This is a Mumbai story (could be true) which a friend shared with me recently. An old man, staying in a small south Indian town came to visit his son in Mumbai. The son in his early thirties is a successful businessman living with his wife and son. The father, having spent most of his life at his birthplace, hardly understands a splatter of Hindi or English, forget Marathi. But he didn't care. 'I have come here to spend a few days with my son and his family. I don't have to go out and socialize with the city people,' he said. The son was very excited about his father's rare visit to Bombay. He wanted to make the best of it. He took him around the city.
One day, he said to his father, 'Let's go to a five star hotel's bar tonight.' There they went and had a few drinks. As usual, they were offered some salad, peanuts and wafers etc. as accompaniments with their drinks. The old man being almost toothless was not much interested in eating. When they got up to leave, the old man simply took a handful of chana (roasted grams) and stuffed it in the fold of his dhoti. He might have thought about munching on them, sitting in the car, or whatever. Unfortunately while walking in the lobby, he missed a step and stumbled. Down he went, scattering the chana on the plush carpet.
Just visualize that scenario. Any man in this son's place would have been embarrassed to death. Any son might have cursed not his father but his own self for causing this awkward situation. But, with a smile, this son is said to have helped his father get back on his feet. Instead of feeling irritated or angry, the story went on telling that he was found quite amused. Laughing, they both went home and on the way they decided to return to the same place the following Sunday. Truly speaking, this is the kind of celebrations I envision in 2013 – people carving out every bit of misfortunes into great events of joy.
Joseph Mattappally
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