I met an old gentleman today while I had gone to the vegetable vendor with my friend to quickly pick up some veggies for the curry being prepared at home. He was wearing a suit, and a cap of the same grey color typical of the northern hilly regions of the country. As I walked to the stall, he caught my attention. He looked very old, but yet his eyes weren't tired, they had a youth in them. He was standing there, smiling, looking at the fresh vegetables when I asked the seller how much the drumsticks cost. As he answered, the old man told him "oh! don't you fool the children. I know these do not cost that much"... Then he turned to me and explained how to identify the good ones from the bad; which ones taste better in the curry... then as if his mind went back to recall the taste, he looked up at the sky and then looked back and said that he loved eating them. He closed his eyes for a few seconds as if to relish the taste in his mind.
He was really enjoying talking to us... and of course, so were we :). As the conversation moved on, he told us he was from Badrinath, which is a famous pilgrimage of India, and from what I've seen on television and read - A very beautiful place and a treat for the senses. He was in the city to celebrate the birth of his great grandchild, and he was 87 years old.
He was quite happy and jolly and he seemed very content with his life. He said he had happily lived his life, and for a longer time than he expected to, and now he wished and prayed for the later generations to live their life fully.
My attention drifted to the vegetables again, and then I asked him what he was there to buy. He threw his hand in the air and said oh nothing! I was just walking past and I saw these lovely karelas (bittergourds). So I thought I'll go have a look at them, and chat a while with the vendor.
It was truly a pleasure talking to him, and my heart was content and I had a smile on my face for a long time after my encounter with him. He asked me what I was studying, and he smiled and said you'll be a 'big' person a few years from now, and that people will look upto me. And I felt happy when he said that. We told him that we had been friends since kindergarten, and he grinned, as if a granddad looking at his grandchildren with pride in his eyes. Then he again told us a little about himself, and that he was taking a stroll across the streets, and that he liked it bst, when he was in places of worship. He was on his way to the vaishnodevi temple a few blocks ahead.
He left me with a lot of blessings and good wishes and a heart full of mirth. It was a treat to meet him; and someday, when I am his age, I hope even I can look back at the years I lived, and smile and be satisfied with the way I lived, and then pass on my wishes and the lessons that I learnt to the generation that will be.
As he was leaving I said 'It was a pleasure meeting you uncle'. And he quickly turned and said 'oh! you're so young, you're like my grandchildren. Don't call me uncle, call me Dadaji (grandpa)' And I smiled and bid Dadaji adieu.
I watched him as he walked on and disappeared from my sight.... and I smiled....
Love,
Devil's own
They looked at the chocolate with denuded eyes as I held it in my hand and fiddled with the wrapper. They stood there and kept looking. I couldn't make myself eat it after catching a glance of the stripped naked yearning in their eyes. The girl must have been 6 and her little brother - 3. I turned and walked towards them.. as I reached near, they looked scared.. scared that I might yell at them, or shoo them away. I sat on my knees as I reached them and asked them if they'd like to have the chocolate... no reaction... wrong question.. they were scared and now puzzled. I held her tightly clenched fist and tried to open it.. she loosened her grip and let me.. i kept the chocolate there.. and a faint smile appeared on her face... for just about a nanosecond.. but somehow i managed to see it. She held her brother's hand and lifted it up for me to keep the chocolate there... i did as she desired and walked away.. I turned after walking a little distance and turned.. they were still there.. standing still... then she helped him unwrap the chocolate, divided it into two parts and gave the bigger share to her brother. They smiled and looked at each other as they ate it. They looked up at me again... too skeptical to smile.
