Swamy

October 23, 2012

Mark saw his best buddy’s body burning in the flame. He was going to miss Swamy badly, he thought. Then he saw Swamy’s  son Krishna looking in his direction. Mark suddenly broke the eye contact and looked away. As it was late people were leaving one by one. Swamy’s son walked towards him. Mark didn’t know what to do. He knew fighting, accusing, blaming was common at a funeral. Mark held his breath and his grip on his walking stick increased. If he was a little younger by now he would have ran, he thought. Krishna stood in from of Mark and said, "I don’t blame you for what my father has done to me. It was his decision." Mark nodded, not knowing what else to do.

Mark was shocked when Krishna told him that it was his father's wish that he do his last rights. Mark had seen the pain in Krishna’s eyes. He stood there watching his best friend’s lifeless body on the pile of wood. He was overwhelmed seeing his buddy's last desire. When he had the set the fire he had said a prayer in his own way.

Krishna’s sudden question interrupted his rail of thoughts. "How are you going? Should I drop you?" Mark coughed and said, "the driver will come and pick me up. Anyway, thank you." Krsihna nodded his head and stood beside Mark. Mark was not good with modern grown up men. Maybe it was because he never had a son. Unlike other fathers he didn’t feel he was missing something in his life as his daughter was everything to him.

It was almost half an hour and there was no sign of the driver. Mark looked at the watch impatiently as it was getting dark. Krishna said "looks like your driver is not coming. Come on sir, I will drop you." Mark slowly followed Krishna towards his Audi car. He smiled looking at the beauty. If Swamy was alive he could have taken him for a long drive in the car. He wiped his tears remembering his lost friend. Krishna started the engine and Mark started recalling the days with his buddy.


*********************

Mark was around 66 when he joined the old age home "St Xavier." By profession he was techie. It was his own decision to live there. He lost his wife years ago. It was his loneliness that made him join the old age home. His daughter had begged him to stay with her in her house but Mark had denied the offer without thinking twice. He had taken a shared room and was scared like a kitten thinking about his roommate. When he was young, before joining the hostel he had similar fear. He smiled when he realized that only the age changes but not the feeling.

He had taken his favourite 6-inch flat screen TV, laptop and full length mirror. When he had knocked on the door a middle aged man had opened with a question mark on his face. It was then that Mark had introduced himself extending his hand. Mark took 5 long minutes to understand that the person staring at him had hearing problem. He started coughing after repeating his name ten times at the top of his voice. The man who stood in front of him ran inside and brought a glass of water. Mark drank the water and looked at the man wondering whether he made a mistake coming here.

Mark stood there wondering how to communicate when sister Flavia came to his aid. She was young and pretty. Seeing the nun the old man ran away and came out with his hearing instrument. Mark hid his smile seeing the old man. Sister Flavia said "Swamy this is Mark your roommate, you both will be sharing this room." Swamy then extended his hand towards Mark and said "Nice to meet you Mark , I am Rama Swamy, you can call me Swamy." I am a retired Bank employee." Mark smiled seeing Swamy’s missing teeth, and thinking how his artificial teeth made a good impression.

When Swamy saw Mark's TV he said, "I already have one.." Mark interrupted saying "come on dude I can’t watch my Pamela in that freaky small TV." Swamy said "who? News reader?." Mark laughed and said "hahhh so what we got here? ancient masterpiece? Pamela the Baywatch queen, Don’t you watch it?" Swamy adjusted his hearing instrument and said "I watch only news and cricket." Mark sat on the bed and said "ha you are really true Indian old citizen. Good for you." Swamy stared at Mark not understanding what Mark was talking about.

Mark said "you are in FB?."

Swamy said "I have some FD’s but not many."

Mark said "I will have a tough time teaching you all this dude."

Mark opened his laptop and sat on Swamy bed and said "you are in 2012 and you must have an FB account, else people think you are the grandfather of Adam." Swamy adjusted his spectacle and glared at Mark's laptop. He almost fainted seeing the picture of a lady who was holding a gun with tag line "I am gonna kill you." Mark patted his desktop and said "that’s her I was talking about. You must watch her in action. She’s awesome." Swamy stared at Mark. He was sure that Mark was a perverted old man.

Mark started to explain about Facebook. He explained briefly about how one could find school friends and upload pictures. He showed his granddaughter's picture and said "that’s Patty, a computer freak. She’s in 1st standard and she has 200 friends in her friend list. Can you beat that?." Swamy said "god save this generation, wonder what will happen." Mark then created an FB account for Swamy. He started unpacking his things while Swamy started exploring FB.

The first name he typed was "Krishna Swamy." His eyes were misty when he hit the search button. He didn’t say a word when he found his son. He touched the son's picture and closed the laptop. Like always he hid his pain and helped Mark in his task.

It was prayer time. Swamy was praying when Mark emerged from the bathroom singing some song. Mark didn’t stop singing even when he saw Swamy praying. He sprayed his deodorant and took out his night clothes. He smiled seeing his teddy bear print pajama suit. It was Patty who suggested him that they both should have similar pajama suits. Swamy said angrily "Mark will you stop singing, can't you see I am praying." Mark said "to whom? If god were listening to your prayer you wouldn’t have been here."

Swamy removed his spectacles and wiped his eyes and said "Yes, I wouldn’t have been here. But you see I was destined to be here. My son doesn’t want me. He is happy with his wife and son in US...." Swamy was very disturbed after seeing his son's FB account. Mark walked towards Swamy and put his hand around his shoulder and said "Come on dude I didn’t intend to hurt you. Don’t think about your useless son and cry. You have life and money, just enjoy. I will teach you to do that. Now wipe your tears." For the first time in his old age Swamy felt good. Even though he didn’t like Mark he felt Mark knew to live life.

After dinner Mark took out his Jack Daniel and poured him a stiff drink. He offered Swamy but the latter denied politely. Mark said "live your life Swamy, at least when you are 70 try something you never tried." Swamy glared at Mark and Mark shut his mouth.

Swamy was able to find his school friends in FB. Now most of his time he spent on laptop and watching all modern stuff on TV. He started to like Mark. He remembered how happy he was on Christmas.

Mark's daughter Clera had come to take her father home for Christmas. It was Mark who requested Sister Flavia to grant permission so that he could take Swamy along. Swamy eyes filled with tears and he hugged Mark. Swamy said, "My son never came to see me. Taking me home is out of question. Thank you Mark." Mark hugged Swamy and said "Chillax dude, I am taking you home only on one condition - you will have a peg with me!" Swamy smiled and said, "I will have as many as you want."

Mark's daughter was very gentle and courteous. Patty called him grandpa too. Mark took him on his Yezdi for a ride. They both shopped and bought new clothes. Mark had gifted Swamy a trendy pair of jeans. Swamy smiled looking at himself in the mirror and said, "I cant wear them, I never wore jeans." Mark said, "It's time you started wearing them." Swamy never felt so alive and happy. He never thought life could be so colourful despite being alone.

It was two days later when Mark was riding the bike that he had a heart attack. He was in the ICU for two days. Swamy prayed to god to save his best buddy. When Mark opened his eyes he found Swamy dozing in the chair. Swamy said, "How are you Mark?" Mark smiled and said "You thought I would die? I can't...My Pamela won't let me go." Swamy smiled listening to Mark’s silly talk.

Mark was discharged and his daughter took him home. Swamy missed his buddy. To be alone in the room was painful for him. Even he had started watching Baywatch. Even though it was an old TV show he started liking it.

It was after a month that Mark came back. As a welcome gift Swamy gave Mark a walking stick. Mark hugged Swamy and said, "Missed you man."

Mark knew that Swamy missed his son. He tried contacting him but his efforts went in vain. Whenever he went home he took Swamy along.

One late night they were playing cards when Swamy a cardiac arrest. Mark didn’t waste time and called the ambulance. Swamy’s condtion was very critical. Nurses informed his son Krishna and he came down to see his father. Mark felt like punching him right on his nose. When doctors came and said "Swamy wants to talk to Mark" Krishna’s face fell. Mark stopped in front of Krishna and said, "You came a bit early, looks like he is not yet dead." And then he was gone. He didn’t stop to see Krishna’s reaction.

Swamy held Mark's hand in his and said, "Looks like I am the first one to go and I am happy about that."

"Stop it Swamy, now we are even. We still have many things to do. Next Christmas will go to LA and meet Pamela."

"Oh Mark I don’t want to die if we are going to meet her."

Mark paused for a while and said, "Krishna is here, should I call him in?." Swamy looked away and said "No Mark. When I die I want to see your face not his." Marks eyes welled with tears. With a low voice he said, "Don’t say that Swamy."

Swamy continued, "You taught me to live, you taught me to enjoy my life, it's you who taught me to chase away the loneliness. And my son taught me nothing and gave me only misery and distress." Mark was silent. He sat beside his bed and held his hand in his.


**************************

Mark wiped his eyes. It was his last talk with Swamy. Krishna stopped the car in front of the old age home. Krishna said, "don’t cry Mr. Mark. We can't bring him back."

Mark said, "You will never understand Krishna. May be one day when you are old you will. May be in this same old age home. Thank you for the drive anyway." With that, Mark got down from car and walked towards his room. He looked at the sky and said, "We will meet again soon, Swamy. Till then hang in there...."

 

Sylvia Lobo - Archives:


 

By Sylvia Navina Lobo
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Comment on this article

  • kanikiaraj, B'lore

    Tue, Nov 06 2012

    very good story. its also the reality among prominent cities. Today youngsters or even sons or daughters settle abroad without feeling that they are missing their ailing, good and old parents. They think it is enough to call and not feel with them. it is enough to go ones in while and be with them like mechanical attitudes of a officer. it becomes office duty still worst is not in keeping in touch with them. many think providing them fecilities and sending few dollars is enough. we must always should know that materials doesn't have feeling it only creates certain feeling but doesn't vibrate with human feelings.lets take care of our elderly or old parents..even if they are parents of my friends or relatives or even stranger lets feel them and make them to live fully. let the expression of life full...every human being has right to enjoy fullness of life to the brim...lets give hope to the hopeless..lets join our hearts with them and not our minds alone. lets learn from the wisdom figures...life experiences are rich and nutritious for our life.

  • M.SHAMEEM. ANSARI, BANGALORE

    Mon, Nov 05 2012

    DEAR Slyvi
    EXCELLENT STOREY. KEEP IT UP ..

  • Dlima, Mangalore

    Fri, Nov 02 2012

    Beautiful story!!! Keep writing!!

  • Pradeep, Bangalore

    Mon, Oct 29 2012

    I often feel why we young Indians tend to ignore the sacrifice of our parents in our upbringing.. This story made tears roll my eyes and will be ever be remembered .. Thank you Sylvia for such a wonderful story..

  • Alex J. D'Mello, Mundkur/mumbai

    Sat, Oct 27 2012

    I am reading this article after so many days of it's publication. I repent for that. It's such a beautiful piece. Sylia put it very nicely. Thank you

  • alban lewis, Kallianpur/bangalore

    Fri, Oct 26 2012

    Wonderful story
    I am above 70 and I hope I'll have a companion like Mark when I am in the old age home. Then life will be much more livable, than anywhere else - having a FRIEND is so important than a relative who does not care
    I really enjoyed this story. It is the best one here.

  • RODRIX, USA

    Fri, Oct 26 2012

    DEAR MISS LOBO,
    WHAT A FANTASTIC STORY!!! I'VE DECIDED 2 VISIT SOME OF THE HOMES FOR THE AGED DURIN MY NEXT TRIP 2 INDIA...I APPRECIATE THE WAY U'VE PUT FORTH UR THOUGHTS...AMAZIN...GOD BLESS...

  • Simon Rodrigues., Udupi,Shirva.

    Fri, Oct 26 2012

    Nice emotional story!I apprecite your style of writing,May GOD Give you more insight and wisdom to write more such stories.GOD bless you.

  • geoffrey, hat hill

    Thu, Oct 25 2012

    I do appreciate whenever I come across a piece that’s evolved out of the writer’s imagination/creativity with conversation and phrases apt for the context. As for the enlightenment of ‘mortals’, Mr. Rego, Qatar,M'lore, in my opinion Bible is the right source for both spiritual and literary enlightenment

  • Sr.Severine Menezes, Belur, Hassan,Mangalore.

    Thu, Oct 25 2012

    Dear Sylvi, Thanks for the good article. I really appreciate your style of putting the feelings of elderly in words. God bless. Write many more articles like this. All the best.

  • John Rego, Qatar/Mangalore

    Thu, Oct 25 2012

    Geoffrey, Hat hill
    You always find something or other negative thing in articles. In fact I have never seen a positive comment form you. How about writing an article or a story to enlighten the mortals?

  • Raj P, Mangalore

    Thu, Oct 25 2012

    Swamy's character is a good depiction of what senior citizens are going through in society. Well narrated. I like the Mark character as well, we have so many Senior citizens who have taught themselves to be computer literate and be connected ! Like these extra-ordinary / impossible characters, without which it would be a documentary.

    @Geoffrey, Dying man might be having lot of memories, but that is different from 'learn to live'

  • Lavina S. Pinto, Mangalore/Dubai

    Wed, Oct 24 2012

    Nice story, eye opener to those who have left their parents!! Keep it up and keep writing...

  • geoffrey, hat hill

    Wed, Oct 24 2012

    Story sounds too unrealistic. Dying old man’s last words to his best friend ‘You taught me to live’ And what did he teach? Introduction to top heavy Anderson of Baywatch, facebook, Jack Daniels and some internet lingo which is irrelevant here. Is this what life is all about for a dying old man?

  • Vinod Rodrigues, Mangalore / Dubai

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    good one... enjoyed .... pls keep writing

  • Ravi Lobo, Kinnigoli/Wisconsin

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    The big plus of this story is its narration the friendship of two aged men is very nicely depicted. I didn’t realize the location. A few sentences on location would have helped me to visualize the story correctly. The dialogue of Mark (born long before internet era) looked a bit farfetched. But I think such a character is plausible. You are one of the best writers on Daiji. Your prose scintillates with life. Good luck.

  • Lancy Moras, Moushmi Creations

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    Dearest Syl, wonderful story. At this age of yours you are almost on the peak of mount everest I say.


    Absolutely awesome talent gifted by God. Keep going girl..my best wishes and prayers to you.

  • R.Bhandarkar., M

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    Dear Slyvi
    From Common Love Story
    To Swamy
    A 'Twist' in the Journey...
    'Allowing his hand to reach the 'goal'(?) you wrote last time,
    difficulties at the 'Real Goal Post' this time around...
    Life Teaches in every Endeavour
    To reach the Ultimate'Goal'for the Seeker...
    All the best....Keep interacting with the best of writers...it will help in the long run...

  • Mamtha, Ruzai / Dubai

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    Nice one. Liked it very much.

  • Lancy M Pinto, Mangalore/Doha

    Tue, Oct 23 2012

    Wow,sad but very touching story, an eye opener!


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