I have known JG since 1967. We were colleagues in the same organisation till I left the organisation in 1990. Our friendship strengethened when I was posted to Delhi where JG lives and our two families too got to know each other very well.
I have been in regular touch with him despite not being his colleague. He and his wife would come to Mahabaleshwar often where they had a relative with a large estate. They would inevitably spend some time with us on their way up as well as back.
Every time I visited Delhi, I would visit him and spend some time with him and his family. I would also ring him up without fail every year on his birthday and he would be extremely happy to hear from me.
This year too, I rang him up a few days ago on his birthday and got the recorded message that his mobile phone was switched off. I tried his landline and there was no response despite trying a number of times. I sent him an SMS greetings but did not get any acknowledgement from him.
JG had had open heart surgery a couple of years ago, and my mind went into overdrive. I started to imagine all kinds of dire things. I finally got another friend to go to JG’s house and check out what the scene was, but due to some unavoidable developments that got delayed. I however got a phone call from the friend that JG’s mobile was now functioning and so I called him yesterday only to find that he is quite cheerful and he was sorry that he could not speak to me on his birthday. Due to big family celebrations, he had switched off the telephones and the whole day was spent by him and his extended family celebrating his birthday. He further said that he had not checked his emails or text messages and that was why he caused me to worry. He was most apologetic and assured me that he was hale and hearty and thanked me for remembering him on his birthday.
How our mind works!
Indeed “how our minds work” The other day the phone rang at an hour (middle of the night) even I don’t expect a call. A bit like with telegrams in the olden days (most likely bad news) I went into overdrive. I could see it all there – in my mind’s eye: My mother/father had died and the survivor tried to convey the dire news to me.
However, not having made it to the phone in time, no message was left on the answer phone. No indication who had called. Adrenaline pumping.
I was in a bind. And that’s the funny part. Obviously I couldn’t phone them in the middle of the night to ask whether they’d phoned me to convey that one of them had died. So, instead, and being wide awake, I drafted their respective obituaries. And waited. And waited. And waited. Till dawn dawned.
As soon as it was a half way decent time in the morning to phone anyone I dialed their number (casually – what else) under some fabricated pretext. They were just about to have breakfast. I could have strangled them.
U
Ursula recently posted..Repetition
It would appear that all of us are blessed with the same monkey mind.
i do the monkey mind thing when the marine goes on his high altitude mountain hikes.
his next one is in Colorado for the entire month of July.
last week he turned 68. and is as trim as he was at boot camp years ago.
not an ounce of fat on him. and he has amazing stamina. i think he even forgets he’s 68. which i suppose is a good thing!
but then our father kept himself active and trim … and he was always told he was in excellent shape. he died at 45.
the marine has always said if anything happens on his backpacking trips that i am to know he was doing what makes him happy! small consolation when you cannot reach them for a month (no phone signals) and your monkey mind is imagining everything from falling into crevices… to grizzly bears… to heart attacks! at least this time he is going with two friends. that is a little more relief for my monkey mind.
but…
GO AWAY monkey mind!!!!
tammy j recently posted..moving on old bean
If only the monkey mind would go away on being commanded to!
Boy did you two ladies nail it – LOL – been there, done that just as you described on several occasions.
It would appear that all of us are blessed with the same monkey mind.
I’m glad he’s all right! I agree, it takes a lot of practice not to worry sometimes.
Cheerful Monk recently posted..Brain Gobblers
I have not been able to stop worrying completely though about some things, I have stopped. I think that periodic transgressions are okay!
It’s very easy to imagine the most awful things if someone is out of contact for a few days, or even a few hours. There’s usually a quite innocent explanation and the person is astonished at the unnecessary alarm. The problem is that we are now so used to instant and frequent contact through the internet that even one hour’s silence fires up wild imaginings.
It would appear that all of us are blessed with the same monkey mind.
I, too, have recently been pondering the status of friends as I do sometimes when I haven’t heard from them. In fact, just wrote about that and will publish soon. Glad your friend was hail and hearty.
joared recently posted..WISHFUL THINKING?
It would appear that all of us are blessed with the same monkey mind.
I’m trying to be less stressed over things…both personal and other…I find I get in a real stew over tiny things, and I get more and more angry.
Right now, I can’t understand the group idiots who apparently work for the Post section of letters posted! I wrote about in my blog…still trying to fathom it out. And now instead of just wandering day out – First: I have to go deal with re-posting the letter!
That is another way that the monkey mind works and that too is as difficult to change as the one that worries.
yes, I also have a monkey as a permanent resident in my brain. I am working on it but the monkey is still well and active.
I am happy for you and your friend.
It is not easy but the effort must never stop to stop its activity.