Missing Presence

'Pearl' of wisdom -- on the garden blackboard

He is 86, she 82. For years, they have been sleeping in separate bedrooms. Their children have long flown the nest. Lonely at home, the couple (like many elderly couples do) often joked with one another: “What will happen to you if I were to die first?”
The question ceased being a joke last night. For at 3:00 a.m., when he got up to answer nature’s call, he noticed the light in his wife’s bedroom, still on. He pushed open the door and froze. She was lying there on the bed, absolutely still, her body cold. She had passed away in the silence of the night.
The man frantically phoned his daughter in Bandra. There was no doctor in the building. This was no time to wake the neighbours. By the time the daughter arrived with medical help, rigor mortis had set in. The doctor declared that the lady had breathed her last at least three hours earlier.
Her body is yet to be cremated. The man is awaiting his son's arrival from the U.S. – hopefully by tonight. But this morning he did one strange thing. He came to the Garden for just five minutes and put the Thought of the Day on the blackboard – something he has been doing dutifully, without fail, every morning for several years.

Shekhawat talks of Darjeeling

Arora talks about Durga Puja

Today’s lines read: Birth is Joy, Death is Peace. It is the time in-between called Life which is full of Sorrows. As usual, he signed off. Moti.
Our first response on hearing this was to wish it away. Nobody wants to start the day with such disturbing news. But Shekhawat sounded a word a warning: “This is the future. This will happen everywhere, whenever children are away, leaving their old parents behind to die of neglect.” And yet he too was quick to change the subject by bringing up the Darjeeling trip scheduled next year and asking everyone to sign-up. Srichand Arora brought up the Durga Puja festivities across the road in Garden No 2 and proposed making a trip up there tomorrow after the exercises. And so, ironically enough, life goes on.
Harish Wadhwa:
My condolences to Mr Moti on the passing away of his wife. News like this makes you sad. It is indeed a reality of the 21st century lifestyle that stares at us even though we act dumb and choose not to accept. Anyway, we as helpless individuals can only sympathize. God bless them.
Jagmohan Papneja:
In the present circumstances, I truly believe Moti-ji should not stop writing his Thought of the Day on the blackboard. This will help him to move on in life. Our prayers are with him in days to come.