Gratitude

Having spent over 10 years working in hotels, I must have used the words “thank you” more by default than out of sincerity. To explain it better, when a guest would settle his bill on check out and depart the hotel, I was tuned to say “Thank you for staying with us”. In personal life, I think it wasn't any different as I was taking family and friends for granted that for anything that they said, did or even when they made me feel real good.
The words “thank you” when said with utmost sincerity does not just convey true appreciation but also enriches your life and makes you feel great.

Real life incidents as I list out here are a proof to that statement above;

Thank you God for this Special Child…

January 2009, I was invited to attend the 60th birthday celebrations of my dad's friend, whom our family has known for many years (Well. my dad and Sriram uncle share over 50 years of great friendship). For those of you who may not be familiar, 60th and 80th birthdays for men are extra special in Tamil culture and usually celebrated in a grand way, almost like a wedding.
While we kept waiting for the couple, Abi (the elder daughter) entertained the selected few guests - may be 50 people by playing some nice childhood photographs taken way back in the 60's and 70's on a projector screen. Finally when the couple did arrive and we were finished with the birthday song and speeches, Abi invited her mother to read out a poem she had written for the occasion.

She started reciting a masterpiece poem of over 100 lines in Tamil - every line of which had the words “thank you” to God.

Thank you God for a wonderful husband
Thank you for these 40 years of happy marriage
Thank you for the strength, courage and confidence that have kept us together in tough times.
Thank you for the two beautiful gifts in our life (our 2 daughters)
Thank you for giving us a wonderful son-in law (Abi's husband)
And then she said,

Thank you for giving us the special child, our second daughter Aishwarya.

Until then, throughout the evening I had not noticed their 27 year old daughter Aishu who has Autism (a brain development disorder). As the mother mentioned her name, all eyes went to Aishu who was sitting calm very much amongst the guests but in her own world and Girija aunty continued with her poem..

Thank you for giving us the strength to bring her up
Thank you for allowing us to see the world through her eyes
Thank you for the hope and belief you restored in us
And she went on…

What amazed me was that, while most of us would be complaining, here I saw parents who had made so many sacrifices in life for this child and yet they were genuinely appreciating and thanking God for this “Special Child”.

How extraordinary of these parents and how better can this word “GRATITUDE” be explained?

Aishu can beat any of you reading this article in solving puzzles and I challenge you on that. She solves 1000 piece puzzles in less than 5-6 hours. Another lesson that God does not take away everything from you, he bestows talent in everyone. Kudos to the parents who identified this talent and continue to encourage her. The latest I heard is that she solves puzzles online.