Shoulders to lean on

 We were hopeful that Dr. Talwar's diagnosis and pending surgery would cure Bauji of his pain. While we all pushed our boundaries to make ends meet, keep the cooking stove burning, and run the business to get much-needed cash, fate threw an unexpected curveball at us. Two weeks later, a massive rainstorm flooded the city and Surinder, my brother, watched all our belongings in Dharamshala flow away. Unfortunately, our office didn't have a phone for Surinder to reach me immediately. Instead, he called a number at Lala Banarsi Dass ji's shop, located half a kilometer away. For every phone call meant for me, Lala Banarsi Dass ji would put the call on hold and send one of his men to fetch me. It took me 20 minutes to run to his shop to attend the call. Till this day, I am awed by Lala Banarsi Dass's patience and kindness, as he never once got irritated by my decision to use his number for all my business and personal communication.

We needed a place to stay close to the hospital. With my heart racing and my mind laser focused, I mentally went through the inventory of friends, relatives, friends of my relatives, and then relatives of my friends. I thought of Sh. Rajender Juneja, a nephew of my Amritsar friend Raj, who had visited my Sadar Bazar shop once and made some purchases. He owned a bungalow in the most posh colony of Delhi, South Extension. I asked Surinder to carry our salvaged belongings on a rickshaw and take shelter at the late Sh. Rajender Juneja's place for one night until further arrangements were made. I breathed a sigh of relief as my memory hadn't betrayed me in this crisis. I remembered Juneja's bungalow address, "C77 in South Ex Part 2". It's hard to explain how warmly the Junejas welcomed us as unannounced guests. They reassured Surinder and Chaiji of their full support during such a troubled time.

The Junejas were a non-vegetarian family. Ah! The kitchen wouldn't work for the rigid vegetarian guests. Chaiji wanted to cook her own food. Rajender Juneja's father, Sh. Krishan Lal ji, opened his heart and offered us a set of two rooms without rent on the first floor until Bauji was treated.

Sometimes I wonder, where have such kind souls gone from our world? How did people make decisions to help strangers without skipping a beat in those golden days? The Juneja family immediately arranged for beds and other household items without us even asking. They are among the top ten towering & inspiring figures in my life. 

With the efforts of Dr. Talwar, Bauji had regained some of his strength and was physically ready for surgery. A date was decided, and the surgeons warned us that Bauji could likely develop diabetes or high blood pressure after the surgery. The operation was performed, and a big stone near one of the kidneys was removed. We had already stayed with the Junejas for three months, and on the day of Bauji's surgery, the entire Juneja family came to the hospital to pray with us. To our surprise, the mother, Rajinder Juneja, kept a fast until Babu ji regained consciousness. It took more than 20 days for him to be discharged. After the operation, Juneja's father insisted that we stay with them for at least 20 days as we had no other place to go in Delhi except our office at 114 Khurshid Market, which was not safe until Bauji was fully recovered. They were like family to us.

There was a business associate, Satpal, who supplied goods in Amritsar. He had started visiting our Delhi office even though he was from Panipat. He used our office address for his letters and asked people to collect merchandize by paying payments at our shop. He traded in brass parts, which were used in electrical fittings. Because of his good relations with Babu ji, I agreed to do his work. The only benefit was that I could use his money for a few days until he came to collect it. When Satpal found out about Babu ji's ailment, he immediately rushed to the hospital during visiting hours. He started going to the hospital daily and helped Chai ji and Surinder with their daily needs. He further proposed that he would stay overnight with Babu ji so that Chai ji and Surinder could rest. He took care of Bauji with all his heart and gained a lot of respect from our whole family. When Bauji got well, he asked Babu ji to send Surinder to Jamnagar, and he would give him a handsome reward which I don't remember now. Seeing his dedication to Bauji in the hospital, Bauji agreed to send Surinder to Jamnagar. However, Bauji had failed to understand Satpal's true motives. He urgently needed a trustworthy man in Jamnagar to make up for a recent business partnership that had gone sour. Satpal was, after all, a Gujarati.

Babu ji and Chai ji went back to Amritsar, and Surinder's studies were discontinued due to these circumstances.