Dr. Sheikh-Lots to learn each day in his dreamless slumber!

It was a cold afternoon, I was waiting outside the bus-stop near my college. Few people were standing all covered with coats and caps, protecting from the chill. I saw a fat, short man. I recollected, he too works at my place. I had heard him talking to others at work, but I could hardly understand his speech, it was very slow and broken....I found it boring . I was more desperate for the bus, so I asked him, 'At what time is the bus?' He slowly lifted his head, said in a monotonous voice,' We just missed it.' I told him, ' I guess we both work at same place,' I introduced myself and asked,' May I know your name?' he said in a slow, energy less voice,' Dr. Sheikh'.


He asked me,' How long are you here?' I told ,' Came recently.' He did not show any expression, so I repeated again. He told me,' Will you please come on my left-side, I can hear better.' So I did. We could now see the bus, waiting at the signal. The next moment it took a turn and stopped in front of us. Dr.Sheikh asked me to board first. I sat, now saw him, as he was struggling a bit while walking. He sat next to me. I started the conversation, but realised that I was sitting on the wrong-side again!!! After about 20 minutes we got down at the stop. Now, i waited for him, we walked slowly all the way, climbed to the subway platforms. Luckily the subway came, we boarded it... now he immediately asked me to sit on his left-side, before someone else grabs the seat!


He removed his cap. He opened his bag, took his lunch box, and started to eat the sandwich. He told me,' I cannot withstand hunger, my sugar levels fall immediately.' I asked him, ' What happened to your right ear?' He said,' Do you know acoustic neuroma?' I said ,' ya, I read about it in ENT. Its tumour of nerve cells that connect ear to brain .' Continuing his explanation,He said,' I was diagnosed with it, was operated by the best surgeon in city 20 years back.' I said,' I never met anyone with this condition, it means that the disease has a good prognosis, you are still able to have a good life after the operation.' He said,' Ya, sometime back, I suffered from stroke, so my lower-limb is weak, rest all is good.'


The subway was running as usual. We were now, comfortable at conversation. I asked,' Sir, how much time do you spend in travelling?' He said,' About 2 hours.' I asked him,' How long are you settled here?' He said,' Actually, I am from Egypt, I did my medicine from there, went to U.K in 1964, worked there in many hospitals. My wife, learned to cook many Indian recipes, as there were many Indian families staying in our neighborhood. Its difficult to get a work permit there, so came to USA in 1977. Since then, I am a Family practitioner here and associated with many medical schools.'


I could guess from the gray hair locks, that he is in his seventh decade. I asked about his family. He said, ' I have two kids. My son, who is an attorney ,now is married happily. My daughter is in Israel.' I asked him,' Is she married?' His face,suddenly became more serious. He said,' You know, she has hurt me a lot.' He continued,' She was my most lovable kid!! We had lots of family friends, we never put restrictions on our kids....may be she had some friends in school, she completed her law and was working in a prestigious firm in city. One day she came home, called everyone in the family and said,' I am converting my religion.' We were all shocked, couldn't believe what we were hearing. We tried a lot to explain her, rethink her decision, but all in vain. She was stubborn and had made her mind. She then left home, job everything and now is settled in Israel. She got married there too. I have not seen her, since long.'


I felt sorry for him. I asked,' Why are you working so hard?' He said,' I cannot sit at home. My wife is busy too, she is the head of geriatrics association in our town. So we have busy weekends with all different programmes. I have joined a part time management course too.' He continued,' Its a correspondence course, but I agree that now a days,the process of learning has changed,so am finding it a difficult course, but trying to cope-up, hhaahhah!!!'



'The next stop , is Times Square-42nd street, transfer is available to...bbbababbabllalall...' came the recorded announcement. We geared to get down, as the station approached. Dr. Sheikh was the last to come out. I waited for him. We slowly climbed down the stairs, he bid me good bye, as he was heading to catch another subway, travel an hour before he could reach home.


I too was walking on my way home. Thinking of a person, whom I perceived to be slow,boring, energy less and tired.....now was changing the shades from an undistinguished to a distinguished personality!! A 78 years man ,in spite of health issues and wrecked mind by close ones, was passing each day with lots of perseverance and determination. His each movement was as calm as a child in a dreamless slumber. I just felt pity of myself, to judge him wrongly!

AKEMI- Bright and Beautiful

On my way to the gym, a familiar voice stopped me,'Hey, how are you?' .'Ya, I am fine, ' I climbed to the stairs of my neighbour 's apartment Mrs. Akemi. She was looking after her two grandsons, playing around. 'Saw you after, so many days, are you busy?' she asked. 'No, not really.' I said. 'Oh, great, then why don't you join for a lunch tommorrow at my home?' I thought for a while and said,'Its great.' 'I know you are a vegetarian' She said.She asked futher,'Do you have fish and eggs?' I said..' No, please!' Oh...then ,'Do you drink Milk?' I said ,'Yes'. I told her, I too will bring Chappati and Indian Bhaji/ Curry. She was happy to know that. Then I bid good-bye to her, confirming the lunch time as 12:30 p.m.


Doing my workout, I was just pondering its really very difficult to have a vegetarian/ nonvegetarian criteria....Milk too is an animal product, so are many as derived from it. So the argument about what to eat and what not to eat, is just difficult to solve. Moreover its an individual's perspective to the phrase,'Thou should eat to live, not live to eat.'


The next day, I rang the door bell of Mrs. Akemi. She opened the door, ' You look nice, today.' She greeted me, then introduced me to a fair, thin lady her daughter Hayate. I told her,'I would serve you Chappati hot,' and demonstrated them the method to make it. 'Oh!! it looks nice, is it similar to Naan?' asked Hayate.'Not totally,' I said.


We sat for the lunch.,'Do you pray in Hindus.' she asked me. I said,' Ideally yes, but we don't rigorously follow it.' So we prayed and it was a peaceful moment before we started to eat. The dining table was decorated with different vegetarian Japanese recipes. I started to taste each of them. The beans soup, a beautiful looking small wrap of cucumber and rice (Sushi), mushrooms with garlic sauce, boiled broccoli with pepper and salt, fried okras, onions and carrots dipped in rice flour (Like indian bhajjis). Everything was just perfect. I just couldn't resist using thin beautiful chop-sticks, but later on preferred the forks!!! 'Hey, How to eat this Chappati and the vegetable?' asked Hayate,' You can make a wrap of vegetable in the chappati and have it,' I said.'Wow!!your Indian food is so delicious, we like it!!'came their reply. I was relieved. The Japanese cold tea served, instead of water was the best soft drink i ever had!


The little grandson, suddenly started crying. 'May be, his sleeping time'. said his mother.Mrs. Akemi gave me a big, fat, brown, thick album from the shelf which was overloaded with books, She said,'You can see it, till I make him sleep.' Sitting in a reclining chair, I was amazed to see the photographs of pre-school children playing games, performing dance, balley, dramas,different gymnastic games, camping, visting parks, aquariums, celebrating Mother's day......now my mind was full of infinite questions....!!



Then came Mrs. Akemi.' You are just a wonderful person, how did you manage to do this?' I asked. She with a smile which exaggarated, the wrinkles on her face said,' I was a Principal in a Missionary school ,at Colorado, we catered a child who was 100days old to 5 years old, their parents worked in different parts of world, so we were their care-takers 24 by 7. We had more than 150 children, a dedicated teaching staff and caretakers.' 'Its just a herculean task' I appaluded. ' Moreover, I could read only happiness and joy on the face of each child in the snaps, I just wondered how is it possible parenting all those children so well???


She smiled and said,' I am a nurse by profession, I worked in Japan, but after I came in USA, 36 yrs back, with my husband, I couldn't practice nursing, as my English was poor and to appear for exams, we didn't have enough money.I was more interested in doing some religious work, so slowly I became an active member in my church and the work grew leaps and bounds.' I asked her,' Was your husband fine with it?' She said,' Ofcourse, he was very supportive. You know I lost him 18 years back, due to sudden heart attack, but he is still with me.' I was just surprised by the last statement... she continued saying,' He has guided me, since then.. we believe in eternal and true love..I see him, when I need him, he advises me, I can feel, he is patting on my back.' I said,' I am not able to believe this, its just impossible.' She was confident and said,' We all have a spiritual eye, but gradually we all are losing it, its my own true experience.'



I just didn't know what to say, like any science graduate person, its difficult for me to believe this, but I do respect her intimate feelings which were TRUE. I asked her,' What are you doing now?'She replied,' I am working for United Nations, doing humanitarian work in South America. I have visited North Korea too, its a real communist country, where you can just think of FREEDOM, in your mind, can never enjoy it.' She continued saying,' I was staying in a hotel, there was no ventilation, so I switched on the ceiling fans, but they were not working, I called the hotel manager and asked him to do the needful.' He said,' No, I cannot do that, during ,the bright day light the government switches off the electric supply of the country, to save energy and is available only during night.' So that's the reality in other parts of world!!



Suddenly came the cry of baby, he just woke up.....now she is a busy grandma, the whole day. Thanking her,I told,' I shall leave now.' On her insistence I packed some of her delicacies for Lalit too.


Opening the door of my home, I realised my mind too has opened to lot of avenues, I never thought of ! A simple lady with her beautiful mind has changed the life of so many people.That's what behind her Japanese name-Akemi=Bright and Beautiful stands for.There are many factors which bring people together, but I never thought 'FOOD' is one of them. For me, now it stands for fostering a beautiful relationship with other human mind!!

John - An interesting simple man!

I woke up at 5:30 a.m, my luggage was all packed. Was happy to go home and meet Lalit after 4 days. At 6:30 a.m, got a call from the front desk, 'Mam, your cab is ready.' I said ,'fine...' Checked the room for the last time in the 10th floor of the Intercontinental hotel, in Cleveland and locked the door. Settled the payments at the front desk and moved to my cab.

'Good Morning, have a nice day Mam' was a confident voice of a smart, fair looking cab driver. 'Thanks and wish you the same, do you know where to go?'I asked. 'Ya, he said,'To the airport.' I smiled and said, 'For a change, i would like to go to Greyhound bus station, do you know where it is?' , 'Yes, Ofcourse...' came the immediate reply.

The car was good...but i don't remember the name of the model, as am bad at it! He asked me, 'From where are you Mam? I said ,'Am from India. Oh...did u come all the way from India to Cleveland?' I replied ,'I stay in NJ, both myself and my husband work in NY city, came here for a confernce.Oh!! good, he said.

I asked him,' How long are you here?' He replied, 'Since 22 years, I came here to study, but have not completed it till now???, so am driving the cab. When I came here , it was a good city with booming Steel industry, now everything is quiet and standstill, no jobs so lot of drug dealings in young generation and prostitution too...... but you stay in a city, which is too fast!' Yes, I nodded. 'From which country are you?' I asked . He said, 'I am from Morocco.' I was a bit confused and asked him,' Where is it exactly situated, is it in Europe or in Africa?' As if he knew, he instantly said,'Lot of people are confused about it..Monaco is the wealthiest country near France...I am from Morocco,one of the poorest country in Africa, so I landed here.'

I told him, 'I visited the Cleveland Clinics and was amazed to see the huge investment done, in the healthcare sector here...but somehow after talking to the staff here, felt some negative vibes..as if the hospitals are only for rich and wealthy. There was lot of attitude in their behaviour too.' He said,' You are good in reading minds,Mam...No poor can get treated there, Here people, will treat a street dog or a cat....but not a humanbeing, if you don't have an insurance.Neverthless, this clinics are the largest source of employment in Cleveland now, so that's a positive point of them.'

He continued saying,' You know, I learned one thing here, when I was in college, I joined English Classes, I hardly had any money. One of my friend took me to a cafeteria, we were standing in the queue, when his number came he took his food,paid his bill and sat on his table, I was surprised,Oh!!! jezz, if you are not paying for me, why did you invite me, I am poor, I cannot afford this, that day I learned its a different culture my boy!! Later on, when i purchased a sandwich and offered a half of it to my friend, he said,'Why, you don't want it?' I said, ' Its not the way, I want to share it with you.' I was just amazed to know, how true he was!!

Ohh!! the station has come.' I mourned.He said. ,'Please give me a change Mam of 15 dollars,' I said ,' I need to open my baggage for a complete change, so we went to the trunk, i gave him 17 dollars with 2 dollars tip, as always insisted by Lalit to give a tip(But I know this was less than what Lalit's calculations say!).' He saw that, I finished all my change and said,' Oh!! you please keep this dollar back, and pick a popcorn or something to wooble, at bus station and he compelled me to take the money... I had some Indian food with me, I asked him ,' Do you like Indian food, he said,'ya' so I gave him the packet of Bakarwadi, from Chitale bandhu, he saw it and said,'Its sweet.' I said ,'No, its spicy'.He innocently asked, 'Do you have something sweet?' I was happy to give him , Rajgira laddus and some besan laddus made by me....., he said,' Thanks, Mam, I will have them when i feel hungry during day, as I am in car all the time.' I complemented him saying,' It was nice time with you, i would have like to interview you, but sorry for the lack of time!'

Standing in the queue for the bus, I was thinking...I just didn't ask his name?? So I am calling him as 'John, an interesting character,' I accidently happen to meet.But when I googled the country Morocco, I was surprised to find it as a Muslim religion following country....so may be his name might be different...but for me, he is a hardworking man ,working from 5:30a.m to 10:p.m, each day to earn his bread and butter... in a country which is culturally contrast to his, but now his own!!He just stands distinct by his simplicity and honesty, understanding others.... is what to be a good humanbeing afterall!

Janet…ACHES & PAINS

One fine morning, I was waiting on the bus stop, close to my home. My eyes were searching for the thin location of the bus, at the end of the street…Oh! God…. its not visible. I sat on the black welded metal bench . To my surprise an old lady, white hairs, not dyed?? with the wrinkles on her face and a black bag approached me.
‘Honey, are you waiting for the bus?” I said “yes”. She immediately said, “You just missed the one, 2 minutes ago, and the next will be after 45 minutes.” She sat beside me, on the same black bench.

She then told me, ‘I stay down the street, near the tunnel, usually I take a walk, but on Monday I prefer the bus, so I know the timings’. I said, ‘Oh! Then I have to walk all the way down the street for another bus.’ But then I was too lazy to leave the black bench. I sat beside her, she immediately said, ‘You know….I have a pacemaker and seven stents in my heart. My doctor is very nice and I get a call every 2 months from my hospital regarding my wellbeing. I visit her every six months .’ I just wondered, ‘what might be her age?’ as if , she read my mind, she said ‘I am 88yrs and my husband is 92 yrs, he is a Diabetiologist. When we have to go together I leave early and he leaves later, and catches me at the same time, I have to run with him, when he walks……so I prefer walking alone at my pace.’

She continued, ‘I have lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren too, I have their pictures with me,’ She opened an album from her black purse, showed, ‘Look she is Alice…a chatterbox, she is…he is the baby…on and on,’ I could see the happiest moments of her life, with them all.

A couple of old ladies came across, Janet’s friends from the hospital. She introduced me to them, they appreciated my patience to sit and listen to her..! They then left exchanging warm wishes.

Janet said, ‘My parents were from Poland, but am raised in USA, My husband is from Italy, so my children are half Polish and half Italian.’ I asked her, ‘Did they ever visit their countries? She was sad, said, ‘whenever I planned ,Poland always had some political issues, so couldn’t, my husband always planned to take me to Italy, but it was never put in action….so am here all the time.’ She continued telling, ‘My husband drives a lot and we go to Florida, Virginia…and a lot of places on long drive.’ I was spellbound to know the efficiency of a 92 yrs man!!!!

I asked her, ‘Where you working, when you were young?’ She answered, ‘Ya, I was working as a caretaker for sick, I retired when I was 80yrs…as I suffered stroke, while on work.’ I just wondered, why do we have retirement age??? A healthy mind and body doesn’t retire till last spirit!

She continued, ‘I was like a live wire, when young never took rest, had lot of friends, active in the church, and now I am like a turtle…hahahh!! My son has made a well equipped kitchen for me, where I enjoy cooking and my husband does all the grocery and laundry. I have a nice pool in my backyard too, where I can bask in sun!’

I asked her, ‘Have you tried Indian food?’ She thought a bit and said, ‘Oh! I love that flat bread (Chappati),’ and inquired about an Indian Restaurant nearby. I was glad as a new restaurant named ‘Amrut-The taste of India’ had recently opened a few blocks away. She immediately said , ‘Oh! I saw it, a couple of days back, when I went to my parlour. Will surely have a lunch there with my husband.’

Suddenly, the door of my bus opened infront of me, and I had to just board it, without a second thought. I wanted to hug Janet and bid here goodbye, but couldn’t do, it in hurry. I was just thinking all the way in my journey to college. What a lady, Janet is!! Really an inspiring life, there was not a single form of negativity in her act. She is living life fullest, with lot of love. I was surprised about her visits to parlour at this age!! One should really care for external beauty, but she has a beautiful mind too. I was mesmerized by this lady JANET—all my aches and pain!!!


July 8, 2009