Lalit Chacha

He used to come to our house at 11 30 in the night after my parents would've slept off. He would throw stones on the metal name plate outside to wake them up. These days he calls at 7 in the evening and lands at around 10. This is a huge improvement.

He is one of my father's best friends from medical school. He was his junior. But now he is family. And he's always been Chacha for me.

He has come a long way. As a young boy, he used to sell newspapers. One day, he was teeming with a happy secret and was bubbling to share it with someone. He told one man as he sold him a paper, "Iss mein mera naam hai.." The man shirked him off. That day, the paper contained the PMT results. He had made it.

In medical college, he was in NCC with my dad. They went on this trip to Amarkantak which was headed by my dad. At one station, my dad asked him to pack breakfast for the whole group. Lalit Chacha gladly got off on the station. There was no sight of him for a good twenty minutes. The train started to leave the station. One of the cadets went to another coach and pulled the chain. After 10 more minutes, they saw Chacha bringing in one large fruit basket full of Aloo Puri. He got an earful from my dad, but also added to his long list of interesting stories to tell.

He decided to take his bicycle out for a ride. For a long ride. So he set off. He set out for an All India trip. He travelled from city to city. He used to go to every police station and get them to sign his little book. He used to eat once daily - at night. And he used to drink milk.

He got into government service. He was posted at Omkareshwar. For the uninitiated, Omkareshwar is at the banks of a winding Narmada. A beautiful temple, a dainty bridge and the placid, meandering Narmada. Lalit Chacha used to go on frequent swims into the river. One fine day, he got inside and thought to himself, "How long can one stay in water" So he decided to check. he kept swimming. People started noticing. Some acquaintances were concerned. They said, "Daaksaab, ab bahut ho gaya.. chaliye" Lalit Chacha asked them to go fly a kite. After a while, a reporter from somewhere came along on a boat and asked him, "Aap jo yeh kar rahein hain, aap kis maksad se kar rahein hain.. aap kya message dena chahenge bharat ke naujawano ko?" Chacha asked him to row a boat. Figuratively. After a while, Chacha heard some band playing on the banks. Someone came to him again and said, "Daaksaab, ab chaliye, 12 ghante ho gayein hain.. yeh band aap ke liye baj raha hai" He was dragged out. They didn't let him wear his clothes. They carried out a procession to his house, playing "Yeh desh hai veer jawano ka" on the way. For months later on, his skin peeled off like that of a boiled potato.

Today, he is one of the Padma Shree hopefuls in the country. He pioneered Family Planning Operations in villages all over Madhya Pradesh. He conducts camps in one village or the other almost every day. He gets some sleep in his rickety jeep on the way. He reaches the camp where some 500 people are already in queue, waiting for "Doorbeen Wale Baba". That's the rural name for a Laparoscope, with which he carries out his surgeries in less than a minute each. These surgeries are performed usually in community halls with makeshift OTs. Painless, foolproof surgeries that end only with a convenient band-aid. It's a revolutionary concept. It's a mundane area that he has turned around into a strong tool for woman empowerment, familly welfare and overall economic development.

He is used to the numerous felicitations. But he is as grounded as he was thirty years ago. He is humble, simple and lovable. He is a confused father to two lovely girls. He seeks my father's help in understanding them. My dad uses his experience with me to advise him. I don't think it helps much. He is one of those people in my life, who I will always look up to. If today I am proud to be a frank, straight forward person who can easily demarcate right from wrong, it is due to Chacha's presence in my life. So here's to you Lalit Chacha, Cheers!!