Few weeks back, I was sitting in a garden near my home. I saw an old man, probably some 80 plus years, sitting comfortably on the park bench. He wasn’t moving, just sitting with his head down staring his palms. I sat down beside him but he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.
The longer I sat I wondered if he was ok.
I enquired if he was ok. He nodded, stared at me and smiled.
“Yes, I’m ok; thanks for asking”, he said in a bold voice.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you, sir, but you were just sitting here staring at your palms. I wanted to make sure you were fine” I tried explaining him.
“Have you ever stared your hands”, he asked.
I mean really looking your hands? I slowly opened my hands and stared them. I turned them over, palms and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really stared my hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making.
Then he smiled & related this story:
“Leave the world around you and lose yourself for a moment, thinking about the hands you have.
How they have served you so well all through your years. These hands, though weak, wrinkled yet selfless have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out, grab and embrace life. They caught & braced my fall when I slipped upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and bags on my back. My mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes & pulled on my boots. They cleaned my tears. They have been dirty, raw, weak, swollen and bent. They have held children, consoled neighbours, and shook in fists of anger when I lost my temper. They have covered my face and combed my hair. To this day when not much of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.”
I was shocked but I smiled as I learned a beautiful lesson.
Take some time to thank god for giving such beautiful hands. They are selfless, they listen to us and they are the building blocks of our lives.
Thank you uncle!
Thanks for teaching me this deep yet simple lesson of giving time to something so close to us.
I visit that park everyday but this uncle has stopped coming.
… By Nikhil Chandwani
Nikhil Chandwani is a national best selling author (flipkart 2012),
published poet and a script writer. He is currently working on an
international travel show which will be telecasted on Discovery Channel, USA.
He is a vivid read and a guest speaker. His next book, on Major Dhyan Chand, will be released in two month
