Yesterday, having had a rough time since the moment I woke up, and
having been haunted by some of the memories from the past, I ended up
concluding that there is no genuine love on this earth to be felt. But,
it was like a hard slap across my face, when I came across an elderly
gentleman this morning. And, a worthy and pleasant slap it was, indeed!
:-)
This morning, once I reached one of my outlets, I
started the day by playing a piece of music in my laptop, Raha Alihya
Bhilawal Khayal by Kala Ramnath to be precise. There was an elderly
gentleman sitting at the outlet. The moment he listened to this music,
he enquired me as to which FM station is playing this tune. I told him
that this is from my personal collection. He hesitated for a moment and
kept silent. As I carried on with my work, he spoke to me again and
asked me whether I could give this tune to him. I told him that I have
no data-cable through which I could transfer the songs to his phone. He
fell silent again. Then he asked me will it be OK if he could give me a
pen-drive and whether I would give him the tune. I felt so moved and
told him that it will simply be my pleasure to share something as
soulful as music. I told him to bring me a pen-drive during his next
visit.
He simply enquired one of my team-members about
the availability of a pen-drive and the moment he learnt about it being
available, he bought an 8 GB pen-drive and asked me to share all my
collection. I felt my ego about my love for music being shattered at his
enthusiasm. Here is someone who is even more enthusiastic about music.
This is what I thought, without being aware of what was about to follow.
While
I got about copying some of the best performances from my collections
to that pen-drive, he spoke to me about his wife. Himself a retired
pensioner, about 76 years of age, he has a wife who is 72 now. And, she
is a cancer patient!
Afflicted with bone-marrow cancer,
she is undergoing a huge torment every day with that pain and the
certainty of counting her last days on this planet. She met with an
accident during her 30s which resulted in the removal of uterus along
with an 8-month old fetus.
Now, our pensioner has sold
his house for her treatment and has spent almost more than half of his
savings. He is afraid of not being able to support her treatment, which
is running to more than Rs.20000 per month. He is more worried about not
being able to see her suffer that badly on a daily basis, sleeping for
almost 18 hours per day, being unable to do anything in the remaining 6
hours that she is awake. But he derives a sad comfort from the fact that
the doctors have confirmed of her not having many days to live.
He
said that he is getting this music collection for the sake of his wife,
since she loves music, especially Carnatic and Hindustani. He wants to
keep this playing near her bed, so that she can find some solace amidst
her pain. And, till her death!
He also says that after
she leaves, he will also spend his time listening to music, and when it
is his time to leave, he will leave a note to play music near his
deathbed for an hour or so!
After listening to his
moving story, all that I could do for him was open the door when he
left, accompany his elderly frail figure reach his vehicle parked
outside and assure him of whatever help I can.
In this
age of free sex, fickle relationships, drop-of-the-hat divorces and
illicit relationships that are fast becoming legitimate, there are some
people like this, who stand as beacons of love, spreading love and light
around by their mere presence.
Wish God, if there is
ever one, relieves them both of their sufferings soon, and cares for
this special couple as long as they are around!
Ashok Krishna
