Today, during a short visit to Sacramento for some real estate work, We decided to relax over lunch at a Thai restaurant on an invitation of my niece Jasleen Dhir who recommended it strongly.
As I was passing by to be seated, my eyes fell upon a young United States Army man, quietly having his meal with a companion, perhaps his wife, perhaps a friend. Something stirred deeply within me.
Without thinking twice, I walked up to him… and offered a salute.
He looked at me with surprise, and then with warmth.
I smiled and shared with him a memory from my childhood.
I told him how, 70 years away, as a young boy of about 12 and a high School student, studying in SD High situated on the Grand Trunk Road in Panipat. We would often see long convoys of army trucks passing by at various times when the Indian Army men were moving from one corner to the other of this vast country India. Grand Trunk Road popularly known as GT Road which was like the longest Artilleries (about 2500 Km) in the body of India and was realigned by Sher Shah Suri about 2500 years back. Originally it was about 3655 Km from Miramar to Bangla Desh to Kolkata to Delhi to Lahore and passing through Peshawar to Kabul and was built by various rulers from Ashoka, to Sher Shah Suri, Sonargaon, Rohtas and Afghan end by Mahmoud Shah Durrani.
The spot, in front of SD High School Panipat main entry gate, where today grown up Palm tree stand and where we would line up and solute to the Army men. You can see a truck passing on GT Road.
Those were different times, simpler, yet filled with a sense of awe. I, along with other students, would rush to the roadside, stand in line, and salute every single truck that passed. To us, those soldiers were not just men in uniform, they were symbols of courage, discipline, and the spirit of the nation.
That small habit, that innocent respect, stayed quietly within me all these years.
And today, seeing him there, it resurfaced, naturally, effortlessly.
What followed was a beautiful conversation, two generations, two journeys, connected by a simple gesture of respect.
Moments like these remind me:
Some values never fade.
They only wait for the right moment to reappear.
No comments:
Post a Comment