NEWLY FOUND FRIENDSHIP

It was around 9-30 pm. Hari was about to close the main gate. Just then an old man tired and exhausted came hesitantly and asked for an address.

“Is this RK Nagar? Is this door no 36? Are you Mr. Hari? I have a letter for you from your father.” He handed over the letter.

Hari ran a quick glance at the letter and noted the contents. The writer had given his phone number at the bottom of the letter after his signature. He very well understood at the first glance itself that the old man had come to a wrong door. Hari took pity on the person who brought the letter. He thought that it was not proper to send him back saying he was not the one, whom the old man was looking for. It was already late and the old man also worn out and deadly tired. So, he decided to let him in for the night. Next day morning he would take the old man to the proper address as given in the letter.   

Hari asked the old man if he had his food. He shook his head in the negative. Hari opened the fridge and took out sambar and curry. He heated them along with cooked rice. While doing so, he asked for his name. Paranjothi. He asked him to freshen up.

“Mr Paranjothi, please come and have your food.”

Hari then served hot food.  After dinner, he took him to the next room and asked him to have complete rest. “Uncle now you sleep well and we will take up your issue in the morning.”

Hari came out and then took the letter from his pocket. He dialled the number available in the letter. Hari wanted to ascertain the genuineness of the case and of course the genuineness of the person too.  “Hello Uncle, I am Hari of RK Nagar. I am sorry to disturb you at this untimely hour. One Mr. Paranjothi had come to my house instead of heading for your son’s correct address. Though I knew that I was not the Hari he had come to see, I entertained him for two reasons …. it was already late and the man looked very tired. At the same time, I wanted to ensure about the genuineness of this man and the purpose of his visit. Since he is a total stranger to me, it is not proper to trust anyone instantly and allow him freely into the house. So, I am compelled to ask you.”

Hari got the answer from father of original Hari. “Yes, Paranjothi was from my town and had come to Chennai to collect payment from the Chit fund Company in which his son had invested earlier when he was alive. The company had agreed to pay the amount upon producing the required documents. Paranjothi must be very tired after his long journey from his home town. Please guide him.”

The phone ended with a request to Hari for doing the needful. Also, the phone number of original Hari was shared.

Next day morning, Hari contacted the original Hari of door number 63 of RK Nagar only to know that he had gone to Mumbai on office work and was likely to return only after a fortnight about which his father was not aware of. Hari was in a dilemma now. What to do with Paranjothi who was solely depending on him for getting the payment from Chit fund Company. Finally, he decided to take it upon himself. He applied for a day’s casual leave from his office. He collected the documents from Paranjothi and did prima facie checking. The Chit fund Company was at a far-off place. Both went there and waited for a while to be summoned. Having cleared their doubts and established the bona fides of their claim, the manager cleared their case and sent the papers to accounts department from where they had to collect the cheque. The counter clerk asked for bank account number, IFSC code etc, or at least a cancelled cheque leaf by which the amount could directly be credited into the account without any hassle of carrying a cheque and getting it cleared through clearing and so on. Paranjothi was not prepared for it and did not possess such details.

He was shaky and nervous. Having come this far, he did not want to lose the case for want of such information. According to him, ‘Half the bridge is crossed’ was not any sign of winning the case. Hari intervened and told the clerk that they preferred a crossed cheque or Demand Draft than direct credit.

Hari compelled Paranjothi and they both went to a nearby hotel. Many times, quenching hunger results in clear thinking which in turn leads to proper solutions. Upon return they found that the cheque was ready. As soon as the cheque was given to Paranjothi, his eyes welled up and was about to break down. Untimely death of his dear son made this poor father to run around people seeking assistance. Hari allowed him to melt down his suppressed grief.

Paranjothi collected himself and showered Hari with loads of thanks. Now he wanted to leave for his home town. Hari dropped him at the Mofussil Bus stand with a valid ticket. He also got him food and water packet for the night and together with that he added another packet of sweets to the father of original Hari who issued the letter to assist Paranjothi. The bus was about to start. Once again Paranjothi thanked him heavily and pleaded guilty for the inconveniences caused. Hari wanted to disclose but remained silent about his not being the original Hari who was supposed to handle all these. The bus left.

Next day Hari got a phone call. That was from the father of original Hari. He was quite impressed. He was simply taken aback that this duplicate Hari accomplished everything for Paranjothi and that too without meeting his son. Hari had to tell that his son had gone to Mumbai on office errand was likely to return only after a fortnight. So out of courtesy and compassion for a fellow human being, he took a day’s off from his work and did what he could do for Paranjothi.

“Uncle I am happy that the job entrusted to your son was successfully carried out. I am doubly happy that I am instrumental in that mission. You extended your helping hand for your friend Paranjothi and I did that for your words. My one request to you uncle, next time when you come to see your son in Chennai, please do inform me and I shall be happy to meet you in person.”

“Oh sure. Now you open your facebook page. I have sent a “Friend request” to you. I want to include you in a separate group called Friends club. This is exclusively about a group of people who help others without any expectations. I am proud to enrol you. Do you know the famous classical singer M S Subbulakshmi? She sang one song for United Nations. “MAITRIM BHAJATA”. It was an instant Hit song of the year. Hail Friendship was the underlying theme. That is our motto in this group. Kindly join the group and hail friendship.”

Hari felt that high sounding words of praise were heaped on him for an act which he did nonchalantly. He opened the facebook page to accept the Friend Request. Out of curiosity, he opened Friends Club to see other helpers like him. There were many blood donors particularly those with rarest group – K-group (also known as Bombay Blood Group). Hari was impressed by another man of the group, Mr Narayanan. He got surprised to know the first-hand incidence narrated by him about Krishna – another member of the group. Hari was quite impressed.

Narayanan introduced Krishna into the Friends Club for having donated his one kidney to Narayanan’s wife. While Krishna did not take anything for his noble act, his brother Suresh had demanded 6 lakhs for kidney donation and in the event of any untoward happening leading to Krishna’s demise, the compensation amount would be 10 lakhs. But that alone was not the deal. Krishna was not any commodity to be sold.

After the successful transplantation surgery, Narayanan retained Krishna into his family fold and did not send him back to his brother’s custody.

Hari on reading this found nothing special about Narayanan or Suresh. Because, they dealt with each other for mutual benefit. There was no mention of friendship or bonding between them. They were in fact living in same neighbourhood knowing each other for many years. In the narrative that went on further, there was a catch. Yes, Krishna was not a normal person. He was a special child from birth …. partially mentally retarded one. His IQ was low. Everyone in the neighbourhood knew this. While others were sympathetic towards Krishna, he was highly abused by his brother Suresh. Krishna was an eye sore for him. Suresh thought that because of Krishna’s presence, his image in the society was getting tarnished. He strongly believed that his friends were mocking at him on his back. He considered Krishna as a dead weight on him, hampering his prestige and social status. This resulted in further humiliating Krishna and torturing him.

When Narayanan learnt about this inner story, he could not tolerate it. Earlier also when he came to know about Suresh’s harsh and rude behaviour with Krishna, he simply took it as their family matter and others had no role to interfere. But when such rude behaviour continued and Krishna could no longer put up with it, Narayanan had to rise to the occasion. He devised an idea to get Krishna released from the clutches of Suresh. He thought of using Krishna for his wife’s requirements. He told Suresh about his wife’s failing health and it would be a matter of great solace if only Krishna could come forward to be her saviour. It was only then the deal was struck. After a long bargain, it got settled at 2 lakhs.

After preliminary tests were found to be quite okey, it was decided that one of his kidneys could be transplanted to save Komala. Luckily for all of them, everything fell into the respective slots. Operation was successful. Both doner and donee … that is the benefactor and beneficiary responded very well and recovered. Narayanan retained Krishna with him in family fold.

Narayanan’s son Murthy living at Pune came to Chennai with a unique problem. He told his parents that both he and wife were required to go to USA on job. They were worried about their only son, two-year-old Vikas whom they wanted to leave behind. As per job requirement, both parents had to travel frequently. That being the case, they were constrained to leave Vikas to the custody of Narayanan. As grandfather he gladly accepted the responsibility. Krishna was over-joyous to play with Vivek. The problem got solved as it surfaced. Komala was a kidney patient – but not now. After the transplantation. Vivek as a toddler needed attention and Krishna filled the void. Krishna was his playmate and soulmate. Krishna’s pure and selfless care and comfort towards Vivek and their mutual bonding were really enthralling and worth noting. It was this attitude which prompted Narayanan to include Krishna under Friends Club.

Narayanan was brought under Friends Club by one of the members in the club for saving Krishna from Suresh. Narayanan brought Krishna into the Friends Club for saving his wife and now offering tender care to Vivek. The chain of introducing people one after another as Friends into this club keeps going on. The latest addition was Hari.

Hari wondered whether it should be termed as Friends Club or Benefactors Registry. The uniqueness of this club in many instances was -- neither the benefactor nor the beneficiary was bosom friends. The helper rendered the help unanimously and in almost all cases it was totally on humanitarian grounds with a selfless attitude. In our society, there are innumerable Charitable institutions and they render their services exclusively for the causes they stand for. What Hari found under the umbrella of Friends club was, it was just a one-man show. One individual extending his helping hand for someone lesser known to him.

Whatever be it, Hari was not bothered who calls whom and by what name. He remembered the adage “A rose by any other name smells all the same” Let this club be called by any name. He breathed easily. He is now falling under an elite group called Friends Club. He said to himself, “Let us Hail Friendship.”

The well-known classical legend M S Subbulakshmi had rightly sang for the world…

MAITRIM BHAJATA.

The next line says Yudham tyajata. --- Avoid wars.

He tuned his Youtube channel and played the soul-filling song sung by M S Subbulakshmi. The entire room was filled with her mellifluous voice pleasingly smooth and enchanting.

Hari also was humming. Maitrim Bhajata. His wishful thinking went on further to convey----

Let everyone hail friendships. Let there be no quarrels, no wars. Only Friendship.