Category: Gratitude

Lottery And Regrets.

I was quietly sitting on my recliner and reading a book last evening. My DIL was lounging on the sofa and catching up with her messages on her phone.

She must have read about this lottery winner which has been doing the rounds in all our media here the last couple of days.

She suddenly asked me “What will you do if you won a lottery like the auto driver did?”

I reflected for a while and said, “I will put the money in the bank and spend some of it in sprucing up our home and leave the rest for the two of you.”

DIL – “No going to see all the grand children in the family and of friends all over the world, no vacationing in exotic places?”

I – “No dear. My travelling days are over as you well know. I have seen my share of exotic places and modern mass media enables me to be in touch with everyone all over the world. I am now in my comfort zone and am quite content.

I don’t think that she expected that answer and the chat ended there.

This little chat however reminded me of a book that I had read some time ago. While reading the book I could well relate to the dying regrets that the author writes about and even at that time I had placed myself in their position and wondered whether I would have the same regrets and had come to the conclusion that I would not.

The five regrets are:

1.”I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

I believe that I did.

“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

I never had to work hard anyway! And I am not being facetious. Things were different during my working years.

“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

While I did not, till about my late teens, I changed when I started regular salaried employment and performance linked incentives, and was able to express my feelings without being afraid of the outcome or the reaction of others.

“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”

I have, and continue to do so. The longest lasting friendship that I have is with my Primary-School-mate who lives now in Mumbai and many others from my high school and business school days as well as others who came into my life due to my career, travelling and blogging.

“I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

I have been very fortunate that apart from the sorrow of the death of family, friends and pets, I have not had many occasions to be unhappy. I have been and continue to be quite happy, perhaps even to the bemusement to some others.

How would you rate yourself on these five parameters dear reader?

Nostalgia 7. The Oldest Thing In My Home.

A post on Facebook asked this question:

This took me back to 1975 and a very dear friend AC, who also happened to have been my boss at that time. He was retiring and moving to Andorra and was simplifying his possessions to suit the accommodation that awaited him in Andorra.

I was a struggling young man with a small family and had very little furniture. AC knew this well as he had visited our home often. He asked me if I could do him a favour by taking some furniture off his hands and offered two massive arm chairs and a quarter century old chest of drawers. A favour? Those were God sent gifts and I grabbed them with both hands and much gratitude.

The two armchairs, as old as the chest of drawers gave up their ghosts long ago but looked somewhat like this one below.

The Chest Of Drawers however continues to go strong and sits comfortably in my bedroom just short of three years to reach its Platinum Jubilee.

What is the oldest thing in your home?

Moment Of Truth.

Yesterday for the first time ever, my son and daughter in love insisted that one of them accompany me when I was going out of our home.  I was going to the hospital for my booster dose vaccination. I was a bit annoyed as I had been making small forays outside near my home alone albeit with some difficulty and felt that I could have gone alone and got the work done.

Reality hit me soon enough as walking up to the auto rickshaw stand about a hundred meters away,  and getting into one,  was quite tasking. At the hospital, navigating the approach steps and the parking lot before the vaccination centre were also equally challenging and I was very happy to have had Ranjan, my son,  escorting me as I would have most certainly had a fall or had some other mishap otherwise.

It will be time soon enough for a walker instead of a walking stick or elbow crutches for me. Here too, Manjiree and Ranjan have thoughtfully already bought a foldable walker and kept it in my bedroom.

I am today older and wiser and realise that I have become the proverbial old dodderer. I am also very grateful that I have help at home, a luxury that almost all of my family and friends of my age do not.

A Painful Experience.

Yes, I got bitten by a dog for the first time ever in my life.

I have grown up with pet dogs and have almost always had a dog or two at home and have also interacted with many pet dogs of friends and relatives. I have however not experienced what I did two evenings ago when a pet dog of a friend of mine decided that it would not be friendly and bit me hard on my hand that I had stretched towards it to pet and make friends with it.

It has been a very painful experience despite medication and treatment. I now realise how difficult it would be for someone with only one hand to manage alone in today’s world.

A great lesson learnt and to be thankful for what I have. Also gratitude that I have got away so lightly compared to some others who have paid greater prices for being careless with dogs.

This is the current state of my left hand. Swollen and with two band-aids covering the deepest of the wounds. There are eight more that have dried up which do not need band-aids any more.
Have you ever been bitten by a dog?

Friends.

My old faithful table top FM radio which I use to listen to while reading my newspapers and solving crossword puzzles gave up its ghost this morning. It has been a very reliable companion for the last six years.

After having investigated online for substitutes, I just asked a dear friend ST,  where I could get a reliable replacement and he promptly sent me the name and phone number of a friend of his, PK ,  who trades in radios and other electronic items. On discussing  my requirement, PK offered to get it delivered to me at home later in the day and I agreed. This set was delivered to me just half an hour ago.
Naturally, I am delighted.

The story however does not end there.

On being asked for the cost including delivery charges, PK informed me that it was a gift from ST.

I am blessed to have such friends in my life. I hope that all my readers also are.

Fathers Day Despite Lockdown!

Father’s day has been special for me for three, yes, three reasons. Though it was on the day before yesterday, I am able to write only today as the treats for the day arrived only yesterday.

The first treat was this:
My old faithful a cellphone that had served me well for the past three plus years was beginning to show signs of exhaustion and so, my children decided to update me and my phone. This handy gadget without which I cannot imagine a life, came yesterday and was installed properly by the vendor at home as a special treat for a Senior Citizen.

It took some time for me to learn and get used to the new set and I am fortunate to have two resident experts to guide me around which is a biggest Father’s Day gift of them all.

The next item was the final arrival after much following up due to the lockdown of the three set books on Maratha History that I had written about a month ago!

The third and final item is this magnificent book which is out of print and by chance I was able to lay my hands on the last copy available with an online seller.

A very satisfying Father’s Day indeed!