The Christmas

Right now I’m with Andrew in a café and planning to do something different this year on the eve of Christmas. We both are senior citizen of India and both of us are Christian. But our friends are mostly Hindus, some are Muslims too. We just now talked about Olivia and Mark though they are very young to us.-what a happy couple they were but now separated. Last year they accompanied us to the festival. They were a very good company for us. We are talking about this and that. Suddenly Andrew asked me- Do you really believe in Christ? Have you got any experience of His grace?

-Why? Do you think me an  atheist?

-No, I like to say- is there any specific words in the Bible that you remind always and got proof that it is correct?

I sensed that that Andrew- a very good story teller is having some experience to share with me. So I asked him-“Which words do influencedyou greatly?

Andrew started his story.

-You know my grandpa was a very pious man and every night he never missed to go through some chapters of the bible before going to bed. He always used to quote from the Bible-

“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

He believed firmly in these words. And that made a strong impression in my mind. He passed away in my teenage but grew up a habit of mine – to go through the Bible before going to bed. Though not every day like him nonetheless I still have a keenness towards it.  Many times I got proof that the words are not mere words it really mean what it is said. I’m sharing one incident.

It was the early period of my career. I joined a new company and took a room on rent on sharing with Ashok, my colleague of that new office. We both after office hours used to enjoy the evening together.

One night I dreamt that I was playing on harmonica, the instrument which I like most.

I know that Andrew still plays on harmonica though during his days had no time to practice much and did not get proper training, yet his inner skills helped him to play nicely.

-The next morning, I told Ashok about my dream. He hurriedly told me –my brother is having a harmonica and he has gone out for some days. On the next weekend, I’ll bring that harmonica for you and may keep for a few days until my brother returns.  So he brought the harmonica and handed me. I never played a harmonica before I didn’t know the ABC of it. I didn’t know how to blow or how to draw through the wholes of it. Yet I used to try it every day. You know I have a great passion for music though I’m not at all in the music profession. But from my childhood I could be able to play different instruments on hear and play method. The only instrument I learnt for years to play on was violin. Although I could not continue it  and once I gave up practicing regularly. I love music since my birth but I could not take it as profession as my father was against it. In an ordinary family like us nobody encouraged to be an artist as it was very uncertain career in those days. One of my friends used to practise the harmonica and its sweet sound made me a fan of this instrument. However, after some years the friend left the town and I forgot about it. However, when I could get its sound played by someone I wished to have it.  The craze for it gradually waned up but it revived after so many years when last night I suddenly dreamt that I was playing a beautiful tune on the harmonica.  Then my hard toils started to play the harmonica without having any knowledge. But I myself and my friend within some four /five days became greatly astonished that I could play a song, the most popular mass song of Pete Seegar- “We shall overcome.” I started dancing with joy –yes I made it. After a few days, Ashok’s brother returned and I gave the harmonica back to him. To pass time in my leisure I now felt urge to have a harmonica of my own. But it was not easy for me to purchase a new one as I had no idea where to get this instrument in such a sub-divisional town far from Kolkata. It could be months to get chance to go to home and search for a new one in Kolkata-Calcutta at that time. Ashok got information that there was a shop in that town where we could get by chance a harmonica we were searching for. On a Sunday we both went there and got one but it was not a changer harmonica that means flat notes could not be accessed, but yet I purchased it and carried on practising. Soon I realised that to play the songs properly a scale changer Harmonica was a must. So after a few weeks, I went to that shop again and handed over some money to get me an imported HOHNER- a really good quality harmonica. He said to me- The world’s best Harmonica Is Hohner which is made in Germany. We have to wait because Hohner brand not easily available in the Indian market and as the import duty is very high it becomes very costly. We have some connections to get from foreign countries in some other way. It will definitely be cheaper. So if you rely on me you may keep some money with me and wait for some time. Days went on- I was habituated to give dancing attendance to the shop but there was no hope to have it. The shop owner gave me a second hand harmonica though changer but  had no quality at all.  After almost a year the shop owner gave back the money and told there was no chance to get a Hohner harmonica. I became frustrated because at that time I was deep in my dream to have a Hohner Harmonica. I stressed on my search for it Because  I had the firm belief in those words- of the Bible.

I wrote a letter to the Consulate General of the then West Germany because I already gathered the information about the company that it is in Trossingen some 18 miles away from Stuttgart. I wrote to him with a humble request that as I failed to have an Hohner harmonica and would be kind enough to help me to make an arrangement so that my dream could be fulfilled. After some days I got a regret letter from his office.

Years passed out but I never lost the hope and kept on searching for it. It was in the year 1989 I arrived at Manali with my wife on honeymoon. It is a small calm and quiet town. Surrounded  by orchards and other gardens. The renowned Himalayan Mountaineering Training Institute is there. It’s the very famous place on Kulu Valley of  Himachal Pradesh –where tourists of many countries keep on coming almost throughout the year. We visited many places surrounding it. And while returning by bus to Chandigarh Cantonment to avail the train to return to Kolkata I met Sofia – a nice young lady who was travelling alone. In the bus she was just a row back of our seats. But as there was room beside us my wife requested her to come and join us. It was very early and cold morning, very soon we became asleep. We woke up by the call of the bus attendant and he asked us to come down if we wished to have tea. The break was for nearly 15 minutes. So we including Sofia  came down and had hot tea which gave us some relief from piercing cold. Sofia and we started talking. I took my cigarette and I saw that she was searching shops for her favourite brand. Generally, these roadside shops keep many foreign brands as tourists from different countries regularly visit this Himalayan area. But Sofia could not get her own brand. I assured her that at the next stop it might be available and if she didn’t mind could take one form me. She first hesitated but at last, she could not overcome the addiction and with a blush, she took one from me.  From Manali to Ambala Cantonment was almost 12 to 14 hours journey at that time. The most interesting fact was that though we took some more than three or four stops during the day while coming down from Manali  Sofia did not get a single shop to buy her own brand. So many times she got cigarettes from me. I came to know she lives in Stuttgart and I was puzzled whether I should ask her help to fulfil my long cherished dream or miss the chance. She could understand that I had something in my mind to tell her but hesitating. When she asked me to tell I narrated the whole matter from the begining. Her patient hearing touched me greatly and then told that she was on the world tour and it would be more than three to four months to return home. She took my address and assured me that she would contact me. At that time the only way of communication was the letter. Phone calls and especially international calls were costly,  so the common people had to depend on the post department.

Again months passed out and one day the postman dropped a letter. It was Sofia she informed that she was in  Australia and one day while she was visiting the shops she noticed a counter of Hohner harmonica but it seemed her costly, so when she would be back in Germany she would get me informed. Again after some months she wrote from Switzerland and told that she would be in Germany next month and mentioned her address to communicate. I became delighted, at last, my dream was going to get the light. I sent her a letter with thanks and gave her good news of mine that we got our first baby recently. I knew the letter when would reach her address she would be in Germany. The world was vast that time and everything was not as fast as it is now.

Sofia sent a greetings card on the occasion of the birth of our baby and at the same time, a nice catalogue where I noticed that are so many different types of harmonica. I became puzzled seeing the vast range of models and could not decide which should fit me the best because prices were not mentioned there. So I thanked Sofia and asked her to mention price so that I could select one according to my paying capacity. She sent a warm letter. –My dear friend, I intentionally did not mention price because It would be my gift to you. You just choose one and let me know the model number. One of my Indian friends of Kolkata is going back to home within a month. I’m mentioning his address. You please meet him when he will reach Kolkata and ring your phone.  Your persuasion to make your dream fulfil touched me. So I will feel glad if you accept the gift.

I was completely bewildered. One day ,you believe me, I got the phone call of the friend of  Sofia.  He asked me to meet him as earliest as possible so that he can hand me the harmonica as directed by Sofia.

You see the words of Christ –
“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened”- became vivid to me. And I can add firmly that this is not the lone experience but there are others too that I can share with you. It happened many times in my life and these words remain lively to me.