The story of Ram

He was the first person, I was introduced to. A person in his late seventies or eighties, he sat there on his bed, with a broad welcoming smile on his face. As I entered his room with the security guard, he asked me to sit next to him on his bed, while the guard sat on the chair facing us. He was really old, had no teeth, but had a big grin on his face. It seemed as if he was waiting for someone to be there, & today it was me. The guard introduced him to be as one of the most jovial & energetic of the oldies there & so he was...

The guard left us soon, & the grandpa (something I would prefer to use henceforth instead of the "Old" person) began with his story. He had recently had an operation, which resulted in his one leg being smaller than the other. A retired accountant, he had lost his wife some years back & was now the lone survivor in his family. As he was getting older each day, & found it difficult to take care of himself on his own with increasing physical ailments, he moved to the Kalkaji home, from where he was shifted to this home in Tilak Vihar, as this was a new one (This home was opened in Aug 2005). He had had varied experiences in life & one of them was that he was on Radio for some time too (something he felt too good about). He loved singing & was known in the home for singing on all occasions & festivals. Someone pretty popular among students who had previously visited the home from Delhi University & Jiims, especially for his singing. I spent nearly an hour with him & he had loads to talk about himself, infact he was full of self praise & simply loved it (afterall we humans dont change easily). I was enjoying the conversation without saying anything, just listening to him & felt sooo happy seeing him so happy. It was one great experience & what was to follow was quite mind boggling, the story of a grandma this time, the story of "Swatantrata"......