Will the home be where the heart is?

   A drive through the meandering hill roads, flanked by these tall trees and their shedded leaves all around, making you feel like you have entered a desi version of Enid Blyton's whispering willows. The drive goes into and past this forest quiet and enters the flat foothills which opens out into a vast fertile plain with fields of golden wheat till the eyes can see..

   Nature never ceases to act as a calming balm for the sore soul.. This little village, at the border of two states, miles and miles away from humankind, away from the politics, away from any sort of interference.. it felt as though it is calling out to me.. 

   I wonder if this can be the post retirement life?  A piece of land, right here, to build a home on, to subsist here from farming this land and to spend the rest of my time working with people who need help and I maybe able to assist.. like the women and kids who keep coming to me every other day, with stories that depress me no end but I have to keep a control over my emotions and then try to find a way to take care of them as best as I can.. 

   I can do that all the time, without the other irritants which have to be catered to today.. that and the lack of any hospital close by would be such a wonderful way to die  - a life lived with meaning and contribution for the lesser privileged, without tests and tubes, passing on like my grandmother did..

The End of an Era

I have been coming upon many retirements these days. Almost every month there is one. Every organisation I go to, I seem to have the privilege of seeing a couple of seniors off to their homes. While I thought that so many adieus in the past have made me kind of immune to them, today I find myself feeling at a loss.. for the retirement of an ex boss and a real mentor. Any amount of praise showered upon him would be meaningless.. He is beyond doubt someone we all will remember forever for being one of the most perfect gentlemen and an officer. 

My sense of loss is also due to the fact that my great health isnt allowing me to attend his farewell party and the feeling that I may never see him again in my life is extremely depressing. He is the one person, who without testing me, without pushing me, just inherently trusted me.. and had my back unquestioningly through miserable experiences.. I dont think there is another person in my workplace I can go to for almost anything the way I could to him.. 

I really want to wish him well and a lot of good wishes for his new life.. he's a poet and a litterateur and so I know he will keep himself busy. I do hope that in some way or the other, he is able to be a part of our lives even after he leaves this State.. 

Here's to you Mathew Sir.