just smiled.. I took the handset and asked the same question to one auntie, who was sitting beside me...

She looked at the photograph for quite a sometime and then replied,

"Actually Partha, u see, the complexion of Diptakhya's chest is different from that of his face... And you are behind him in the picture... That may be one reason for the contrast or else, I think, there may be a problem with the flash of the camera..."

My smile increased even more... May be it's true that diplomacy is proportional to one's age...

Then I asked the same question to one niece who is studying in 7th standard. She didn't say a word, just displayed a shy smile... Ok, may be she is in the process of developing diplomacy...

At last I called one niece, studying in 2nd standard, who was playing something nearby..

"Rimli, come here... "

I showed her the photograph and asked her, "Who is fairer?"

You know, without wasting time even for a moment she replied, "Diptakhya." and ran to continue her play...

I mean... No diplomacy at all... :-):-)

If everything goes well !!!

a) That day I was returning from my hometown Morigaon to Guwahati. I was riding my bike and the distance that I had to travel was about 80 kms. Most of my family members don't like me to travel this much distance using a bike, yet sometimes I have to... Ok, coming to the point... As you may assume, its really difficult to receive calls while you are riding a bike and it's time consuming if you just stop the bike everytime you receive a call... Accidents do happen, but I am not that kind of guy to invite accidents by talking to mobile phones while riding a bike myself... Hence before starting my journey, I informed my senior who was on duty at my workplace and whom I was supposed to relieve after I reach..

"Sumita baa, I am about to start... If everything goes well, I'll reach within 2 hrs..."

You know...  After I disconnected the call, it came to my mind, for what this "if everything goes well" actually stands for? I smiled at myself... As I was riding a bike, if I have to reach in time, there should be no rain... Anyway the weather was somewhat cloudy... There shouldn't be any technical or mechanical problem in my bike... I should remain physically and mentally fit for those 2 hours and above all I should not meet any accident!! At the end everything went well and I reached my destination in time...



b) Last year one fine day I incidentally met one of my junior after so many months... He was about to appear for his Final MBBS examinations.. I had a pleasant feeling thinking that one 18 yrs old young boy whom I first met on his very first day in our medical college was about to become a doctor.. But as I expressed my feelings, only a tense smile appeared on his face ...

"Thank you Partha da, but you already know, it'll depend, provided everything goes well !!!"

I smiled back...

Yeah, he was right.. Even if we consider only the academic aspects leaving aside all other factors like his health or family related issues etc, then also he would have to be allowed to appear in all four subjects and then he would have to do well in his exams!!! Anyway everything went well and after around 3 months he became a doctor...



c) It was the month of January, 2013... I went to one uncle's place to invite him to my marriage. For last 1 year he was having some diseases for which he had to hospitalize for a no. of times. He was a too caring person.. He was not from my family, yet he called me "Bacha"!!

"Bacha, it's indeed a great news that you are getting married... If everything goes well, I'll never miss your marriage... Ok, March 4th.. I'll mark the date on my calendar right now!!"

You know, everything didn't go well with that uncle... Just 15 days before my marriage he left us for his heavenly abode... He couldn't attend my marriage!!!

Bleeding Heart!!!

Few days back I met a guy of around 50 years of age who was there to donate blood...During the routine screening procedure I came to know that he had already donated for 24 times..

"I started donating since 1991 after my mother passed away..."

"Okay..."

".........."

He became somewhat emotional... I was waiting for him to continue... He tried to say something, but his words failed to come out of his lips... He paused for a moment and took a deep breath... There was noticeable colour change in his fair face  and unexpectedly all of a sudden he started crying !!!

I was never prepared to face such a situation, at least not at that moment..

"Hey... Please... Please don't cry !!!"

Yes, he tried to suppress his feelings... He focussed at some distant objects through the window panel... After a moment he removed his glasses, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and started to narrate his story in his broken voice while wiping his tears...

"Sorry sir... Actually my father passed away when I was too young... I can't even recall his face... My mother brought me up well despite facing lots of difficulties. In 1991, she met an accident and she was having active bleeding... Her condition became too critical till we could reach the hospital . The treating doctors informed that she might need several units of blood. I myself donated one unit... I approached many of my friends and relatives, but you see, all were having their own excuses... Before I was able to manage any more units, I was delivered the news... She was no more!! "

He cleared his throat and continued...

"After that, I made a promise to myself and thus I am donating... Had somebody come forward at my hours of need, I feel, my mother would have lived longer!!! "

You know... This experience was one of its rarest kind for me. He was the one and only elderly person I had ever met in my entire lifetime who cried for his mother even so many years after her demise...

I placed my hand over his shoulder... He looked at me and tried to smile, but that smile was strong enough to penetrate anyone's core...

Neither I will try to give any medical analysis, justification or reasoning for his labile emotions nor I am going to discuss about his praiseworthy contributions to the society  in the form of blood donation.. Rather I would like to  through the light in another direction... His reaction was a clear outburst of his aching heart, but it made me realize this eternal truth once again that no matter how old you are, no one else can ever take the place of a mother!!!

Heart-to-heart interactions !!!

a) That day I had to go to my rented house at Guwahati during the day time during my duty hours. Somehow I forgot to bring some necessary documents and thus after managing some replacement I went to collect the same. Being a holiday, the kid from my immediate neighbourhood, who studies in 5th standard, was playing alone in their verandah.. I had met him for a few times till then and everytime we had a short interaction. As soon as he came to know of my presence, he wished me...

"Hi uncle, how are you?"

"I am fine Baba.. Thank you.. How are you?"

"I am also fine... How is auntie? Is she still in Moradabad?"

Can you imagine? He has never met his "auntie".. I was not even sure if he knows anything about me. To be true, a few days before my marriage, once his father came to my house to show me some investigation reports and that day only during the casual talk we came to know about each other's families to some extent.. And on that fine day, the little kid courageously enquired me about the well being of my wife and his "unknown auntie"... It was for sure that he had learnt all these informations from his father, but when a little child of his age knows to show this much concern, inevitably he becomes close to my heart and this is one aspect of education starting at home and school that we should talk and learn about !!!

b) Another day one morning I was coming from my home to the bus stoppage at Morigaon. I was about to return to Guwahati... I catched one tempo (one kind of medium sized vehicle used for public transport)... The route is of 2.3 kms and they charge Rs. 5/- for the ride. One little girl of around 10-11 yrs of age, dressed in her school uniform was sitting next to me. After sometime I took a 5 rupees coin out of my pocket and called the conductor, but the girl said to me,

"Uncle, please give it to me..."

I couldn't understand anything, but the way she forwarded her palm towards me, I just handed over the coin to her...

She then said to the conductor, "Dada, I've kept this coin from this uncle."

Only then it came to my mind.. The conductor had to return her 5 rupees and thus the calculation was over....

She then looked at me with one of those cutest smiles and said,

"Thank you uncle..."

I smiled back...

You know, such a politeness from such a young child is too precious to perceive... In other words the beautiful smile of this unknown child simply made my day !!!