A good reason to be back...

Phew. Finally my slate is somewhat empty. Im sitting at my computer at 7:30 in the evening, without a deadline to beat. I dont remember this happening for a long long time.

Why didn't I blog for almost a month and a half? I was busy , yes. But frankly, I didn't feel like writing about anything.

Today, I do.

There is a joy in meeting veterans, be it of any kind. That joy is multiplied many times over, when it is a veteran from your own field. My father, passed his BDS examination in 1970, when most of you reading this weren't even born.In the entire dental fraternity of Pune, I don't know a single person who is senior to my father. Soon after passing out, he joined Dr. Ram Kale, a leading dentist at that time, to learn some handy practical tips.

Today, 38 years later I was destined to meet the very man my father learnt the tricks of the trade from. It is the hallmark of great men, to be modest. I don't know how they achieve it. I find myself bragging to every junior I can find.

Dr. Ram Kale came across as an extremely soft spoken person and he was kind enough to talk to me for almost an hour. He is 72 now, and only practices for an hour or so a day. During the conversation, a few interesting snippets came to light:

- He said my Grandfather,(noted literary writer and freedom activist G.V. Behere once called him for a dental appointment. He expected my Grandfather to be clad in pyjamas and wearing a Gandhi-topi, but he was shocked to see a tall fair handsome man wearing a shirt flashier than yours truly and puffing away at a cigarette.They became great friends since, enjoying many a drink and dinner together.


- He told me he had constructed my grandmothers first set of dentures, asking for her photograph with teeth so that he could try and replicate the facial form. In those days ! Awesome !

_ He remembered coming to the opening of my fathers first clinic on Tilak road, and after hearing this i realized i didnt know anyone alive (other than my mom) who was present there that day !

- He said my father had asked him whether he should take up the Short Service Commission in the Army , and how he had advised my father against doing so.

I heard all this spellbound. And while leaving I just had to touch his feet. "Please don't ", he said.

I said , "You are one of the very few people, to whom my own father would have done the same thing as I did," I replied.

Thankfully, he accepted the explanation.