The Major

There was a time when I wondered why the world needed so many people. I guess it takes so many people to produce a gem like Sumitra. I had been expecting her to ask me about attending school for quite sometime. When she finally did, I agreed. You should never hold a child so close to your heart that she might suffocate. Letting her attend school was like letting her have a life that did not always have me in it.

Anyway, I took her to the school of her choice. She had chosen well, it was a good place and it was close to home. I went to meet the catholic nun who ran the place, an Italian named Catherine. At her office, I left Sumitra outside with the peon and went in alone.

"How can I help you, sir?" she asked me. Italians, I must say, have an interesting accent. I explained my presence there to her.

"Perhaps you should ask your daughter to come in, hmm…?" she said. I must admit she actually managed to make a former Major in the Indian Army feel sheepish. She had the peon bring in Sumitra. Sister Catherine spoke to Sumitra directly and ignored me for the most part. When she was finished she agreed that Sumitra should start her schooling right away. Sumitra went to school from the next day.

I still remember finding something rather pleasantly strange about Sister Catherine that day. People of faith, especially the Christians, have a characteristic demeanour about them. They are soft-spoken, calm and even austere. And then there is a disconcerting air about them, like they have the answer to everything, like they have solved life's mysteries. They come across like infinite Buddhas, unshakeable and convinced of their enlightenment. They always leave an impression that there is something they know that you don't. Sister Catherine was all of that and yet she was different.

Because of Sumitra, I have often wondered how blind people judge others. They can't possibly judge other people by their faces or expressions. I have wondered if people with good voices are beautiful to Sumitra. That day at the school, as Sister Catherine was talking to Sumitra, I closed my eyes for some time. Sumitra, as always, had that charming voice working its magic on Sister Catherine. However, it wasn't Sumitra's but Sister Catherine's voice that I was very surprised to hear. It had a very happy tingle to it.

I'll have to be honest. I always thought that the mind became calm when one conquered one's emotions. I do not practice happiness and I believe that makes me a calm person. To practice happiness would mean I would also have to indulge in anger. Good and evil always come together. How a person can be calm and sober when he or she practices happiness I will never understand. It wasn't just that Sister Catherine sounded like a happy person, she actually came across as a person who had a zest for life, someone who looked forward to the good things in life. I figured however that it would harm Sumitra's cause in no way. I was sure they'd be patient with her without dampening her ardour for all that is good. I truly felt confident that Sumitra was in good hands.