Admiration List

Did i get the message right, was my first question.Why on earth was i supposed to go to attend the funeral.Mourning and consoling are not something that i would be comfortable with.Work i guess...It was 11:30 a.m when i got the phonecall from my city director that i have to attend a funeral of one of the beneficiaries kid.This is not how i wanted to visit that place.I have been raving to go to Igatpuri to check "Purnata Bhavan -the house of wholeness",this was not the occasion i was looking forward too.
I sighed and realised that i will have to leave in a hour to reach there atleast by 4 p.m.The funeral was scheduled to be at 5 p.m.I had company and that made me feel better.Igatpuri is a small town,6 kms away from Nashik.I knew coming back the same day would virtually be impossible.Its has been a while since i had been out of Bombay, and what a delighful journey it turned to be.I never knew what lay ahead of me.
We reached Nashik cemetry at around 6,it was almost getting dark and the wind was much colder than ever.Hungry and tired we were served with very hot bread rolls and tea.Simple pleaseures of life.At around 8 the ambulance came with the girl and all i could hear was the "Body has arrived".At that point i realised that the only difference between a body and a human being is breath..thats what differentiates a living from the dead.
I kept giving sideway glances to the mother of the girl, she looked so young how she gonna handle this was my only concern.Surprisingly she was very strong.Her daughter had died of AIDS,and she was all of 6 years.I have never seen a dead person in my whole life, so it was a little eerie.By the time the funeral ended it was 10:45, and the atmosphere was getting chillier.We were completly attired in cotton dresses and the temperature had dipped to 5 degrees.We didnt have a vehicle to reach Igatpuri so we had to wait for another one hour there.Till date that was the best hour in my life.Sitting in the cemetry,gazing at the stars..talking all non-sense,troubling each other with silly jokes..hungry,thirsty...but none of us cribbed.That was the first time i realised that the sky is flooded with so many stars...Whoosh!!!!.Finally we reached Purnata Bhavan at 12:30 and by that time we had dropped dead because of the cold.
The morning was too good to be missed.And then as i came out of the hostel, i realised what my colleagues have been raving about.The whole place was so mesmersing, loaded with natural beauty.I go wild when i see something very beautiful,this whole place was surrounded with hills.I had heard the mountains here change color,this time it had adorned a dusty brown look.As far as my eyes could go, i just saw huge grasslands,i ran and played with the wind..I screamed at the top of my voice and at times i just stood completly still and let the feeling sink in.Its been two years now, but every sight is so clear and sharp in my memory.
Then comes my purpose of the visit, i thought my journey was over but God had other plans.I was whisked away to be the girl's mother.I knew this is gonna be difficult,why me of all people.Her room was small with two bunker beds...sheesh...i just wanted to run away from that place.We both looked at each other and smiled..and words just failed to come to my tongue.I kept staring at eternity and then she told me things which changed a part of me for ever.
Meenaxi was born in a Mahrashtrian family,She fell in love with the father of the child when she was all 16.They decided to run away and get married as their parents were completely against it.After marriage they had two kids a boy and a girl.Her husband used to remain ill most of the time, and then when things got out of hand they went for a check up.Her husband was infected with HIV virus, by then they knew it was too late.One night of merry making before the marriage had caused this misfortune.All the four of them were infected with the Virus.As time moved she saw one by one all leaving her..her husband, her son and now her daughter...and she was staring at death too..Out of nowwhere she said, God will take me throught this too..Now did i hear that right..She was actually thanking God for what he done in her life.How could she.I must have been transparent, for she knew the confusion raging in my mind and then she told me..how God has actually blessed her, she knows to read and write now,how independent she has became,How God has taken away her two kids without giving much pain, how close the whole thing had brought both the families together.and how God has been faithful..I went to console her and soon realised that we had changed roles.She became the consoler and i the consolee..i dumbfoundedly stared at her,the love that oozed from her was so contagious that i stood up and hugged her.We hardly talked but our eyes did most of the conversation.She showed me her daughters photo, what a beauty she was....a carbon copy of her mother...
Here was a woman, who knew that death was around the corner and was not fearful about it..rather she taught me that day how to live life...I smiled and again our eyes did the talking..We both understood what we didnt say!!!..
I walked out of that place....telling myself...only God can turn a Victim into a Victor!!!!