With gratitude in the heart

Nimrat S Sidhu

Sitting at the dinner table, just focused on taking a big gulp of my food, finally I get my husband to ask me, ‘What’s wrong?’

Pleased at my own secret achievement, words blurt out before I know it, ‘No one calls to thank me.’ I remind him it is not the appreciation for food I am talking of, it’s my patients who I give consultation to round the clock, while strolling in the park, at parlours, at coffee hang-outs, even birthday parties, who don’t call back to thank me. The husband smiles and continues to eat.

Later, I share my feelings with my father and he tells me: ‘Neki kar, kooyen mein daal.’ While this makes way to my heart, I am not satisfied yet. I continue through my day and visit a close friend, a ‘dog mom’ as she likes to be known as. We sit and chat with the family, a true form of therapy in today’s time. While speaking on the subject, our brother chips in to say, ‘But do you thank other people for their jobs too? Like a CA for filing your account returns, a gardener for your blossoming flowers, the maintenance guy for keeping your house clean?'

I bid them goodbye and head home, embarrassed to learn the obvious.

Do we stop to offer thanks to every job well done, or do we expect the expected? Is it a done deal for all to do their jobs perfectly well at all times? Is being an ace at your game always a given?

Yes, doctors deserve gratitude in no small measure in this pandemic for their relentless service. Nurses and paramedics work tirelessly to support the health system. Endless hours of work in their protective kits and then going back home to hold that front as well is nothing but an achievement.

This period has definitely brought a blanket of uncertainty over many a livelihood. The servant who cooks your favourite breakfast may be facing a cash crunch, the maid who just praised your hair today was kicked out of her premises because she didn’t pay rent on time, the idyllic garden where we sit and sip lemonade has been tended to by a gardener who has resorted to two meals a day to provide for a family who stays in his native village.

And your wife, your mother, who smiles and sends you off for work, silently praying about your well-being, holds the family front, plans those appealing meals at the end of her busy work day, forgetting she too needs a break every now and then.

I surely realise that two simple words, or a simple conversation asking about the well-being of the people around you even on a busy day is a source of motivation, support and gratitude for a person to do their job, and most importantly, feel gratified.

And that’s when I give the old ‘Neki kar kooyen mein daal’ saying a new twist: ‘Neki kar, sabr rakh and shukar kar!’

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