Divine Intervention

They say that you don't have any control over your life, destiny has its own way of planning things for you. We were to see the example of this saying for ourselves very soon.

It was January of 2016. We had started to think about extending our family. Around the end of the month, we got to know of tragic news. Himani s nanaji was diagnosed with cancer.  Nanaji was a self-made man who brought up his 5 children as a single parent ( naniji had demised when children were very young). And he doted on his grandchildren, especially girls. He was a living example of how daughters are to be celebrated and encouraged and not considered a liability. He ensured that all his children and grandchildren get educated and brought up well. He always stood like a rock behind his children in the ups and downs of life. His daughters also reciprocated the love equally and I have always admired the father-daughter relationship he had with his daughters.

Nanaji s initial diagnosis was done in Benaras. Mummy ( Himani s mother ) wanted to  shift him to ranchi to be closer to him and take care of him. But we suggested him to be brought to Mumbai .The city had the best of cancer treatment in India. We wanted to have him checked and treated at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. 

After initial reluctance, everyone agreed. Nanaji was to fly to mumbai directly. Mummy and Mausi would join us 2 days later. I had taken an appointment of one of the best cancer physicians in Mumbai. The doctor confirmed that it was cancer. Then after we took him to TATA memorial hospital. The doctors told us that the cancer is in a very advanced stage and at his age, it will not be advisable to undergo chemo. It's better that he gets to spend the last few months with his loved ones, doing what he loves.

It might sound illogical and unreasonable but we planned for a family trip to Goa with Nanaji. Where he would get to spend some time being free from worries of sickness and death. Where his daughters could spend a vacation with him which they might not get any other chance of. Where the grandchildren would get to see how generations are bond together. While in Goa, every evening i used to sit with Nanaji and talk to him on varied topics. One of thh days the discussions went as under:

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Nanaji Said ,'Always listen to your heart, Aashish Babu. Mind confuses you at times.'

Yes Nanaji , you are right. Heart over mind always .

After your Naniji passed away, i had a lot of pressure to remarry. With 6 children and no mother, my mind was also in dilemma at times.

'Then why did you not remarry, Nanaji' , I asked.

My heart did not allow. If i would have remarried, my potential wife would not have loved her foster chilldren as much as she would have loved her own

Yes, but it would have been very difficult to raise 5 children without a mother.

It was very difficult. I used to take help from other ladies in my family. I had decided, i would do everything to become their father and mother both.

And you did that in style. Look at them now. Because of your upbringing, even your grandchildren are what they are.

You are talking about Himani , he asked?

Yes, her too. She is so proud to be your granddaughter.

She was a bright child from her childhood. You know these girls have something special about them, which is difficult to be found in boys.

I was not convinced, but I humored him. Yes nanaji, you are right.

Look at Himani. She is working, she is handling the house, and now she is taking care of his Nanaji also.

Nanaji, she always wanted to spend time with you. Its been 4 years that we have been married she wanted to go to Katihar. Somehow, we managed to go there only once. Its our fortune that we got this chance to spend some time with you.

You are a good boy , Aashish babu. I am glad himani got you as a life partner. Your parents have given you very good moral values.

These are all their and your blessings , Nanaji. We are what we are because of the blessings of our elders.

Not everyone understand this in this world , you know that.

What can i say nanaji, its their misfortune.

Nanaji Continued - You see for yourself, Aashish Babu.  Ambi ( Himani s mom) and Bharti ( Himani s mausi) are here, in Ambi s daughter s house. They have left their own homes, to get their old father treated. Their in-laws may or may not have accorded there acceptance to it. But here they are. For them , their father is important,  his health is important. They also know that i will be gone in some days, but they don't want to leave me on my own in my last days.

I was getting emotional myself.

I said, Nanaji, you have a long life ahead. Why you are talking like this.

I never did any partiality between my sons and daughters. Off course i had to follow some of the rules of the society in how i raised them, when i married them, but i knows and my God, that i have always treated them equal. I have loved them equal.

And they also love you very much Nanaji.

You know what love is, Aashish babu.  Love is unconditional. Love does not change with time. It does not change when someone else comes into your life. 

He was telling the truth, I did not have anything to say.

'Aashish babu , I bless you to have a daughter. Daughters are blessings.', Nanaji said.

I did not know if Nanaji knew anything about what is going on in our mind. They say that a man who is nearing the only truth in life, which is death, becomes like God. He can see the apparent. He can comprehend the unsaid. 

Nanaji stayed with us in Mumbai for a month, after which he went back to Benaras. Mummy and Mausi stayed with him till his last breath. He departed 2 weeks later.

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There are some divine interventions that shape your life the way it is. Now, there are two ways to look at our opportunity to be with Nanaji in his last few days. One way would be to look at the way the world functions, that he had to come to Mumbai to see a doctor. But there is a very strong force into play in the universe, that of spiritual connections. We were at a juncture in our lives where we were thinking of extending our family. We were at the cusp of from being a creation to creators.. And that opportunity was provided for us to be in the grace of someone who has seen life and bestows us with his wisdom. It was for Himani to connect with her own childhood, before taking the role of being a mother of her child. The way someone might look at it can be oh great his grandchild was in Mumbai so he could go there and see a good doctor. But the way I look at it is, it was destiny's way of ensuring that Himani meets her nanaji before he departs. Its nothing that we did, its all that we got.