Sterling Qualities

Santosh Tyagi (l) escorts Rukhsana Khan out of the Garden

Today Rukhsana Abrar Khan made a startling off-the-cuff comment: “Who are we to judge anybody? We don’t even have the faintest idea why people behave the way they do and yet we are so eager to pull them down in the hope we would rise in the esteem of others. Why can’t we move on with our lives peacefully and let people be the way they are?”
What lent weight to this otherwise commonplace comment was that it came

Tara Chand Seth

in the face of a vicious tirade, criticizing certain people who are prone to double talk and hypocrisy. Rukhsana’s was the sole voice of dissent. At the risk of

Bijoy Gupta

being unpopular, she stood her ground with courage and conviction, rarely seen these days.
But that is Rukhsana. Belying her matronly looks, she can be incredibly forthright in her views when she wants to and at other times, would recede into the background – self-effacing, non-judgmental and uncomplaining. As they say, she does not have a mean bone in her body and would always have a kind word for everybody. She has just recovered from a crippling hip fracture (but still keeps a walker) and is blessed with three wonderful daughters who are the source of all her strength, physical and otherwise.
Rukhsana is not the only one with such strength of character who we tend to ignore in our day-to-day madness. Take Tara Chand Seth. Nearing 90, this is one gentleman who has never made a friend all his life. “True, I don’t have any friends,” he maintains. “I don’t know what friendship is. I don’t go to anybody’s house to socialize, nor does anybody come to me, barring my brothers and family members. They are everything to me."
"This does not mean I have been making enemies," he adds. "I don’t think I have ever antagonized anybody, even unknowingly. Such is my nature. I have no enemies in this world and in that sense, everybody is my friend!”
And what would you say of Bijoy Gupta who insists he cannot get angry? “Believe me, anger is alien to me, whatever be the provocation,” he says. “I am a trained boxer, since childhood. If it was possible for me to get angry, I would be bashing people to pulp on the slightest pretext. But it is so foolish. Nothing ever gets solved by anger. Whenever I see an altercation building up, I walk away quietly. People might call me a coward, but honestly, I do not know what else to do.”
Kiran Prakash:
I admire them -- Rukhsana, Tara Chand-ji and Bijoy Gupta. They are full of positivity and never speak a negative word about anybody or any situation. We are lucky to have them among ourselves and can learn a thing or two from them. It's so nice of Blog Monster to have documented it for all of us to read and think of emulating them.
Lt Col Angad Singh (from Mohali):
Finding friends is not easy, especially these days. Lucky are those like Tara Chand who have neither friends nor foes. Keep laughing and enjoying!!!