Next to our main studio at dadar there is always a lot of cheer of dance, prayers, belief, movement and someone's distant eye. My friend, bawa, who thought he was such a waste in life as he did not make a difference to this material world or to the immaterial feelings of his family members. Weed, Hashish, Alcohol, & nicotine were his support system to sustenance.
Bawa was a drug addict who used to sit next to the Government Trash cans, which are just about 20 meters away from our studio. Used to get his living done by selling products from the waste. So not much traveling also. It was all there for him. A house, a shop and a loyal family of Lali, Kalia & their puppies. Lali & kalia who still fight & bark loud when any stranger tries to invade their area in the night. Loving fellows, they love me too as i feed them once or twice a day and Bawa used to be very particular about the rest of their meals. The puppies were his new life. He made a small kennel for them behind the trash can too. God! they were adorable. 6 of them out of which 2 were born ill. So he requested me to do something and i took them to the hospital. The doc injected them but told me they wont live long and they both eventually died. 3 of them got a house. Bawa was very instrumental in seeing to it that they get the best of life. The left out,1 of them i named Gundi (meaning gangster in hindi), oh cause she is such a brat i tell you. And now she is a part of the Kalia Lali gang too.
Ironically one fine day i sat with bawa and asked him (in hindi), " Kayko itna charas leta hai yaar?", (meaning: Why do you do drugs my friend?) to which i dint know that I was in for a shocker, as he replied,"I don't do it on purposely, Aadat pad gayi, kya karega?", Gosh! I wanted to knock myself cause it was hard for me to believe that he could speak english, and that kinda proved that he was educated and literate somewhat. And then our conversation took shape.
Well, while he was telling me that he got into drugs as his girl-friend got married to someone else and because of family problems and a lot of weird things that happened to him, I was observing his footpath-captured house where on the wall he had stuck pictures of Religious Idols from all sorts of religions. Some even which i haven't even vaguely heard of. I enquired about the same too, to which he said that (in hindi), " Bloody all these religious & fanatic people pray and then throw these pictures in the garbage, who knows where is God, but at least i should respect the sentiments of the people who value these Gods and put them up. I regularly do the pooja (prayers) also and only then i start my Booze, hahahaha...".
I don't find it difficult to say this but i actually started respecting him a lot. In fact i even started believing that he is my teacher in disguise. God! every week i used to sit on that footpath and have good chat with him. Sometimes where suggestions flew from him and where suggestions flew from me. I offered him the job of a watchman at Expressions but only if he quit drugs. To which he said that i am your watchman anyways, i can see your studio from here and i keep watching. I understood that this is gonna be difficult, but maybe i am meant to get his life back to this material world, i don't even know why i felt like that.
I write this on Saturday the 1st of August 2009 on the eve of friendship's day. I was on a holiday yesterday as fridays, sometimes i take an off. I entered the studio today morning and my peon told me that the watchman of the building had come to inform me that Bawa was asking for me as he was ill and the other peon tells me,"oh yes, the municipal van took his body, he died today".
Bawa, my friend, my teacher, my strength & my weakness. I will miss him and the only thing I will regret is that i never got a chance to tell him that 'He was SPECIAL'. He never asked anything from me, except love for Lali, Kalia & the puppies. Lali is still sitting at that footpath house. Her head facing the holy pictures. She is only playing with me now and i guess thats what bawa taught me.
"Its not love you have been waiting to receive, but the love you have given unconditionally and felt that it only made you richer"
Keep Loving and making friends forever
Thank You for being there. You are SPECIAL.
Sumeet Nagdev
Bawa was a drug addict who used to sit next to the Government Trash cans, which are just about 20 meters away from our studio. Used to get his living done by selling products from the waste. So not much traveling also. It was all there for him. A house, a shop and a loyal family of Lali, Kalia & their puppies. Lali & kalia who still fight & bark loud when any stranger tries to invade their area in the night. Loving fellows, they love me too as i feed them once or twice a day and Bawa used to be very particular about the rest of their meals. The puppies were his new life. He made a small kennel for them behind the trash can too. God! they were adorable. 6 of them out of which 2 were born ill. So he requested me to do something and i took them to the hospital. The doc injected them but told me they wont live long and they both eventually died. 3 of them got a house. Bawa was very instrumental in seeing to it that they get the best of life. The left out,1 of them i named Gundi (meaning gangster in hindi), oh cause she is such a brat i tell you. And now she is a part of the Kalia Lali gang too.
Ironically one fine day i sat with bawa and asked him (in hindi), " Kayko itna charas leta hai yaar?", (meaning: Why do you do drugs my friend?) to which i dint know that I was in for a shocker, as he replied,"I don't do it on purposely, Aadat pad gayi, kya karega?", Gosh! I wanted to knock myself cause it was hard for me to believe that he could speak english, and that kinda proved that he was educated and literate somewhat. And then our conversation took shape.
Well, while he was telling me that he got into drugs as his girl-friend got married to someone else and because of family problems and a lot of weird things that happened to him, I was observing his footpath-captured house where on the wall he had stuck pictures of Religious Idols from all sorts of religions. Some even which i haven't even vaguely heard of. I enquired about the same too, to which he said that (in hindi), " Bloody all these religious & fanatic people pray and then throw these pictures in the garbage, who knows where is God, but at least i should respect the sentiments of the people who value these Gods and put them up. I regularly do the pooja (prayers) also and only then i start my Booze, hahahaha...".
I don't find it difficult to say this but i actually started respecting him a lot. In fact i even started believing that he is my teacher in disguise. God! every week i used to sit on that footpath and have good chat with him. Sometimes where suggestions flew from him and where suggestions flew from me. I offered him the job of a watchman at Expressions but only if he quit drugs. To which he said that i am your watchman anyways, i can see your studio from here and i keep watching. I understood that this is gonna be difficult, but maybe i am meant to get his life back to this material world, i don't even know why i felt like that.
I write this on Saturday the 1st of August 2009 on the eve of friendship's day. I was on a holiday yesterday as fridays, sometimes i take an off. I entered the studio today morning and my peon told me that the watchman of the building had come to inform me that Bawa was asking for me as he was ill and the other peon tells me,"oh yes, the municipal van took his body, he died today".
Bawa, my friend, my teacher, my strength & my weakness. I will miss him and the only thing I will regret is that i never got a chance to tell him that 'He was SPECIAL'. He never asked anything from me, except love for Lali, Kalia & the puppies. Lali is still sitting at that footpath house. Her head facing the holy pictures. She is only playing with me now and i guess thats what bawa taught me.
"Its not love you have been waiting to receive, but the love you have given unconditionally and felt that it only made you richer"
Keep Loving and making friends forever
Thank You for being there. You are SPECIAL.
Sumeet Nagdev
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