Did you say 'Good Morning' to Thatha on his Walk?

 

Father L. Balaswamy rests in the graveyard now. 

This is a quiet place in the campus of the church in Luz. 

When I spoke to him many weeks ago, he was exhausted from the long hours at a hospital’s dialysis unit. A donor kidney didn’t come his way.

I couldn’t suggest a meeting. Not in the physical and mental condition he was in.

This Catholic priest of the Madras-Mylapore diocese had retired after some five decades of service. Retired to the quiet Vianney Home in San Thome.

I should have met him then. The conversations on the phone were not enough.

Personal meets would have also relaxed him.

I am not the kind of person who visits graveyards, places some flowers on graves of people I know and sit and talk to them.

Though I may visit Balaswamy’s grave when I am in Luz the next time. Graveyards are really quiet spaces.

Balaswamy was the parish priest of our church zone where we used to reside, off Mount Road. Those are faint memories. We re-connected after he retired; and spoke long. I was keen to understand local church history and he had loads and loads of stories and less-known facts to share.

Oftentimes, retired people enjoy story-telling - when they have people to listen to them.  Perhaps, they also enjoy the company. And time is spent usefully.

My co-traveller who is no more, D. Hemchandra Rao would light up at the suggestion of a road trip. He would do his home-work for the trip and bounce it on me and off we went. To all corners of India’s coast - as he documented light houses.

It took some time for the vibes to set right.

Understanding seniors is key to a fruitful relationship. 

Rao was old school; he marked time for refreshments, washroom calls and checking into hotels to call it a day.

Once the vibes got strong, Rao was ready for any road trip - to the Natyanjali dance circuits in Tamil Nadu to a cultural festival in coastal Karnataka’s Honnavar.

There are lots of seniors living amidst us. And they need some warmth and conversation. 

Even a ‘Hello, good morning!’ as they take baby steps on a morning walk, can light them up, make them smile.

<< Photo used here is of Fr. Balaswamy.