Life is an adventure in friendship. Every person we meet, let us make him a friend. There are no strangers; there are only friends-in- the making
Dada Vaswani
You may enjoy this post more if you first read my earlier post: Time heals nothing โฆ. and HOPE and WAIT
Anita and I used to talk often about souls and life after death, incarnation etc. Both of us had read and loved Dr. Bryan Weissโs – Many Lives Many Masters. One day, in 2010, a friend of mine presented me with Laws of The Spirit World by Khorshed Bhavnagri. It sounded so true and was very helpful. Both of us read it, though she used to get tired very quickly. By this time her health had become worse ๐ In fact she was never a great reader of books ๐ As far as our love for books was concerned we were poles apart! If a started an interesting book I found it difficult to sleep at night! I will keep telling myself just one more chapter or just one more page!! Anita was just the opposite! By the time she would read a page at night she would fall asleep!! Many a night I had watched her sleeping peacefully by my side, when I was reading. She used to sleep like a child๐
Both of us were very friendly and made friends easily! But before our marriage I made friends only with boys๐ I was very shy talking to girls! But that changed after our marriage๐
With Godโs grace we have had many good friends and some as close as family or more! Anitaโs date of birth and the day she died made me think so much about one such family.
When we got married in 1975 we were living in Ranchi, in the eastern part of India. In 1981 I changed my job and we moved to Delhi. We became very friendly with a family next door. They were Narangs and had a joint family. Three brothers, with their children, were living on one floor each, in a three story house! We were living in a rented house next door. We knew all of them well but became very close to one brother and his family. This brother (I used to call him uncle or daddy!) had two sons. Older one was studying to be a doctor and was living in a hostel. The younger one, Sanjeev, was studying in a college nearby. He became very close to both of us but he literally worshipped Anita! Most of the people in the locality, where we lived, were business people and not vey educated. And they had special love and respect for us. But as I have said Sanjeev had much more than respect for Anita. For him she was perfect – beautiful, talented, loving!
After his college Sanjeev joined his fatherโs wholesale business and we moved to Southern part of New Delhi. That part of the city was more upscale and happening! Though that was quite far off our relationship and love didnโt diminish with the distance. When his parents found a bride for him (it is still not uncommon in India for parents to choose a life partner for their children, at that time in 80s it was more so) he told them that Anita Bhabhi (sister in law; he treated me like his elder brother and Anita became sister in law) must see and approve the girl before he would say yes! And that was arranged and both of us loved Sakshi and they got married in 1986! Anita did all the shopping for Sakshi!
Sanjeev and Sakshi have two beautiful daughters, Hansa and Vrinda. They call me Mamu, maternal uncle, and I love them both loads ๐๐
Coming back to the point I wanted to make: Vrinda, the younger one, was born on Anitaโs birthday โ 25th of September and Anita died on Hansaโs birthday โ 17th of September!! It could, of course, be called a coincidence! And it could also be some past life connection, some soul connect! Who knows! For me there are no coincidences!!
I have been blogging now for some months. There are millions of bloggers! And out of the blue you connect with some of them at a much deeper level than the rest! Yesterday morning only I got in touch with a blogger from Philippines for the first time and there was instant connect from both sides. During the last few months I have made good friends with bloggers young and old; males and females; from all parts of the world – from Pakistan, US, Canada, UK, Turkey, Lebanon, Panama, Africa, Scandinavia and of course India …we have become so close and we have never met! Someone is struggling for a job, another is depressed, someone is recovering from a serious sickness and another is dealing with the health of a significant other or a parent; some are sharing their joy and success. I feel for them all. I understand their pain and I suggest, guide, help wherever I can. If nothing I pray for them. And I join them in their happy times and wish them well. One of them is already like family and I am looking forward to meeting her ๐๐ค And again, yesterday only I called one of them my soul mate๐๐ค
And it is not the first time in my life that this has happened! How does this work? What are the mechanics of creation? What is life and what is death? What is family and who and what are our friends?
I have no answers! And You, who is reading this post, and me are connected too and I am grateful for this connection ๐๐ค And I shall be there for you whenever and wherever you need me.
I shall close with Guruji’s words, which I had shared earlier too:
Friendship is God’s Divine Law Of Attraction...
“”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””โ”””””””‘”””””
Two stranger meet, and by an instantaneous choice of their hearts they wish to help each other. Have you ever analyzed how this happens? The spontaneous mutual desire to be friends comes directly from God’s divine law of attraction; cumulative mutual acts of friendship between two souls in past lives gradually create a karmic bond that irresistibly attracts them to each other in this life.
Friendship is a great universal force. When your desire for friendship is strong enough, though an unknown person who is spritually attuned to you be living at the South Pole, the megnetism of friendship will never the less draw you together. Only selfishness can destroy this magnetism within us. He who thinks of himself all the time wrecks friendship. Such persons cannot attract friends, because they are unable to expand and receive the good in life.
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.