Say " Thank You' In Time

Yesterday I received a long mail in Tamil from my grandniece,( my sister's grand daughter) aged 24.While wishing me for the New Year,she conveyed with tears her gratitude to her dear father.
I am giving an extract of the mail in English.

She fonly remembers how her dear father packed nearly 12 tiffin boxes daily nearly for 17 years.

She lost her mother in an accident in Bangalore when she was just 21 days old in 1993.She has a twin sibling brother and an elder sister now 27.

Her father managed alone with the help of a day care home in Bangalore, who took care of the kids from 9A. M. to 6.30 P. M. daily.Her father used to get up at 4A. M. cook for the kids, pack feeding bottles in early stages and lunch boxes later .He used to replace bundles of diapers, alternate dresses for use when they got wet.He never forgot to take dosages of syrups, medicines etc etc as prescribed by the paediatrician.

"Shiva is called Artha naree as he had shared his left half of his body to Parvathi;but my father was all in all a 100% mother for us three'she narrates with tears.

He never forgot to pack even sanitary napkins for us when we attained age"she has recollected.24 years have rolled since she lost her mother, whom she has never even seen.

Her father was just 32 when her mother died.Had he wanted, he would have married again citing bringing up children as a pretext.

She remembers with gratitude the 'baby care home' as 'maai kaa ghar'( mother's house.) and the beloved maid sister as her own mother.

Today packing and delivering has become multimillion job.At the press of a button, you order for things you need.We get our things delivered at our doorsteps within two or three days.Thanks to Amazon, Flip Cart,Snap-deal and of course the good neighbourly Pizza Hutwala?
Home serving is a big business in cities.You just prepare rice in a cooker.The curries,sambar and Rasam are delivered even before you leave for your office.The food,though costly a bit, is home made,tasty and does not harm your
digestive system.Home delivery is a matter of routine today.

Leave alone the global Amazon, just think of the woman who comes to collect the thrash bags daily from our houses,the person who comes to sweep and mop the stair case and surrounding areas, the 'ironing ' man who collects washed clothes and delivers pressed neat office dress and uniforms for kids.A girl daily supplies two muzham of flowers to decorate the divine portraits .I will be failing in my duty if I don't thank the automan who took my kids to school and left them back at home, even when I was going for work.

Sometime back I received this message through mail

Air Commodore Vishal was a Jet Pilot.
In a combat mission his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He however ejected himself and parachuted safely. He won acclaims and appreciations from many.
After five years one day he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant.
A man from another table came to him and said "You're Captain Vishal ! You flew jet fighters. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Vishal.
"I packed your parachute," the man smiled and replied.
Vishal gasped in surprise and gratitude and thought if parachute hadn't worked, I wouldn’t be here today.
Vishal couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. He wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, he was a fighter pilot and that person was just a safety worker"

So friends, who is packing your parachute?
Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.
We need many kinds of parachutes– we need the physical parachute, the mental parachute, the emotional parachute, and the spiritual parachute.
We call on all these supports before reaching the destination safe.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important.
We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

As you go through our life's journey, recognize the people who packed your parachute.
Let us thank everyone who helped us one way or the other by way of our words, deeds, prayers etc!!

I thank my grand niece whose mail induced me to write this snippet.
When I read Shri Srinivasan's snippet, I was reminded of this real incident in our family.

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Thank you Gauri madam.

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Possible.This incident never leaves our mind.My niece was just 28.The previous week I was in Bangalore and saw her with three kids .
She went with her brother-in-law's daughter aged 18 who had just got licence.She could not assess the timing and in a crossing her bike came under the wheels of HAL bus.My niece fell on the right side and the girl in the front left nearer to platform and hence escaped.
Actually my niece was heading for review after delivery .The incident happened near the hospital. In the melee all her medical papers were strewn all over and the doctor who attended her delivery came to the site to identify her..Her husband innocently went to the hospital to see his wife as he was aware of the appointment and was shocked to know the news.

While every one was out of control seeing this horrible scene,my sister ,though sad, didn't show it out and was busy with feeding the twin grandkids -21 days old.Definitely I might have referred to this in another snippet.

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I am running 77 and I don't get at things easily .But certain memories are ever fresh.
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