Favourite Personality

The year was 1964. Chander had just moved into class 10, which most of us consider being the one year that decides and puts you on the path of achieving life’s goals.

To be in 10^th class, the senior-most class in school would not only give Chander a sense of pride and satisfaction, but his parents too were happy.

And for all his sense of bravado outside the school premises, his class teacher Kachroo Sir made sure Chander had no choice but to follow the protocols and the daily routine, including the first bell, drills, etc.

Chander was an average student with a laid-back attitude, which did not help at all with the school scheduled to start at 7:20 in the morning. Just moving out of the foetal position in the bed at 5:30 am was a huge ask. He would curse his existence and whoever decided that the school had to begin so early in the morning. His mother had to always coax him to get ready by 6:30 am to be able to get to school in time.

It was one of these days when Chander was getting ready, and he suddenly remembered that he had not completed a home work assigned by Kachroo Sir. Kachroo Sir, the English teacher, had asked the boys to write an essay on their favourite personality, who would have left a mark of respect or inspired them to do something great in life.

It was common in those days to write about Gandhiji, Nehruji, or Netaji etc. who were supposed to be instrumental in fighting for independence of India. It seemed everyone would rote about these personalities. To rote was boring for Chander. 

Not having completed the assignment, Chander started to think of an excuse. Kachroo Sir was a tough and a stern teacher. He would go to any length to punish a student for neglecting their studies. The thought made him weak-kneed. Suddenly he saw his elder brother coming out of his room, who was quite a brilliant student and would always think out of box.

Chander asked his brother to name a person who had inspired him in his pursuits of life. His answer surprised Chander. He said that it need not be a tall leader or a rich person to inspire one. It could be a mystic, a sage or even a beggar who can give a life-changing lesson.

Chander reached school and, while on the way, his brother’s words kept pounding in his head. He remembered his adventurous trip to his ancestral village, where he met someone inspirational.

The first two periods were for Maths and the teacher had not come to school. Chander began writing the essay during the two periods. To his bad luck, he had not carried his fountain pen along and only had a ballpoint pen. Kachroo Sir was totally against writing with a ballpoint pen because he believed fountain pen would be really good to improve the hand writing properly.

Nonetheless he began writing.

Chander remembered meeting this one middle-aged person who was in a dishevelled condition on his way to ancestral village.

Chander had left home in Srinagar early in the morning to go to his village on the orders of his father. He was to get the necessary provisions sourced from their own land and orchards for Shivratri.

However, he did not proceed straight to the village but instead thought of whiling away time in the city market and then watching a movie. By the time, he decided to take the bus; he got a shock of his life as the last bus had already left. The beautiful dusk sky was giving way to a darker colour. Chander was in a catch-22 situation as he could not return home for he couldn’t have reasoned for his misdemeanour.

Walking alone almost 15 miles to village in darkness brought nightmares to Chander. In the lurching movements he suddenly found a tonga (horse drawn carriage) that took him halfway to the village. To cover the next half meant more difficult for him as the darkest night had fallen. Chander cursed the moment he had decided not to proceed to village in the morning itself. Tears started trickling down the corners of his eyes. He prayed to God to save him in the situation. He confessed to himself that he would never invite such a situation again.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulders. He saw a man in dishevelled appearance, looking like a homeless person, but his radiant face made him look like a mystic. He asked Chander where he was heading so late. Chander told him about his misadventure of the day and where he was headed to.

After hearing Chander’s predicament, the mystic laughed loud and started mumbling that such things are part of the teenage mischief. The mystic told Chander that he can accompany him to the village on the condition that Chander would never ever try to repeat the misadventure. Chander promised the mystic not to fall in such situation but at the same time felt suspicious as to why he would help him.

Mystic seemed to have read Chander’s mind. To set aside Chander’s fears the mystic said that he was just a man of no use for himself but tries to find purpose of being of some use to others. I have no home of my own but I make my home wherever I am at the given night. So you don’t worry about my whereabouts. You are the person I am ordained to be with today. Let us start walking to your village. We need to climb to reach the mile-long plateau, and then further traverse a couple of canyons to reach your destination.

Crossing the plateau was smooth as the lights of the nearby airport on south eastern side lit the way. The two were to descend to the canyon on the western side. The mystic often seemed in trance as he would intermittently hum melodious hymns.

At ease after some time, Chander didn’t feel the distance. It was while descending into the wide canyon that it became difficult to find the path. The mystic, however, seemed to know the slope thoroughly. He firmly held Chander’s arm to lead him.

The mystic kept talking about ups and downs of life and Chander remembered every word he uttered during the descent and the ascent in the canyon. He said that the journey of life is as treacherous as traversing these canyons and as smooth as walking through plateau.

To live a meaningful life one should learn from such arduous journeys and value the people who come across. One should only see the good and ignore the bad. If one can’t think good of others he/she should not think badly either. The biggest spiritual attainment is to follow your heart and the truth. Believe in Him and you would get the desired results. Sometimes it may not be as you wished but accept it with humility. One should also keep working honestly for his survival and do deeds to help others compassionately.

The mystic also spoke about heeding to parents and elders. Had Chander followed his father’s orders to head for the village in the morning itself, he would not have to be in the situation.

It was quite late in the night when Chander reached his uncle’s home. The uncle understandably was shocked to see his nephew so late in the company of a dishevelled man. The mystic immediately left after guiding Chander to his destination. Chander could not even thank him.

When uncle began asking about why he was late, Chander, heeding the mystic’s advice of speaking the truth, told him everything. The honesty seemed to have worked as uncle simply said that Chander should not have done what he did and also commented that had the mystic not accompanied him, Chander could have been in a lot of trouble.

The mystic’s company was a big lesson for Chander. The mystic had helped him without any expectations. He left a lifelong impression.

Back as the second Maths period drew to a close, Chander was scribbling his essay on his favourite personality.

When Kachroo Sir began checking the essays, there were loads of Gandhis and Nehrus, who were instrumental in India’s freedom struggle.

But Chander gave him what he had not expected. He patted Chander’s back and made Chander read out his essay to the whole class. Kachroo Sir had not come to expect such a thoughtful student among his class.

PS: The ballpoint pen was ignored too.