Hriday was three years my senior. I thought I would spend more time in meditation, but he inspired me also to run. He used to come to my place and teach me how to take the start – and, alas, I always defeated him during the competition. I was the fastest, and he stood fourth or fifth. Then what would he do? As soon as the race was over, he was so proud of me that he would come and embrace me. Right in front of the Mother and so many people, he embraced me because I stood first.
Hriday eventually got married and moved to Canada. A few days before the Montreal Olympics, I received a message from him. He said, “Now I am stuck in Montreal. I want to go back to India with my wife and child. Can you help me?”
I said, “Only on one condition I shall send you money: you must not tell anybody!” I sent him some money via a Canadian disciple.
Not even a week later, his aunt happened to see my sister Lily on the street in Pondicherry. She said, “Lily, look at your brother! He believes in friendship. He gave money so that Hriday and his wife and child could come back to India. Otherwise, they could not have come back.”
I had requested him not to tell anybody, but he informed his family, and his aunt told my sister that I have a good heart!
At the age of forty-six, Hriday died. His wife and child went back to the Ashram. His wife had such an excellent singing voice! Her voice was unimaginably haunting. Everybody in the Ashram was mesmerised by her voice.
When I went to the Ashram after Hriday passed away, his son, who was still a boy, was so tall – taller than me! I did not know who he was, since I had never seen him before. The Ashram custom is to use “da” for one’s elders. “Da” actually means “uncle,” but if you are the father’s friend, the child also calls you “da.” This boy called me Chinmoy-da. He was so tall, so bright! Then he told me his father’s name, Hriday.
I asked the boy, “Which line of work do you want to go into?”
He said, “I want to become a doctor.” I said, “I am so happy! Be a doctor.”
Later he went to England and other places to study. He is practising medicine in a hospital somewhere, perhaps. This is life.
4 February 2002, Sabah, MalaysiaFrom:Sri Chinmoy,Depend on Grace, Agni Press, 2023
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/dg