Dear All,
Chalo Bhai acchaa laga ki aap logon ko bhi acchaa lagaa! You are OK, Im OK.
No, I never got to read that letter. Bhai, ye jyada kissa na chhedo na te tam pitvaoge manne Paro te! And since you liked the episode here is one more.
In VIIIth Std, I had another pen friend named Trevor Pinto. We exchanged regular mails but no photographs. After XIth we got busy in 'Making the Future' and may be forgot about each other. He used to live in Bandra, Mumbai those days. The last time we wrote to each other was in 1975.
Cut to Mar 1994. I was undergoing the Staff College Course at Wellington, Nilgiris (TN) and clearing my desk as the course was ending on 30 Apr. Believe it or not, we 'Fauji's' have one big box for our study material and are also fond of keeping old papers. I found a letter by Trevor Pinto, that I had obviously read, tucked away in a book. I wrote to him on the address hoping for a reply but that reply never came. After nearly two and a half years I received a letter from Trevor's mother and she informed me that Trevor is in New York and that they had changed their residence to Chembur from Bandra. Lo & behold, I got posted to Mumbai in Mar 1997 and the first thing I did was to visit her. An old lady, very affectionate but worried, as her building, which she owned and resided in was under litigation. Some of the litigants were living in that multi story building and were threatning her. Of course, that I sorted out one day when I went in uniform with few soldiers and carbines. Just a show of strength and without telling her because I chose to go to the building when she was in the court.
Then almost after about a year later my door bell rang. As I opened the door I was a couple standing alongwith two pretty daughters. He looked at me and said "Trevor Pinto". I can't tell you the happiness I felt hugging him.
So my dear friends, that is life. Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gum. But a real man moves on in life, laughing and also making others laugh!!!
Keep at it.
Regards,
JS Malik
