I was with my teacher
It was his ninety-third birthday
We talked and talked and talked
Reminisced the beautiful past
His Jadavpur, Zurich, IIT days
Recalled his ETH days, the Swiss alps
the Swiss fondue, the French wine
The good things of life
That day, so fondly, he remembered his closest friend
From his zurich days
Recalled the last time he met this friend
Gripped with dementia
I could see the pain on my teacher's eyes
My teacher said, when he was leaving
His friend came upto the lift, to see off his friend
Gave him a piece of paper, as a parting gift
In one side of the paper was written my teacher's name
And on the other was written the name of the friend
With trembling hand
My teacher couldn't conceal his tears
The tears of gratitude, love, affection, helplessness
That day sleep ran away from my teachers eyes
He did not feel the need of medicines
He did not feel the pain in his knees
He simply wanted to tell me so many stories
The stories of his student days
The stories of the city he grew up
I saw so much hope
There was despair too
When I informed my teacher about the conferment of
Life time achievement award
My teacher accepted the award graciously
And said, my students are now my guides
My students are my greatest rewards