It was the time when I was still a greenhorn in the house of SIEMENS. It was the time when talking to a client meant a sweating brow, a trembling hand and a fumbling voice. It was when, to my rescue came a 5ft 5’ figure wearing a genuine smile on His face.
Be it a technical skill or managerial, He was undoubtedly the best amongst the lot. His was a confident walk and His feet were still solidly earthed. Everyone was his friend and He was the fiend of all.
My boss used call Him as my ‘Guide’ and He really was. To my every question, He was the answer. My every mail used to be a copy to Him and it became a ritual to take His approval before going ahead with any task. Today, I allege myself to be a loading expert, but there was a time when loading was like a tough task and every document used to go through His experienced eyes before the ‘Submit’ button was clicked.
It happened once that He was out of office and I was to go for a client visit for the first time. During whole of my cab journey, I was all nervous. I decided to give Him a call and He wished me luck. Today when I look behind, a thought lingers in my mind, “Unknowingly, Was I seeking His blessings then”?
Coming to food, He was a true foodie and a connoisseur of good food. I can’t forget when both of us had munched on the Dhoklas and the Gulab Jamuns at one of our colleague’s Birthday treat. Lunch time used to be a recreation time when He used to play pranks on us. When I used to be skeptical about the non vegetarian food being served in canteen (and still I am), His theory was clear, “Don’t take pieces only go for gravy”. During one such lunch session, He had shared with me His personal and professional goals. He seemed very contented with the present and optimistic about the future. But at that time, who had known that fate had something else written in His Life Book.
3rd August 2010, started on a mundane note but that day did not end as it had started. I was again out on a client visit, this time coincidently on His assigned task. On my return, I was preparing to leave at 5.00. It was when, for the first time He discouraged me of leaving at 5.00. I did not know then if He was playing just another prank or was He serious? Had He got any sort of intuition then? Was He preparing me for the tough time which was awaiting us? Because, what happened that night was simply unacceptable. Something that no one had thought in wildest of their dreams. What had happened was a dark nightmare.
Leaving all of us behind, He was gone...
In my 15 months tenure at SIEMENS, I have seen many people leaving the organization in search of better avenues. Their Good Bye mails have always made me sad, but His was an altogether different case. He had made a silent exit in search of an eternal destination.
He was gone, never to come back. For him, the time had stopped and for us, our world.
Next day, the news spread like fire and the morning turned out to be mourning. That very day, I saw the popularity of The Man who loved everyone. 1, 2, 3…50…100s of people gathered to pay the last homage to their beloved Friend. I was one of them, standing in one corner, bewildered with tears in my eyes. And He was right there in the centre, unable to see our tears, unable to hear our prayers, He was just a lifeless body. But there was something familiar in that cold Face. Though lifeless, His face still carried that Divine SMILE. His bid adieu to this world was with a smile on His lips.
Really till His last breathe, He stood true to His name, that name which His parents had most rightly given Him, VIVEKANAND!
Today, one year has passed, life is coming back to normal but somewhere deep inside our hearts, He is still alive and in every walk of our lives we still remember Him as a Friend, Philosopher and Guide.
While writing this, my eyes are filled with tears but somewhere tears don’t roll out, because they also know that VIVEKANAND knew only happiness and He spread nothing but happiness...
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE...
