As I’m trying my best to reach out to a friend who has suffered a bereavement in her family. I went back to a time 8 years ago when I was going through a similar situation of losing a loved one. It was obviously a rather tough period with a few unsavoury incidents on here and there. At that time, I had 2 very special people – our next door neighbors, a family of 4 out of which we had brothers. These 2, who were much much older to me, took time out to spend the immediate 2-3 days with me. They spent a lot of time by my side and took up the unofficial role of being like my Chief Smile Officers..
All they did was keep cracking these jokes that made me want to crack up, but atleast resulted in a watery smile. It was all really fun jokes. The younger brother in this case was much bigger made and stronger than the younger brother and as a result, the usual dynamics were reversed. I still remembered an incident when they were playing a game of cricket and our older bro had gotten the younger bro out. When told to move out since he was out, the younger bro stood in front of him, took out his bat and said – Out? really?… and guess who continued batting.. haha..
I guess this is one of those stories that is very contextual and obviously hearing it from them is a 100 times better than reading it off a blog post. But, my word, I remember them telling me this story on my terrace so clearly..
The point is that, with time, the seriousness, sorrow of the situation has all died but I clearly remember this humor, and their effort to reach out and make me smile during those times. They made a difference.. today, they are in places across the world but they taught me a huge lesson – when you reach out during a tough time, with all good intentions, and try and make sure you just attempt to achieve a simple thing – be a positive influence, you can make a difference that would last decades.
Today, they are scattered across the globe but even after almost a decade, I know for a fact that I won’t forget the difference they made in a lifetime. :)
I guess its them that inspired me to make sure I keep trying to reach out to this friend who is a good few 1000 miles away via phone. It is so difficult to communicate what you would like to communicate but learning from them, I guess I’m trying.. and I hope she will let me know if I get too annoying.. haha..
Thank you, Chintu and Mintu Bhaiya.. for everything! You taught me what it means to be there for a person.. :)
A Learning a Day 