In pain but God’s own man

Harshvardhan Singh

My heart pains whenever I see young able bodied people shirking from the call of duty on one pretext or the other. Such instances take me back to the times which I witnessed as a child living with my maternal grandfather, who was a brain stroke victim and an asthmatic. As a devout Sikh, he would get up in the morning at 4 a.m., take a bath without assistance and perform the daily 'Nitnem'(daily prayers) while being short of breath throughout. The wheeze from his chest could be heard from a distance. Undeterred, he stuck to the routine till his last day.

He worked in the Zonal Hospital and well after his retirement, people would recount this man's dedication towards work. India witnessed another civil unrest in 1984. The communal turbulence did not touch our house. The reputation of that noble and pious soul must have restrained the conscience of the perpetrators of the genocide. There were incidences of looting and destruction of property in and around the town and our isolated house would definitely have been an easy target. God was just to him.

As a child, I remember a German lady doctor visiting our town who offered a treatment for respiratory disorders. Nana Ji was given a pump kind of thing which he never used fearing that it would become a habit. Being a doctor now, I can correlate that therapy at that time was in its nascent stage in India and did not find acceptance in individuals and communities. Had he accepted and adhered to the new therapy, it would have definitely improved the quality and added years to his life.

Hosting an alert mind in a challenged body, Nana ji was fluent in Pashto and would converse with my mother in the language whenever there was something they didn't want us to know. At times, I would mischievously intervene by claiming to know what they were talking about; he would laugh it away calling me a ‘Sarkoozea’ (Rascal) or a times calling me a ‘Khar’ (Donkey).

I always follow and quote many of his advices which have stood the test of time. He would always say “bacheyan te janinian di ladai vich kade ni paina chahida; jaldi hi doven ikk ho jande” (Never side with anyone in kids’ and ladies’ quarrels; they quickly reconcile). He was always against giving unwanted advice and said the recipient of such counsel may think “isne  isme bhi kuch kamaya hoga!” (he must cornered a cut). 

He was forced into a civil litigation by a neighbour who also cut water to our house thinking the old, ill man from a minority community would give up and migrate. But he stood up and ultimately won the legal battle after countless visits to the court, all the while maintaining his mental poise in spite of the multiple physical challenges..

Living with paralysis, he would not shirk from preparing the refreshing drinks and daily lunch every afternoon on our return from school with his perennially shaking hands. I do not remember a single occasion when he used his disability as an excuse. I wish the younger generation draws a little inspiration from the life of this man. True to his name, he was really a God's own lion hearted strong man — ‘Hari Singh’.