On a Sunday around lunchtime, a couple of months ago, I'd received an unusual call from an uncle of mine. He'd called up to say that his mom and my grandaunt, aged 94, was sinking and that her end could come about anytime because her condition was critical - she'd stopped taking food and had not even uttered a word during the previous days. The simple guy that he is, he further added that he was just warning me to be on the standby to make the dash in case of the inevitable!
I was damn angry with him. No, not that he was saying so out of any mistaken thoughts because of having had to look after his mom for the last so many years, severely restricting the family's movements away from home and was tired of it all! He's too good a man, loves his mom tremendously and disarmingly simple in his outlook towards life in general and that's the reason that he's endeared himself to everyone in our family!
......And I had just heard him out then. But predicting anyone's end, I'd like to believe, is beyond the purview of the human being. If he can do so, he's elevated to being god. Period!
A couple of days back, this uncle of mine was hit by a vehicle as he stood at the side of the main thoroughfare, waiting to cross over to the opposite side. On impact, he'd fallen flat on his chest and had hit his head on the road in the process. Suspecting damage to his brain, he was under observation and wheeled into the ICU of a nearby hospital. He'd begun to throw up in quick succession, increasing our anxiety. In an unguarded moment of time, I'd asked myself as to whether this was the twist in the tale.
Luckily, he's been discharged and brought back to his home this evening after having crossed the critical stage. Got to speak to him - for the first time after his accident - and I couldn't help cracking a PJ, that he did not have to go to such great lengths of 'trying to stop a moving vehicle' to get into the Guinness Book! His reaction relieved me of all my apprehensions about his state of being.....He guffawed!
Tailpiece.
We seem to have done it. And done it well that too, in the wake of the colossal loss of lives during the super cyclone of 1999! The cyclone, Phailin's, path was carefully tracked and predicted well in time and the people living in its path were evacuated to safer places and provided food and other necessities.
This is governance - to come to the aid of the people in their times of need!
I must say that I'm mighty thrilled. It just shows that we can!!
PS.
My grandaunt is in great shape and we'd celebrated her 95th birthday a fortnight ago.
I was damn angry with him. No, not that he was saying so out of any mistaken thoughts because of having had to look after his mom for the last so many years, severely restricting the family's movements away from home and was tired of it all! He's too good a man, loves his mom tremendously and disarmingly simple in his outlook towards life in general and that's the reason that he's endeared himself to everyone in our family!
......And I had just heard him out then. But predicting anyone's end, I'd like to believe, is beyond the purview of the human being. If he can do so, he's elevated to being god. Period!
A couple of days back, this uncle of mine was hit by a vehicle as he stood at the side of the main thoroughfare, waiting to cross over to the opposite side. On impact, he'd fallen flat on his chest and had hit his head on the road in the process. Suspecting damage to his brain, he was under observation and wheeled into the ICU of a nearby hospital. He'd begun to throw up in quick succession, increasing our anxiety. In an unguarded moment of time, I'd asked myself as to whether this was the twist in the tale.
Luckily, he's been discharged and brought back to his home this evening after having crossed the critical stage. Got to speak to him - for the first time after his accident - and I couldn't help cracking a PJ, that he did not have to go to such great lengths of 'trying to stop a moving vehicle' to get into the Guinness Book! His reaction relieved me of all my apprehensions about his state of being.....He guffawed!
Tailpiece.
We seem to have done it. And done it well that too, in the wake of the colossal loss of lives during the super cyclone of 1999! The cyclone, Phailin's, path was carefully tracked and predicted well in time and the people living in its path were evacuated to safer places and provided food and other necessities.
This is governance - to come to the aid of the people in their times of need!
I must say that I'm mighty thrilled. It just shows that we can!!
PS.
My grandaunt is in great shape and we'd celebrated her 95th birthday a fortnight ago.
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