Sunday, May 25, 2008

Small Step For Man, Giant Step For Mankind.

These were the words that introduced me to the power of language. Papaji, my father, was sitting on the front steps of our house in Nagpur and reading 'The Times of India'. The heading 'A Small Step for Man, A Giant Step for Mankind' was plastered in huge letters across the front of the newspaper. I asked Papaji about it and he explained to me the meaning of the phrase and its reference to Niel Armstrong's historic voyage to the moon. The immensity of the moon landing got dwarfed in my mind by the epiphany of the 'Power of speech'.
Today when I saw Sachi sitting at the wheel of our car I remembered those words again.



It was a somber day in early March when I had taken the keys from him. Today all of us rejoiced in seeing Baba claim that right again. Last night we had planned that he would drive us in his truck to the grocery store. Today we got up, determined to accomplish this task, despite the torrential rains. There was a decided excitement in our getting ready for it. When time came to go, the sun came out and the day shone like newly minted penny. I grabbed my camera to capture the moment for all of us. Both of us walked into the garage and found Suraj had driven Sachi's truck to work. Suraj's truck was sitting in the garage but locked. The boys have been driving baba's car in the name of keeping the battery alive. Deflated we almost abandoned the trip but last minute decided to let my car have the honor. Seeing the pictures I think nothing could look more handsome than my hybrid car and Sachi together. He had no problem driving and plans to continue this from now on. Today he was able to eat more than half of a meat samosa and a brownie bar that Ravi had baked. Every two three days we see some small welcome change. Jyoti and Jeff are here for a day and night. The house is full with all the kids at home.

Sharing these moments with you doubles our joy. Thankyou for being there.

Ambi

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautifully recollected and eloquently presented indeed, Nuabou! Every drop of water contains in its tender roundness, the promise of an ocean....Every little step taken by an infant places the cornerstone of an entire lifetime...
Sanabhai, having become the beneficiary of a brand new lease of Life showered by Him, is no more than an infant, learning to take his first few faltering steps into the realm of God's creation....
The significance of his recovery holds an assurance for countless other afflicted victims to whom the deadly harbinger of bad times has shown its unwelcome face of darkness....The hope for a tomorrow devoid of disease and free from suffering leads them ahead in their battle against Cancer....
Nursing tirelessly and fighting relentlessly is an individual who represents the divine image of the Universal Mother, holding a beacon of compassion for all those who have resolved to walk the path of agony in unison with their partners, challenging the unchartered frontiers of tolerance and resilience....
We should live each moment as if it was our first, and go through each day as if it was our last..... Only then can we pour in all our energies into every act of love, intensify all our emotions into every thought of care, and give generously of our Self in every gesture of sacrifice....
“It is not the years in your life that count, it is rather the life in your years....”
As you graduate from faltering steps to confident strides, your little brother shall be approaching your doorstep in a short while from now, hoping to walk a few steps with you on the path of life and yearning to collect a treasure of wisdom under your towering presence.....
May God bless you all.
Pranams & Prayers
Babi

Leema and Achintya said...

Dearest Ambi Main and Sati Mamu,

Pranam...It's been over 2weeks since I wrote to both of you..though have been reading all your postings in the past 2weeks and have been really happy and relieved to know that Sati Mamu is slowly but steadily recovering and getting back on his feet..He looks really nice and fresh after gaining 10lbs in the photographs you have posted in the last 2weeks..Main thanks again for your beautiful updates on Sati Mamu's progress and recovery and the beautiful photographs which help us see the progress ourselves..though your beautifully and eloquently presented updates need no pictures to express themselves.. :)

Sati Mamu..Congratulations yet again on taking another small step towards normalcy and recovery..I completely agree with Ambi Main's title-"Small Step For Man,Giant Step For Mankind"..cause your being able to drive again without any problem after almost 3mnths sure is a giant step towards normalcy and complete recovery..and have to also agree with Main after seeing the pictures that nothing could look more handsome than her hybrid car and you together..Our James Bond (007) is back..looking as handsome and deadly as ever..you sure can give Sean Connery a tough competition if you ever decide to join Hollywood and motion pictures.. :) Hope each day brings in more and more small wonders in your road to complete recovery!

Take Care and Enjoy your new lease of life to the fullest!

Love always,
Leema & Achintya.

Sini and Sanju said...

MY darling brother n my Angel Nuabou,
After a long time i have again arrived
in this wonderful blog. I was not here for ten days. In the mean time
three blogs with beautiful pictures have come. Thankyou dear nuabou, for
these nice pictures. MY dear brother is looking so good, bright n cheerful, ' nazar na lag jae'
...O GOD!how handsome bhaiya looks, with a bright red shirt in a
shiny meroon car, VOW!!!! MY TARZAN BROTHER, KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!NO LIMITS TO YOUR ENTHUSIASM.
SANABHAI dear, as the days n months pass, we r getting more n more
impatient to see your dear loving face. WHEN will u come , my dear brother??????????
NOW babi will b going to see you..how fortunate he is...look at us...
being miles n miles far from you...thinking of you n praying for you...waiting for your arrival...How will
these days pass....
This time when i was with bou...she said,'I do not know why i
am remembering Sati so much, these days???GOD BLESS HIM' when u talk to her she

will feel nice. THEN i consoled her a lot . she is alright now.
Darling nuabou,u look so NICE with all your children
in the picture.IT is really a feast for the eyes to see all of u at one
glance. I have no words to express my admiration for you. YOU r simply
great...beyond words...the u are going about the whole thing...is just unthinkable
I really, really miss both of you n wany to see your two loving faces as soon as
possible.
ITS so nice to hear that my GREAT BROTHER is joining u in all
activities, eating good things n driving to the store. WITHIN no time
BHAIYAJI will become alrighr...healthy , strong n enerjetic.THE LORD
IS NOW SMILING AT MY DEAR BROTHER...WE have seen enough of HIS FROWNS...now only SMILES..so my brother will become fit n fine very soon.
All my love n prayers with both of you.
love sini n sanju

Nandini & Swarup said...

ipqDearest Sanabhai&Nuabou,
PRANAM-
We were extremely happy and delighted to go through your well written blogs containing positive,satisfying and welcome informations accompanied by lovely photoghaphs of your smart handsome/beautiful family.
Nuabou- thanks to your magic and tender care(24x7)Sanabhai is almost back to his normal self.He looks bright,healthy and happy-fairer also(may be as fair as you)
Sanabhai- with your fashionable outfit with sunglasses sitting inside a stylish car-you look every inch a Hollywood star.We are so grateful to God for making all these in good time.The collective prayer of the entire family,your wellwishers and unparalelled devotion backed by affectionate care of dearest Nuabou yielded results-we are relieved and delighted.
Somehow we feel-happiness,good times,celebrations-all these go well with your family-illness,sadness and hardtimes are just passing phases -they come and go leaving behind some scars but lot of fond memories binding the family and the extended families and friends.Anyway-Happy days are here again.Nuabou lots of work for you but we have rarely seen a person like you who enjoys cooking,feeding others,working in the garden and above all taking good care of the family-that is how you bind the family so well and everyone feels at home in your house.
Nuabou! we highly appreciate your knack of capturing rare moments life in camera and sharing them with us.The photogaphs are very telling.In one of them Sanabhai looks like Baba (with newspaper).
How are Jyoti,Jeff and the two youngmen.Our special love and blessings to them.
Sanabhai-happy eatingand happy driving-
GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS-
OK Bye for now.
With warm regards and love,
Nandini&Swarup

supreet said...

Some time back I mentioned that Sachi was passing through his second childhood.I didn't know then that this will come out true in more ways than one. Your description of his first drive after current illness has all the drama and excitement of an infant taking his first step. We are glad that he is on course to fast recovery needing all our cheers. And as if to cheer him up further his presidential candidate is going great guns winning one primary after another. Perhaps since the historic dual between Lincoln and Douglas no other presidential contest has evinced as much interest as the current one. In fact the primaries appear to be more keenly fought out as might be the real election. Even though our candidate Clinton is still in the race but for all it appears to be the last flicker of the flame. Anyway we'll be glad to lose this race to Sachi and his other allies. USA owes two debts. One it will be redeeming this time if Democrats win. The other one will also be redeemed sooner than later as USA never sits on its debts.More on it later.
Daddy.

Heather A said...

Once again, reading your blog has brought tears to my eyes and changed my attitude of the day. Your words are always so inspiring.

Friday night we are going to be at the Norfolk Relay for Life walk. It is a yearly tradition for our family. My dad and my grandparents walk in the survivor lap and then the rest of the night is fun and walking (my kids LOVE it). At about 9 or so we begin helping to light the hundreds/thousands of luminaries that are lined 3 and 4 rows deep around the track. At 10:30pm the memory and honor ceremony begins. Sean and I take the kids back to my parent's house around 11 or so and then I go back to the track and walk with my parents until 1 or 1:30 sometimes 2 in the morning. I want you to know that this year you all will be in my thoughts as I am walking around the luminary lit track in the early morning hours.

I am so thankful that each day brings you new strength.
Heather