An acquaintance to me
since 10 years. A short slender man, aged in mid 50’s with a big smile on his
face demised yesterday. I found him always offering his portion of help to
everyone. I don’t remember a time when I exchanged many words with him. He was
a chatterbox and I could never measure his rate of speech per thought.
Whenever we came across, I
used muted gestures to pay him respect. And for me that was it. All my
encounters with him took place because of family and I never engaged myself in
his elaborated tales. Whenever he visited my place, he kept nani and ma occupied
with interesting stories. His great energy and enthusiasm was everything that he
seemed to have earned in life. He loved his wife so much and lost her a few years
back. Out of all, I’ve noted his love for her in his pale eyes. During his long
conversations he used to remember her no less than once. Always heard him
saying good things about his children, no matter how they were to be.
Besides this, I happened to
notice him at the nearby road. Year and a half back he could be seen with his
dog. Later with his broken leg, he used to take stroll 3-4 times in a day. He
was passionate about cooking and I believe he'd worked in the kitchen of 5 star
hotels.
The cold days always end
up leaving our hearts heavy. On reaching back home, my mother with told this
sad news to me. While playing with the grain of rice on my dinner plate, I just
remembered him in a panoramic view and wished his soul to be in peace, and may
he continue with his tales wherever he goes. That short man shall rest in
peace.
