An encounter with a noble soul (668 words)

We live in a small town, rather an oversized village, about thirty kilometres from Trichy. It is an old house slightly narrow but very long with a porch at the entrance and a large vacant ground in the backyard. It was built during my husband’s grandfather’s time. We chose to live in this place as we had vast lands in the adjacent villages. A lawyer by profession, my husband is not practising much these days except to help old clients. The children in the city visit us on weekends off and on.

One evening, I was watching the TV, when I heard someone calling ’Amma’. I found an old man of about seventy, frail, small-built and not looking well off. He had a smiling face belying his indigent circumstances as revealed by his frayed collar and much-worn-out chappals.

He said softly “I am sorry to bother you. I came to this place to return some amount I had taken as a loan from a friend. He came home only at 9 pm. The last bus to my place had already left and the first bus arrives only at 6 am. Would you kindly allow me to sleep on the porch (thinnai in Tamil) for the night? My relations with that person are a bit strained and there was no question of my requesting him.”

 As my husband was yet to return from the city, I hesitated a little. My six-year-old granddaughter Suguna who had come to stay with me for a few days said,” Grandma, please allow grandpa to sleep on the porch. Where else can he sleep in the night? He looks tired and hungry.” That clinched the matter.

I gave him a mat, a pillow and a sheet to cover as mosquitoes are a menace here. Declining to have food, he accepted a glass of buttermilk and plantain when I insisted. I could hear him talking to Suguna and her peals of laughter now and then from the hall where I was before the TV. I could discern a jovial personality within this frail man depressed possibly by financial worries.

 When I came to take Suguna inside, he mentioned, “I have a married son with children living in New Delhi. My daughter-in-law is also well-employed. Unfortunately, my wife fell from the bus some years ago and is unable to walk. She needs help even to take her to the bathroom.”

“My God, it is very tough for both of you. How are you managing?” I asked

“By God’s grace, one lady in the adjacent flat is friendly and helpful whenever I had to go outside. After this accident, my son and his wife have become distant and aloof. He was sending money earlier whenever asked for. But I have since stopped asking him. I am getting a pension that is just adequate. I have no complaints to make and am thankful to God for keeping me physically fit and healthy to take care of my wife and manage my affairs without imposing on others,” he said

A thought crossed my mind. Financially not sound, advanced in age, a crippled wife, denied the affection of his only son in the twilight years of the couple, yet he counted his blessings instead of griping about his disappointments. He was grateful to God for the doughnut he had, instead of cursing the holes in it. I wished him good night and went inside with my granddaughter Suguna

When I woke up the next morning and went out to the porch with a cup of coffee, I found he had gone. The mat and the sheet were neatly folded and kept over the pillow. When I lifted them to carry inside, I found a small piece of paper folded and a fifty rupee note fell on opening. He had scribbled in pencil “To dear Suguna, with love, Grandpa.” I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“Circumstances do not make you what you are, they reveal what you are” John Maxwell