(Continued)
It was 4.45 AM in the morning. The nature was blessed to
listen to three stories that day. One person had spoken his heart out. Shawn
felt like sharing his story. First of all, there was no reason for them to share
their stories with each other. They were just strangers. It was not even an
hour since they met. But somehow we get close to some people without any
REASON.
The spotlights had shifted from Aditya to Shawn. He started,
"28 years back, when I was in my mom's womb, the doctors had advised my
parents to get me aborted, as the test results showed that there was a
possibility of the child being born with a disorder. Everyone was
worried & the entire family including my father had asked my mom to
consider the doctors advice and abide by it. But maybe my mother had already
developed that love for me. She decided to have the child against all odds and
finally brought me into this world. The child had looked absolutely normal and
the family had rejoiced. Two years went by & my parents had started
worrying. I had not spoken a word even after 2 years. The doctors were right. I
was born with a neuro developmental disorder. The medical field had already
given it a name called 'Autism'."
Aditya & Sucheth looked at Shawn. "What is
Autism?", Sucheth asked him. Shawn replied "Autism is a neuro
developmental disorder which impairs the personal interaction, verbal & non
verbal communication of the child. I was just making some feeble attempts to
talk. Everyone in the family started blaming my mother for going against the
doctors advice. The doctors had told that the treatment would cost Rs.60,000
but that was a huge amount considering our financial capability. With time,
everyone stopped bothering much about this. But my mother didn't give up at
all. Every morning, she used to take me to a hillock which was 3 kms from the
village & spent time with me. We used to play, she used to tell me stories,
she used to make me write on those rocks, she used to teach me utter words of small
syllable,she used to shout every word at the top of her voice just to make an
impact on me. Only nature was blessed to witness the love between me & my
mother." The intensity in his voice had now changed.
He continued after a pause, "My mother repeated the
same exercise every morning for four long years like it was a ritual. It seemed
like her voice had reached Jesus. I had started speaking word by word. While
uttering every word, I used to remember how she used to shout it out. They say
nature is the best medicine available to everyone. It had worked for me. My
mother who gave a new dimension to my life came in like a goddess....
Unfortunately, my goddess is now battling with death in the general ward of a
hospital in Bengalooru. She is suffering with a very rare disease called
Pulmonary Embolism....The doctors had assured to operate her the previous
night. The operation would cost us Rs.14 lakh. It was only then I had realised
that after 4 years of work, I had not saved anything much. My father sold the
only house we had in the village to fund my mother's operation. My father came
home yesterday morning with the cash. Everything was set. The specialists had
come from London. The appointment was at 4 PM. My dad kept the cash in the
drawer next to the television and went to the hospital to take care of my
mother."
"I left home and reached the hospital. I met the
specialists & they had assured everything will be alright & my mother
would be operated that night subject to payment of amount in the next 2 hours.
Just when I was sitting relaxed, I got a call from my neighbour asking me to
come home urgently. I was unable to figure out a reason. I reached home in the
next 20 minutes. I saw my neighbour, Raghu standing in the parking area. The
house door was open. It didn't actually sink in then, until Raghu came up to me
& said, 'You know what? You had not locked the main door of your house. It
was left open for almost an hour. Everything actually looks intact. You please
go and check once.' The first thing that popped up in my mind was the money in
the drawer. I ran towards it & when I opened the drawer, I actually saw the
money in it. One part of my brain got relaxed but the logical part started
telling me its not so less. Yes, it was right & Rs.12 lakh was stolen. I
just found Rs. 2 lakh in the drawer. I tried to remember what happened. Just
when I was about to leave the house, I got a call from my father informing me
that the specialists had already arrived & I was late. In a hurry, I had
forgotten to lock the main door. Even the gate was left open. I felt like
slapping myself. I didn't know how to react. I was angry on my own foolishness.
I mean, how can I commit such a blunder? It's nowhere justifiable. It was not a
small amount & it was not for a small cause. I had lost my father's years
of earnings & my mother's only hope to survive. I didn't know how to show
my face to my father. I had let him down completely. The enormous amount of
GUILT made me run away from everyone. I decided not to show them my face again
& left the city with a promise of never coming back...How nice it would
have been if Life had an UNDO button in it!!"
Just when Shawn was narrating his tale, Sucheth was getting
all restless. His hands had started shivering. Just when he finished, he asked,
"Shawn...(stammers) where do you...stay?" When he told "Frazer
Town" it was all clear. Suddenly all the things which Shawn told, started
haunting him. All his attempts to hide the nervousness had become futile. He
started sweating. His hands were shivering. His heart started beating so fast.
All the actions were involuntary. He just stood up & moved a bit. He
couldn't walk much. Sucheth was now confused what to do. He had two options in
front of him. He either had to leave the place as early as possible as however
Shawn had no idea that his money was with Sucheth or he had to admit his
mistake & give Shawn his money back. His opportunistic nature was dead
against the second option. Aditya & Shawn had no clue what was he up to.
They had a worried expression on their face. Finally, after much thought,
Sucheth came in front of them & said, "I don't know if you both would
see me the same way as you see me now, after this. And yes my friend(pointing
to Shawn), you were right. If life had an UNDO button in it, I would have gone
back in time and erased that moment when I was labelled as a 'thief' for no
mistake of mine. If only I could erase that, then I would not have got sacked
from my job, my marriage would not have got cancelled, I would not have got humiliated
by my friends & finally I would not have stolen your money Shawn..."
Shawn couldn't believe what he just heard. It came in like a
shocker. He was extremely angry now. But before he could react to it, Sucheth
had started narrating the entire record of what happened in his life the last 3
months. He had told what had happened that day & what made him commit such
an act. He continued, "At that moment only one thing was running in my
mind. I needed money to come out of my problems. I saw the gate open, there was
no vehicle in the parking area & moreover the door was open. I waited for
15 minutes. Firstly I went inside the house just to check if everything was
intact & so as to inform the neighbours that the door was not closed. I had
no intension to steal. But when I saw 14 lakh in the drawer, my mind told me to
use your foolishness to my gain. So I stole 12 lakh which I required & left
Bengalooru.... But trust me, I am not this very emotional kind of person. But
listening to what you just said about your mother, how she had changed your
life & how important that money was for you right now, I couldn't just be
normal. I feel ashamed of myself now. Ìt was not necessary for me to tell you
all this if I still had an intention to deceive you. I am sorry Shawn. Please
take your money back." & he handovers the bag to him. Shawn had mixed
emotions after getting the money back. His anger was now getting converted into
a priceless happiness. He didn't speak anything. Three people just sat on that
platform bench & thought about everything that happened in those last 24
hours. It was 5.30 AM. Sun was on his way to start the new day. Nature had
indicated a transformation from the night to a morning. It was a perfect
backdrop for a SELF INTROSPECTION.
Time: 6 AM
Thirty minutes had gone by & there was an absolute
silence. All the three people were lost in thoughts. Their mind had become a
battlefield for various thoughts. For one last time, it was Aditya who broke
this silence. "I will tell you guys one thing." Both turned towards
Aditya. "All the three of us have a link without our knowledge. Our
problems are inter related. If I look back, everything that happened in this 24
hours looks so PERFECT. So perfect, that it seems like all these were MEANT TO
HAPPEN. Why did we get into these problems? Why did we get that thought of
running away from everything? Why did we miss our trains? Why did we all meet
together in such an unexpected situation? I mean... everything just fell in
place like it was some force acting behind this. It was DESTINY. We all met
because we had a problem & I think we got into such a problem, only because
we could all meet this day. Maybe, we were all destined to meet... For me it
seems like a MIRACLE!!!"
Shawn & Sucheth nodded in agreement to Adityas
statement. All the three men had a smile on their face. Aditya continued,
"I now feel my problems are less when compared to yours. I am pretty sure
even you guys would have felt that your problems are less when compared with
the other two. I now regret thinking of ending my life. There is so much to
experience & explore in this world.... Just when I was thinking, something
flashed my mind. If we analyse our problems, two common factors are money &
love. When you both are struggling for money every moment, my problem is I have
a lot of money. I do not have people who love and respect me for reasons other
than my wealth. Until I met you guys, I didn't know the plight of a common
man.... So how about starting an NGO together? You both can work for this organisation
with me. We shall work together with a mission. There are so many people with
problems, which we cannot even think of. We can touch many lives. It seems
like, this maybe our PURPOSE in life."
He looked at the other two in anticipation of their replies.
He was more than happy when the other two replied, "I am IN!!" He was
amazed by seeing the excitement in their eyes. It was an excitement of a new
idea, a new dream & a new walk of life. He said, "So first let's go
meet Shawn's mother & once the operation is done, we will start planning
for this new organisation. Sucheth, I will help you pay your debts. Let's make
this new dream possible guys(says in excitement)..." The Sun had made his
way to start a new day. Just when he rose, to remove darkness & bring in
light to the world, a new hope had already started driving these three people.
Aditya finally remarked, "Just when I was thinking Life had
ditched me...l fell in LOVE with it once again!!!"
So three people,
having three different stories, with three different approaches to run away
from them had MET & found ONE SOLUTION for all their problems. Every person
who comes into our life, comes in for a reason. Every person who stays in YOUR
WORLD, is there in your life only because a purpose exists. More often, the
purpose is known only at the end. We all are linked to each other without
knowing that fact. Sometimes it's a chain reaction. Our actions hit someone,
somewhere without our knowledge. So no person comes into our life, without a
DUE. If you have fought with your friend, broke up with your partner, lost
money somewhere, met someone new today, it's all because it is DESTINED TO
HAPPEN. Miracles do happen in life. Miracle is not only when something filmy
happens in life & you come out of a problem. It is when something happens
instantly, which will change the course of your journey & give a new
dimension to your story.
And for these three
people, what happened in THOSE 24 hours is still a MIRACLE!!!
- Naveen. S.N
