Can you sit there for 16 years? Our man Bikku Lal had.
When we look around with our true eyes, there are people in whose place we would never assume ourselves.
The 75 years-old Bikku Lal lives near Erragadda busstop. He has a family of 9, including three sons and a daughter. His sons are at work. Younger son, Pavan, works in a furniture showroom at Mehadipatnam, the middle son, Gopal, as a sales person and the eldest up and down Nacharam on labour work. The daughter has been widowed with a girl child and refused by the husband's family, lives with Bikku Lal.
The 75 years-old Bikku Lal lives near Erragadda busstop. He has a family of 9, including three sons and a daughter. His sons are at work. Younger son, Pavan, works in a furniture showroom at Mehadipatnam, the middle son, Gopal, as a sales person and the eldest up and down Nacharam on labour work. The daughter has been widowed with a girl child and refused by the husband's family, lives with Bikku Lal.
Bikku Lal was born in Bhainsa,
Adilabad. "I have worked in a regulators-making company, for 45 years. It
was so different then. Liter milk was only 2 rupees, now it doesn't come even
for 20 rupees. I know of gold being sold a tulam (11.6 grams) 200 rupees, now I
don't even know what to say where its hikes have gone." says Bikku Lal, about
what’s going on in his mind these days.
To a question posed about how he
manages to stay calm despite the monotony of his work, the senior citizen says,
"All is the blessings of Lord Sai!", reminding his choice of
devotion.
The "Chalivendram1" was set out by the owners of the cement sellers 16 years ago and they still run it. Bikku Lal maintains it with a namesake salary of 1,500 rupees monthly.
He works from 10am to 6pm every day
and takes no holidays. We asked Bikku Lal if all kinds of people, even the rich
who drive by cars, also come and have a sip. He said, “All kinds of people!!!
Everybody is welcome.”
The water he serves is pure RO water
and cooled.
When we pointed at the metro work,
he smiled and said, “It was a clean, smooth-going road back then. Now it jams
almost once every hour of the day. It takes tons of patience to cross it.”
Bikku Lal suffers from diabetes but
he says that’s okay. He says his god will take care of it.
As Rocky Balboa's quoted,
"THE WORLD AIN'T ALL SUNSHINE
AND RAINBOWS....[IT'S ABOUT] HOW MUCH YOU CAN TAKE AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
THAT'S HOW WINNING IS DONE!"
I realize this to be perfectly
normal as I have seen Bikku Lal pouring water into the glasses, with a strange
calmness in his face. I assured myself I ain't seen the world yet.
1 A place an independent donor donates waters to the needy.
1 A place an independent donor donates waters to the needy.
That was so touching and inspirational. All the best Vinay. Keep posting.
ReplyDeletegood to know about him, Great way of exploring the world. great initiative. keep going all d very best Vinay.
ReplyDeleteStimulating..and Inspirational thing Saryu. Did appreciable job....
ReplyDeleteReally such a great person Vinay. Now I'm remembering" Do everything with a good heart and expect nothing in returns". This quote perfectly suits to him. All the best Vinay keep moving forward like Mangalyaan.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that, Vinod!
DeleteI'd like to share a quote with you related to that: "Our mission in life is to make a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE , not to prove how SMART or RIGHT we are." And, there're only few of us who can be like this!
By the way, I'm very happy to hear from you.