The Surprise Visitor

I could not believe when it started to drizzle in the evening, as we sat for supper; initially I thought it was the bustle of the branches of the trees, but later with the patter, I knew it was rain. Even as I went for my customary evening walk, I could not make out it might rain. The five minutes of patter had left the ground wet, though it was far from being soaked. But in the middle of the night, I could hear the rain, and the cool breeze from my window was spreading a chill sheet. It was wonderful to welcome the surprise guest after so many weeks and months. I know the earth was waiting for the guest more than me.

As I walked early in the morning along the road, soaked with the rain, there was a heavenly scent; the smell of the earth is something that can fill one’s heart. The freshness which the rains can give to the earth is something that is hard for us to create for ourselves. The trees which had been preparing themselves for a fresh coat of leaves, found it opportune to shed their leaves, and the roads were full of pale leaves, and all that I could see were naked trees, stripped of their clothes, and bathing joyously on the waters from heaven. Sure the trees hardly get chance to strip themselves before bathing in the rain.

The sun has not shown his face yet, and the clouds are having a free run in the endless sky. The birds have their time, after being bathed in the fresh waters… how often do they get that free bathing, mother nature bathing her innumerable children all at once! She knows for sure when her children need a bath. I can see a pair of crows struggling to build a nest at the tree just outside my window, and what a surprise for me to see one of them with his/her one foot chopped off, and finding it hard to stand on a branch, and still s/he is there every day to add to the nest that the couple is making. May nature bless their efforts.

I love a cloudy weather, and more a rainy day. To gaze at rain drops falling from heaven is a wonderful experience; sometimes I love to be drenched by these waters, the nectar of the gods. God’s free gift to the whole of creation, and everyone has a share in it, without any distinction of color or caste or creed. I would love to welcome this surprise visitor, and everyone on earth should be happy to have a closer touch with him/her. The gentle touch of the rain is sure to soothe even the most troubled of hearts, and wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who have no more tears to shed. But as I contemplate this great mystery, the rains, my mind goes to somewhere else.

The human beings are notorious in making the entire universe cry with pain and agony; we have put our venomous hands on everything that we saw and found them beautiful; the forests, mountains, the seas and the rivers – we have not spared any part of the universe, and have emptied the natural resources of the universe in order to fill our barns and bellies. Is the universe today shedding bitter tears at the plight of her creation? Her tears are our life blood, and we need to keep her crying in order to let our fields turn green. Today I look up to the heavens, those pregnant clouds, and fold my hands with respect and reverence, and plead that they overlook our crimes and selfishness, and let the earth have her share of rains in plenty!

Called to be truly human

Sitting with over sixty men and women in a conference room in St Xavier's College, Kolkata to re-dedicate to the ideals shown and lived by a late Jesuit priest of Belgian origin, gave me a very different kind of feeling; it is hard for me to really identify the feeling, because it always seemed somewhat elusive. A kind of disturbance or inner agitation, or peace and serenity - to put it bluntly it was a bag full of mixed feelings. That is what this great man - Gerard Beckers, who gained a shorter name from his friends and admirers, Babu, really was! He was not an easy man to live with, but the number of men and women who had assembled three years after his death, on his very death anniversary, bore witness to the fact that it was his "difficult" nature, which had left an indelible mark in them, and they are all grateful for that.

I don't know why, but I was not fascinated by Babu during his life-time, but while attending his funeral at the college ground, and later on interacting with the people who had been changed due to him, I felt guilty for not knowing this great soul; I had my own prejudices, many of them even negative! But it had taken me quite a while to realize that often I look at people what they look like, rather than what they really are. Unfortunately the real Babu had always eluded me, even as we had casual talk now and then, and today while listening to the people who had been touched by him, I feel guilty for not knowing him.

If so many men and women had been touched by this man, I was asking myself, why did I not make an attempt to know him? It is possible that I was looking at Babu, and every man and woman who was worth his/her salt, with my own colored glasses, and began to sit in seats of judgement without taking the trouble to know them. If there are not many people who have had great impact on me, it is because I have not allowed others to shake me, knock me, and even toss me! I had been protecting myself too strongly from the influence of others, that I remained just what I was many years ago, and that is something I regret today.

Every tree is shaped by the wind and rain, and it is the strong cyclonic winds and stormy nights which strengthen the trees, and these are the real moments of testing; but I had often refused to undergo these ordeals, keeping myself free from any external influence. If only there are people who could challenge my own narrow-mindedness and even take me to task, I might be quite different today. But as I stand at the mid-point of life, there is a growing fear in me that I am too old to learn any new tricks, and so let my old self live as long as it can, and die a peaceful death! But what would that mean to the world?

Today I would like to resurrect Babu to rise up and challenge me, challenge my mediocrity, half-heartedness, the cozy world that I had woven around me, the company of men and women who have power, security and strength to fight all odds in life! I would like to see Babu taking my hand across a stony and thorny path, barefooted, to let the thorns of the wayside poke me, and make me feel the pain and agony which has become part of reality in the lives of millions of men and women around me. I wish Babu can make me a human, with flesh and blood that are alive to human cry for help! I wish one day I become truly human!