I have always been close to my maternal uncle since childhood. For some reason or another, he was always around my mother and me whenever we needed his help or support during a crisis.
Born and raised in a joint family with two brothers and three sisters, he was the youngest of the lot and the most mischievous.
My grandmother was especially fond of her youngest born and would often try to pamper him with whatever limited resources she had at her disposal as they belonged to a simple service class family.
Once he grew up and joined a college, my uncle’s life completely changed. He quickly befriended a few ‘bhais’ in college and he too became a man with a devilish attitude. Leather jackets, cigarettes and at one point in time, he also carried a small pistol. As his college came to an end, my uncle changed and ended getting a job in a steel plant in north India. While his pistol and leather jacket were gone, his devilish attitude stayed with him.
Unfortunately, god perhaps doesn’t agree with people who are not god-fearing. Life again threw a curveball at my uncle as his wife decided to leave him due to compatibility issues and she took their kids with her. Once my uncle entered his thirties, he was a completely changed person. He lost interest in work, drank a lot and looked at life with a lot of negativity. He became temperamental and lost complete focus in life. To add insult to injury, he lost his mother, someone he loved the most. Post his divorce and job loss, people avoided him. They drew a negative impression of him. His wife prevented him from meeting his children.
Despite his vices, he was not a bad person. After all is it a crime for a divorced man to have a drink? Or a girlfriend? What shall one do if a man is legally stopped from coming near his own family and society labels him as a ‘failure’? Should he stop living?
However, as the saying goes, “As the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Uncle found his spiritual side in life and started immersing himself in god. He became a spiritual guru of sorts who gave advice to youngsters who were going through a rough patch. For my mother and me he was always there during our times of need. Despite his differences within the family, he was the first person to rush if there was a crisis. Though not invited to his daughter and son’s wedding, he still continued to be in touch with them and helped them whenever they were in need.
Today the leather jacket, the cigarettes, the pistol, the devil-may-care attitude is long gone. What remains is a maverick whom you can count upon in your time of need.