The one hour angel...
(This post is based my encounter with a person called Inaki Leggard on 8th October 2006 at 8.30 pm)
Many times we come across people who unexpectedly infuse fresh energy into our lives and more importantly at times when we probably need it the most.
How many times have you come across situations when you were generally low and suddenly someone ( i would refer to them as angels) appear for the good.
Yes inaki is that angel for me......
Today i left early from my office at 7.30 p.m (yes it is not supposed to be a joke). I was not well generally low due to drop in my energy levels. Wanted to rest; however for a person for whom work takes precedence over everything, rest could wait. As i boarded my train from Churchgate back to Andheri where i stay i felt something missing in my life. I didn't really know what ....
However life moves on and so did the train. As i reached Andheri station i could see a swarm of crowd moving ahead before me. I was not at my usual pace due to the fever and found everyone managing to surpass ahead of me. In a few minutes i was one of the few people to be left behind on the platform. As i was slowly walking towards my destination i suddenly paused myself and looked towards the sky; it looked rather beautiful ( i wondered why does it require me to be sick to be actually be able to enjoy the beauty of the clear sky). I felt that the lit up sky had a story to tell...
Suddenly i heard a voice reach out to me from somewhere. "Hello" - a simple but powerful word. Come to think of it most of our relationships have begun with a simple hello
And i moved my eyes which were herewith focussed on appreciating the beauty of the sky towards the direction of the voice. Standing behind me i could see a tall, 6 ft well built Englishman with a lovely smile on his face.
Smile, another beautiful yet powerful weapon but not used enough.. does ego work here ;)
He introduced himself as inaki legarra. He wanted directions to the international airport which was about 30 minutes from the place where we met(by bus)
I am generally a very helpful person. On any other day i would have guided him to to the nearest rickshaw stand but today it was different . I was not well. So i just felt like giving him the directions . But there was a certain spark in his eyes. Something which told me that he has much more to give than he's asking for. So despite not feeling well i told him to accompany me as i was going in the same direction.
And so started our journey. One hour to be precise.
As he walked with me i started asking him about his whereabouts . "So where are you from", i asked. "Spain" he promptly replied in broken english. He had worn capris and a white tshirt with a bag tied around him
" So what brings you to India', i inquired. "Oh, i have come here to do a Vipassana course" he replied
" Wow. Viapassana. you really went through that course, cool man!", hardly controlling my excitement.
I am generally very interested in all these meditation courses . Infact let me put it this way, events have happened in my life which made me appreciate meditation much more. Nonetheless each year i do an alternative course; last year it was the Art of Living course .
Vippasana is an advanced meditation course which is held at Igatpuri in Maharashtra wherein one is required to spend 10 days in the camp without uttering a word! No talking, no reading , no writing, only meditation. It is supposed to bring equilibrium in your mind. I was very much interested in doing the course however 10 days is just too much to ask from my dear company, so it just remains on the to do list year after year. Someday i may be able to just do it! But i always keep reading abt it.
We immediately hit off. "So how did it feel to undergo this course", i asked him with great anticipation. " Wonderful" he replied in an almost school boyish tone
He added, "It's the best thing in my life, the first 3-4 days were terrible, i could not talk could not write, it was crazy but as you approach 8-9 day there is a certain realization that comes and you feel so wonderful, i recommend this course to everyone"
His words just firmed up my plans of undergoing this course all the more.
" So do you go for such courses regularly", i asked. "unfortunately no. i am basically very poor guy. I work as a salesman selling coffee on streets. But i had a dream , wanted to do this course. Had heard a lot about it so worked hard for two years. Put in extra hours even spent weekends working to garner enough money to pay my return tickets & lodging I never had time to do anything besides work and hence managed to save". He added "but it was all worth it"
I am a very emotional person by nature. Not have had the best of childhood years, my heart cries whenever i hear of stories of courage and determination such as the one i was just hearing. I felt so proud of the person i was walking with. Despite all the constraints he was determined to do it. It reminded me of one of my fav quotes from Paulo Cohelo's Alchemist " If you go all out to achieve your objective the entire universe becomes one with you"
As we reached the rickshaw stand i asked him "You have two options, rickshaw will cost you Rs. 30 , bus Rs. 5 " Without a wink he opted for the latter. I was not too surprised
I loved his openness. That's what i find good about these foreigners, they are very open about gerenally everything ( including PDA's which may be nuisance to others, not to me though!) . He had no qualms to admit he was poor which he could have very conveniently avoided.
He told " I have not much money. I stay in a small guest house in Colaba for a pity Rs. 100 per day. Its shared by 10 other strangers, we even have to share bathrooms. But all's worth it for the experience ". Another learning for me that there would many obstacles but all may seem to be small if you keep your eyes focused on the bigger goal.
Even though my body temperature was running quite high i don't know why i offered to drop him at the airport and then proceed to my place . I would have to take a detour but i was about to learn something very important for him
He thanked me profusely. He joined his hands in thanking me. he said "You are very kind, people here are very kind". We generally chatted on various things including Indian languages, religions, on various meditation courses. There was a certain liveliness in him which i was missing from my life. As i spent more time his liveliness was getting transferred to me.
"So who do you stay with", i asked. "Alone" he replied.
"Not married", i inquired. He looked in his early 30's. " Nah , i was in a relationship for 6 years , but then we had a break up, it was terrible initially. Had no one around me to take care, it was crazy living alone. But things become better with time; as they say time is the best healer. So in the last 4 years i have been living alone and it has been fun. I realized that happiness is never to be found externally but has to be found within you.... only then you can be really at peace and happy" . He added,"Pain has made me more mature."
So true. That thought reminded me of what i had written about in my first post 'joys of experiencing pain'
He continued "But life is much better now and doing such courses, traveling around the world keeps me happy". We again had a nice chat wherein he asked at about me and my work and the culture here .
You know its very rare for someone to meet a person and hit off instantly . Its been 50 minutes since i have met him and we were discussing about the fundamentals of life. I suddenly found my energy coming back . The fever had taken a backseat
As we reached the airport i guided him to the entry lobby offered to pay to which i sternly refused. He thanked me profusely for all that i had done to him. As i was about to leave i suddenly realized that i had missed something. I told the rickshaw driver to stop got down and gave inaki my card which had my mobile number on it .
"Inaki anytime you visit india and you need help don't hesitate to call me". Suddenly his eyes went moist.But still his smile was intact. He gave me his email id and said " I don't think i will be able to afford to come back to India again. I had to struggle two years to earn enough. My next destination would be somewhere else for which again I would have to work for 2 years. But its fun. because i enjoy my work too. And the reward just happens to be even better. I have learnt a lot from life. Remember its beautifult, there are so many opportunities and you are limited only by your actions". He added "You need to enjoy life to the fullest, never worry too much about anything, because there is so much to do and too little time. Life is a zoo and we have to explore it as much as its possible. You think you may have seen the best but that's not true there is something even more beautiful waiting for you. But only if you manage to see it"
"And also remember something which i learnt from life, Smile and the world smiles back at you. It has seen me through harrowing times and I'm sure the same would be true to everyone"
Finally he said "if you ever come to Spain or Europe anytime soon do let me know i have many friends who can help. And you can always buy my coffee."We laughed. And i hugged and bid goodbye to him. I sat in the rickshaw which took me back home. My energy levels were back to normal.
Later in the night when i was in my bed, i thanked god for given me the wonderful experience and wondered why it was only today that i had to meet inaki.
Its then i realized that God is very kind. He knows us inside out and cares for us. He knew i was down and needed to be pepped up. I was missing something in my life, so he came down to spend an hour with me. And angel in the form of Inaki.....the one hour angel who spent time with me to teach me some of life's greatest lessons.
Perspectives...............
How many times have you come across situations when you were generally low and suddenly someone ( i would refer to them as angels) appear for the good.
Yes inaki is that angel for me......
Today i left early from my office at 7.30 p.m (yes it is not supposed to be a joke). I was not well generally low due to drop in my energy levels. Wanted to rest; however for a person for whom work takes precedence over everything, rest could wait. As i boarded my train from Churchgate back to Andheri where i stay i felt something missing in my life. I didn't really know what ....
However life moves on and so did the train. As i reached Andheri station i could see a swarm of crowd moving ahead before me. I was not at my usual pace due to the fever and found everyone managing to surpass ahead of me. In a few minutes i was one of the few people to be left behind on the platform. As i was slowly walking towards my destination i suddenly paused myself and looked towards the sky; it looked rather beautiful ( i wondered why does it require me to be sick to be actually be able to enjoy the beauty of the clear sky). I felt that the lit up sky had a story to tell...
Suddenly i heard a voice reach out to me from somewhere. "Hello" - a simple but powerful word. Come to think of it most of our relationships have begun with a simple hello
And i moved my eyes which were herewith focussed on appreciating the beauty of the sky towards the direction of the voice. Standing behind me i could see a tall, 6 ft well built Englishman with a lovely smile on his face.
Smile, another beautiful yet powerful weapon but not used enough.. does ego work here ;)
He introduced himself as inaki legarra. He wanted directions to the international airport which was about 30 minutes from the place where we met(by bus)
I am generally a very helpful person. On any other day i would have guided him to to the nearest rickshaw stand but today it was different . I was not well. So i just felt like giving him the directions . But there was a certain spark in his eyes. Something which told me that he has much more to give than he's asking for. So despite not feeling well i told him to accompany me as i was going in the same direction.
And so started our journey. One hour to be precise.
As he walked with me i started asking him about his whereabouts . "So where are you from", i asked. "Spain" he promptly replied in broken english. He had worn capris and a white tshirt with a bag tied around him
" So what brings you to India', i inquired. "Oh, i have come here to do a Vipassana course" he replied
" Wow. Viapassana. you really went through that course, cool man!", hardly controlling my excitement.
I am generally very interested in all these meditation courses . Infact let me put it this way, events have happened in my life which made me appreciate meditation much more. Nonetheless each year i do an alternative course; last year it was the Art of Living course .
Vippasana is an advanced meditation course which is held at Igatpuri in Maharashtra wherein one is required to spend 10 days in the camp without uttering a word! No talking, no reading , no writing, only meditation. It is supposed to bring equilibrium in your mind. I was very much interested in doing the course however 10 days is just too much to ask from my dear company, so it just remains on the to do list year after year. Someday i may be able to just do it! But i always keep reading abt it.
We immediately hit off. "So how did it feel to undergo this course", i asked him with great anticipation. " Wonderful" he replied in an almost school boyish tone
He added, "It's the best thing in my life, the first 3-4 days were terrible, i could not talk could not write, it was crazy but as you approach 8-9 day there is a certain realization that comes and you feel so wonderful, i recommend this course to everyone"
His words just firmed up my plans of undergoing this course all the more.
" So do you go for such courses regularly", i asked. "unfortunately no. i am basically very poor guy. I work as a salesman selling coffee on streets. But i had a dream , wanted to do this course. Had heard a lot about it so worked hard for two years. Put in extra hours even spent weekends working to garner enough money to pay my return tickets & lodging I never had time to do anything besides work and hence managed to save". He added "but it was all worth it"
I am a very emotional person by nature. Not have had the best of childhood years, my heart cries whenever i hear of stories of courage and determination such as the one i was just hearing. I felt so proud of the person i was walking with. Despite all the constraints he was determined to do it. It reminded me of one of my fav quotes from Paulo Cohelo's Alchemist " If you go all out to achieve your objective the entire universe becomes one with you"
As we reached the rickshaw stand i asked him "You have two options, rickshaw will cost you Rs. 30 , bus Rs. 5 " Without a wink he opted for the latter. I was not too surprised
I loved his openness. That's what i find good about these foreigners, they are very open about gerenally everything ( including PDA's which may be nuisance to others, not to me though!) . He had no qualms to admit he was poor which he could have very conveniently avoided.
He told " I have not much money. I stay in a small guest house in Colaba for a pity Rs. 100 per day. Its shared by 10 other strangers, we even have to share bathrooms. But all's worth it for the experience ". Another learning for me that there would many obstacles but all may seem to be small if you keep your eyes focused on the bigger goal.
Even though my body temperature was running quite high i don't know why i offered to drop him at the airport and then proceed to my place . I would have to take a detour but i was about to learn something very important for him
He thanked me profusely. He joined his hands in thanking me. he said "You are very kind, people here are very kind". We generally chatted on various things including Indian languages, religions, on various meditation courses. There was a certain liveliness in him which i was missing from my life. As i spent more time his liveliness was getting transferred to me.
"So who do you stay with", i asked. "Alone" he replied.
"Not married", i inquired. He looked in his early 30's. " Nah , i was in a relationship for 6 years , but then we had a break up, it was terrible initially. Had no one around me to take care, it was crazy living alone. But things become better with time; as they say time is the best healer. So in the last 4 years i have been living alone and it has been fun. I realized that happiness is never to be found externally but has to be found within you.... only then you can be really at peace and happy" . He added,"Pain has made me more mature."
So true. That thought reminded me of what i had written about in my first post 'joys of experiencing pain'
He continued "But life is much better now and doing such courses, traveling around the world keeps me happy". We again had a nice chat wherein he asked at about me and my work and the culture here .
You know its very rare for someone to meet a person and hit off instantly . Its been 50 minutes since i have met him and we were discussing about the fundamentals of life. I suddenly found my energy coming back . The fever had taken a backseat
As we reached the airport i guided him to the entry lobby offered to pay to which i sternly refused. He thanked me profusely for all that i had done to him. As i was about to leave i suddenly realized that i had missed something. I told the rickshaw driver to stop got down and gave inaki my card which had my mobile number on it .
"Inaki anytime you visit india and you need help don't hesitate to call me". Suddenly his eyes went moist.But still his smile was intact. He gave me his email id and said " I don't think i will be able to afford to come back to India again. I had to struggle two years to earn enough. My next destination would be somewhere else for which again I would have to work for 2 years. But its fun. because i enjoy my work too. And the reward just happens to be even better. I have learnt a lot from life. Remember its beautifult, there are so many opportunities and you are limited only by your actions". He added "You need to enjoy life to the fullest, never worry too much about anything, because there is so much to do and too little time. Life is a zoo and we have to explore it as much as its possible. You think you may have seen the best but that's not true there is something even more beautiful waiting for you. But only if you manage to see it"
"And also remember something which i learnt from life, Smile and the world smiles back at you. It has seen me through harrowing times and I'm sure the same would be true to everyone"
Finally he said "if you ever come to Spain or Europe anytime soon do let me know i have many friends who can help. And you can always buy my coffee."We laughed. And i hugged and bid goodbye to him. I sat in the rickshaw which took me back home. My energy levels were back to normal.
Later in the night when i was in my bed, i thanked god for given me the wonderful experience and wondered why it was only today that i had to meet inaki.
Its then i realized that God is very kind. He knows us inside out and cares for us. He knew i was down and needed to be pepped up. I was missing something in my life, so he came down to spend an hour with me. And angel in the form of Inaki.....the one hour angel who spent time with me to teach me some of life's greatest lessons.
Perspectives...............
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posted by Perspectives....by stevan @ 10:23 AM
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