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The lumbering jumbo jet, majestic in a flare-up attitude, with all its 18 wheels down and locked, made a final turn on to lock itself onto the signals of the Localizer and Glide Path of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) of Runway-29 at the IGI Airport at Delhi. It carried the colors of Canada that were conspicuously displayed on its tail as the jet made the landing run on the runway a few minutes later. The pilot meticulously followed the electronic signals of the automatic nose-in-guidance system to the parking slot at gate number 34 after a brief taxi to the swanky new terminal T-3. Soon a gangway was attached to its exit door to help passengers deplane after a long 14-hour non-stop journey from Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. The flight had followed the great-circle route via Iceland, Russia and Afghanistan and just a small territory of Pakistan before entering the Indian Airspace thereby reducing the distance to travel, in preference of routing direct-line via mainland Europe that would have considerably increased the distance and time to fly. It also caught on to the Jet-stream at cruising altitude that gave it the advantage of an additional speed of about 100 knots thus saving a couple of hours of flying time and the fuel that would otherwise have been burnt. Interestingly the flight in the opposite direction flying the same route will take a couple of hours more as the Jet-stream will provide headwinds now instead of the tail winds that will reduce speed as the upper winds always go from west to east.. A wheelchair had already been positioned in the gangway at the exit to receive an ailing traveler who was assisted by the airline staff after such a request had earlier been sent in advance by the airline’s Toronto office. Trilokinath was returning after 20 years of self-exile, taking a calculated decision to do so with a mission in his mind that could not be altered by his son with whom he stayed all these years. He had a desire to die in his home ground. The son could do nothing to restrain him for he was adamant to get back to his roots and leave this world at the place where he had been born. Call it an animal instinct or human, his resolve was firm. The boy knew his elder sister will take care of his father’s malady and she could perhaps do better than he was able to do. Of late his father had developed a condition that could not be corrected even after consulting many physicians and taking a lot of medication. His depression seemed to overwhelm him in body and soul. Trilokinath was received by his daughter and son-in-law who had been watching the arriving aircraft from the observation deck at the Air Terminal for at least an hour before sighting the Air Canada aircraft taxiing on the Apron. They then moved out and waited patiently at the gate leading out from the Immigration and Customs. They had earlier arrived on a flight from Srinagar during the day and were staying at a hotel near the airport. Both hugged him in turn and wheeled him to the rental that the driver brought out from the parking lot. As they drove out, father and daughter exchanged news about the family and particularly about her children. They were out of the valley in their quest for a professional study in different locations at Bangalore and Pune. She herself was the Principal of a prestigious school in Srinagar and her husband a high-ranking police officer in the J&K police department. They did not migrate like others who left the valley more than two decades ago. The family lived on without any fear, but she never knew that her husband had positioned two shadow cops for her security detail all through the period when the militancy in the valley was at its peak. Trilokinath did not then stay back and left to join his son in Canada because his heart was with his son who was born nearly 10 years after his sister was born. The boy had gone to Canada for his studies after the death of his mother. His maternal uncle based in Canada insisted that he do so. He later took up a job and settled down in Toronto. It was on the advice of his father that he agreed to marry a girl of his own faith who also lived in Canada and was known to the family through a network of friends and relatives living there. The marriage was solemnized in Canada itself and Trilokinath continued to stay on with his son thereafter. For years on end Trilokinath remained mentally deep-rooted in his past and always thought of returning to his land of birth and that of his forefathers and the memory of his dear wife never left him in peace. From the inside he was tormented by his agonies of having lost his stature and his place in society that evaporated in nothingness just at the whims of a clan whom he perceived to be close to him. The family had built a business empire that was doing very well and they were well connected with all kinds of people. Though the business was now closed it was his daughter who continued to look after their house at Jawahar Nagar and she would visit it at least once every week along with a maid, without fail, to keep it clean and habitable. She lived in Wazirbagh just a little distance away. Once in a while she would bring her two children to this house during the days when they were young and she kept the memory of her parents live in their minds. It would be a matter of pleasure for the daughter to see her father back home after so many years. She had greatly longed to see him and was happy he was going to be back having missed him so very badly all these years. Their flight landed at Srinagar early next day where his son-in-law had made all arrangements to ensure that he was treated with honor, dignity and respect in the place where he belonged. He was driven to his daughter’s house where he stayed a few hours and had his lunch with them. But he insisted that he move to his own house soon after and was taken there in the evening by his daughter. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at his abode that he had built and then deserted a long time back and the recollection of days gone by flooded his thoughts. Nothing seemed to have changed as everything appeared the way he had recollections of his home but he did miss the presence of his wife and his neighbors who were conspicuous with their absence. His daughter was lucky she had the summer vacation going on and for time being did not have to worry about home where she had plenty of people to take care of her husband. She decided to stay on at least until her holiday was over and take care that her father was comfortable moving around and gaining back confidence in his own house. Ultimately that function would have to be taken care of by a caretaker who would also look after his other requirements. She had already someone in mind, a person from the police lines who was of his own faith and also a good cook, who would be handed over this responsibility besides the fact that she would check on him on regular basis. The only problem seemed to be that her father kept reminding her he had come home to die and this upset her emotionally. Even though he was 78 she wanted him to stay healthy and live happily as he always did. What she found was his unwillingness to get along and cooperate. It was quite apparent that he was going through a phase of depression that required to be taken care of. In the core of her heart she knew she would do her best to change his line of thinking well before any damage was done. The therapy began as soon as the daughter got an appointment with the most trusted Doctor in the valley who besides being a well-trained Psychiatrist was also a family friend. Trilokinath was set up with a regimen of moving outdoors besides his medication and encouraged to meet people at places that were frequented by a variety of socialites. She found he was disinterested in them. The only recovery that showed progressively was that his walk gradually straightened and he gave up the orthopedic walker that he carried for support and this was replaced by a carved walnut-wood cane that suited his frame. And one day Trilokinath saw a person near about his age who approached him with a broad smile on his face and addressed him respectfully. He looked at him for a long time and then recollected having seen him around before. He just realized the man had stopped aging since he last saw him. The man gave him a light hug and asked where he had been all these years. He introduced himself as Sonakoul and said he lived nearby. Sonakoul was in fact just an occasional acquaintance. Trilokinath remembered having even ignored him many a times in the past when he wished him as he passed by. Sonakoul was poor and his house down the block was a single storey brick structure that was not even complete when he started living there a few years back after having shifted from the village of Kulgam. He was in town because his son had a government job and needed to stay in Srinagar all the time and so he naturally lived with the family. Over the next few months Trilokinath kept meeting Sonakoul off and on and he was the only one outside his family whom he thought to be connected with his past and their meetings gradually became regular. They would stroll down the road and sometimes enter the park and sit on a bench under a tree or venture towards the bund and walk on for long periods of time. To his surprise Trilokinath found out that the man was quite remarkable in light of the fact that he was mentally alert and could converse in equal measure as he thought himself to be capable of. Perhaps he had no college education but his grasp of subjects was near perfect. His frame was small with a moustache resembling that of Charlie Chaplain, but he was no joker. He may not have a tall frame but he sure had tall ideas about life and in many ways he impressed him with his knowledge of the holy texts. He may not know about the world politics but he knew all about what was happening within. His knowledge of the science theories may have been nil but his treatise of human soul was absolute. This interaction brought a dramatic change in Trilokinath’s attitude that even surprised his daughter but she dared not ask what all was going on. The magic of Sonakoul was slowly riding on him and much to his amazement he swore to himself that the man was very pious and he wanted to make amends for his earlier behavior he had with him. He started inviting him to his house and always offered him tea and refreshment and sometimes insisted that he have lunch with him while his son was busy with his job at the office. Kashmir has produced many saints in the last few centuries who are venerated even to this day. There are those few who have attained the status of a cult following that continues even long after they attained nirvana. Trilokinath remembered all those saints and in his own mind he started counting Sonakoul as one of the genre who represented spiritualism in its pure forms. How refreshing are his traits he thought to himself. He just felt assured to admit that Sonakoul could easily slip in the category of saints. He had given him a new meaning of life and living it better. How many more were influenced by this man, he did not know. But had things not happened the way they did two decades ago, this tiny little man would certainly have been noticed and acknowledged. This was the man who brought him out of his mental condition and made him feel the warmth of life. It soon became apparent to him that God had been kind to him to make him come face-to-face with a person like Sonakoul. It was time he requested Sonakoul to allow him to be his disciple. Winter was not too bad for Trilokinath for he had gotten used to severe winters in Canada where temperature normally dropped below zero as a routine. What he observed was that Sonakoul did not feel that comfortable during the chilly winter days and he would remain confined to his own home where he stayed under the quilt with a “kangri” all the time to keep his bones dry and warm. He suddenly felt lonely. But he found a way out and instead of remaining out in the cold he would spend a couple of hours daily with Sonakoul in his house and there would be long discussions and discourses on many issues that both were comfortable with. He remained in touch with his son through the internet and his daughter visited him almost every alternate day. Life for him had come back full circle and he appeared to be in command once again. He no longer talked about death and no memories haunted him anymore. He, however, continued the use of the cane to give him confidence while walking. The winter was now folding up and ready to usher in the Spring Season. And one fine day he received a call from his son, announcing that he had become a grandfather once again. He was blessed with a son after having had two daughters earlier. Trilokinath could hardly contain his delight and he wanted to take the next available flight to Canada to meet his grandson. But he was advised to hold on as the weather in Canada was still not favorable with lots of snowstorms and chilly conditions that had affected all aged persons there. Even the great lakes had frozen as had the Niagara Falls. It was only in late spring that his son came over to Srinagar to take his father back. When Trilokinath broke the news to Sonakoul that he had a grandson waiting to meet him in Canada and that he was going back there, he became a bit sad to see a friend going away. But it gave him real pleasure to see that the family would reunite and Trilokinath would feel his own self in the place that he longed to be all along. But the person more relieved was his own daughter who had fought all odds to ensure that her father was not inconvenienced under any circumstances during his stay under her guardianship. May be she could have endured no further. She had her own obligations and could not come up to the expectations of being a son to her own father. She was delighted at the prospect of meeting her brother after she had met him on his marriage in Canada which she had attended. And then it was time to fly back westward. His son had come over, stayed for two weeks and was all set to leave again. They were taking the British Airways flight and would make a stopover at Heathrow for about 3 hours where another British Airways aircraft was scheduled to fly them out to Canada, in place of the direct flight that the son thought would be tiresome for the old man. This meant spending extra time in the journey but it was for the comfort of his father. A day before the scheduled departure from Srinagar Trilokinath went over to the house of Sonakoul where he stayed for about an hour and after his return he did not feel like talking to anybody and nor did he feel cheerful as usual. When his daughter came over with her husband at night to say the final farewells, Trilokinath reminded her that his last job was still unfinished. She did not understand what he hinted at, nor did he elaborate any further but apparently remained gloomy most part of the evening which both his children thought was normal as he was leaving his home once again for shores farther away. In the morning the next day Trilokinath got up earlier than usual and had a warm water bath which his help prepared for him as usual. He shaved and asked his help to bring out the best dress out for his journey. He had his usual cup of tea sitting in his reclining chair and looked pretty good and cheerful and ready to travel. At about 8 am when his son went to his father’s room to remind him they would leave in an hour, he found him instead in the Pooja-room lying flat on his stomach. The son nudged his father to wake him up but got no response. His father was lying still and cold and very dead. It stunned him. Soon the help came running into the room to announce that there was a death down the street of Sonakoul who was supposed to come and see off his friend that morning. He was in fact all dressed up and ready to leave when he had a seizure and fell to the ground as soon as he crossed the threshold of his main door. For both the cycle of life was complete and they flew off towards the sunset together hand in hand and Trilokinath finally returned to dust from which he was raised with his last wish fulfilled. |
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Shri B.L. Dhar was born, brought up and educated at Srinagar. After getting his postgraduate degree in Mathematics, he decided to venture out of the state and seek an avocation more suitable to his taste. He joined the Civil Aviation sector as a Gazetted officer and finally retired as General Manager from the Airports Authority of India. He now lives in Delhi. He is an avid reader and has interest in writing. He has been writing for Shehjar for many years now. |
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A loveable story, starting from the backdrop of a purely aviation environment, it ends with a emotionally touchy finish.
Added By BIMAL SRIVASTAVA
A bit of aviation matter puts this story in the readable slot and the plot is interesting enough. Thanks Dhar sahib.
Added By KK Koul
Whenever I read your story uncle, I say this one is the ultimate until I read your next one and concede the best is perhaps yet to come. Thanks for a great story.
Added By Gaurav K
You have once again delighted me with a nice readable story that talks about the pain of Kashmiri Pandits losing on their homeland and the desire of some to go back there to lay down their life at the place where they were born. You are obviously talented Dhar Sahab. Thank you.
Added By PN Raina