What was the last live performance you saw?
Lekh stood trying to control his breath, his right hand held the
railing, while the strength of grip fluctuated. He could hear and feel
each beat of his heart to its innermost depth.
Lekh looked down at the travel bag kept near his feet and then he
looked at the stairs behind him. It was the third floor of the
building; the building he had grown up in. He had climbed these stairs
countless times.
Lekh’s lifestyle experienced a major change when Lekh was sent by his
company to another state for a six months training. The training had
good contribution to Lekh’s career, however, it had not been kind
towards Lekh’s health. His body had suffered from lack of exercise
along with irregular eating habits. The excessive consumption of junk
food had physically started to show.
A woman who was about the same age as Lekh’s mother and whose
apartment was on the same floor, climbed up the stairs with a bag of
grocery and a bag of vegetables. It was Mrs Rao; she was surprised to
see a man standing with a bag doing nothing in particular. Lekh had
doubts regarding whether she would be able to identify him.
“Hello aunty! It’s me Lekh, apartment number 256,” Lekh introduced
himself with a smile.
“Ohh! Mr and Mrs Chopra’s son. I am sorry I couldn’t recognise you.
You have put up quite some weight. Your training is over I heard,”
said Mrs Rao, observing the young man from head to toe, after the
apparent change.
Lekh and Mrs Rao talked for a while before Mrs Rao returned to her
apartment and Lekh to his.
Later that evening, Lekh was busy folding his clothes and arranging
them in the cupboard while his mother sat on the bed, helping him fold
the clothes.
“It’s ok, now you will eat home cooked healthy meals and will be back
to your old exercise routine, your health will become better in no
time,” said Mrs Chopra, sensing the worry on Lekh’s face.
Lekh nodded as he stared outside the window at the evening sky.
The phone alarm rang at 5 am in the morning and by 5:20 Lekh was out
walking towards the huge park near his house. He started with brisk
walking on the track around the park. 25 minutes passed and Lekh had
started to feel the absence of the stamina he had once.
At a bend of the walking track, Lekh saw that the track went straight
for some distance. He had this idea of attempting a run.
‘It will open up the dormant muscles,’ he thought.
Lekh took a few breaths and then he began running, faster and faster
trying to see how fast he could still run. But Lekh had greatly
overestimated his dwindling stamina and had to stop in between the
track. He bent down holding his knees, breathing heavily, drops of
sweat fell from his face on the ground, his head experienced
oscillating consciousness.
“Why don’t you have a seat? Catch your breath before continuing further”
Lekh stood straight to find an old man sitting on a bench looking at
him and smiling. Lekh slowly walked to the bench and sat down leaning
his head backward, trying to recover some energy.
The old man offered Lekh a bottle of water and said “It will take some
time to get used to it, don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Lekh took the bottle and took a sip of water “Thank you. I will take
It’s easy; I have learned my lesson.”
Lekh returned the bottle and closed his eyes for a while. Lekh’s brief
break was interrupted by the sound of a mouth organ. It was the old
man playing a mouth organ. Lekh had never seen anyone play a mouth
organ in front of him. The old man had closed his eyes and was
completely focussed upon the playing of the instrument.
The music which came out of the instrument was that of a popular old
classic movie. Lekh was feeling better listening to the old man
playing, but the old man stopped before completing the music.
“It was a gift from my grandfather,” said the old man, watching the
silver mouth organ in his hand.
“It’s a beautiful gift,” said Lakh, “don’t you want to complete
playing the music?”
The old man looked at Lekh, “I have been playing for a long time. I don’t
I want to be too hard on myself and become disappointed about not being
able to play like I used to. It might get in the way of becoming
better at playing it.”
Lekh understood what the old man said and replied, “We will get there,
once again.”
Early Morning Memories 