FREE WILL? OR DIVINE WILL?
The adventure is in the chase of the game and not in the capture of the game or “ Kill”. Once achieved it has no value..
Once you have mastered the art of the game it doesn’t matter anymore. Similar to watching a movie once you know how it ends. Even if you watch it again will not get the same value or experience..
Aum Sri Sai Ram
A trip down memory lane of twists, turns, fate, inspiration, challenges, hardships, unexpected windfalls and ultimately the call from the Lord of the universe ( Drop everything and walk away….. from a thriving business).
Growing Up
I was born in KGF in Mysore and at the age of six I moved to New Delhi. My father was working in AIIMS.
All my siblings went to the same school DTEA Laxmibai Nagar. My siblings were excellent at academic activities. I on the other hand could barely pass any of the subjects.
One day as I was walking back home I was wondering how in the world am I going to make a living when I can’t even pass a single class.
One of my classmates was saying “There’s a man that when he walks objects pop up in the sand.” He showed me a picture of a man with an African hairstyle.
I went home and told Amma can I go and see this man who can make things appear in thin air. My father just happened to walk in and said “Absolutely not. These people will do some maya and mantra and make you disappear.” I guess he wanted to put some fear in me so that I would never go back in that direction.
Coming to the US
Just like a robot picking up an object I was transported to Flushing, New York in June 1973. I had gone along with my father to Sri Ghandikota’s house for a pooja and saw Sathya Sai Baba’s picture and that is how I knew I was able to connect my first experience to my classmate who originally mentioned this man who could materialize things out of thin air.
I arrived in June of 1973 to NY and a month later at just 14 years old I began delivering newspapers in Queens, New York until we moved to Bayside, Queens. The Super of the building was an extremely nice person. When tenants moved out they would leave various items behind and he would save them for someone else to use. I asked him if he had any bicycles in the storage shed.
In fact he actually had 3 bicycles. He gave me the one that had a carriage in the front for the purpose of holding newspapers for free.
I would wake up at 4am, brush my teeth and comb my hair, wear weather appropriate clothes,and the truck would drop off the newspaper bundle on the street closest to my address.
The Newspaper Route
Weekday mornings weren’t too bad. I would ride the bike and first deliver to a single family house followed by an apartment building. We had a list to follow consisting of different streets and buildings. Some were three floors, some two families and some single families. I can still remember the smell of the buildings. Some honestly felt more like a haunted house with that very dim light we all associate with haunted houses.
The apartment complex was easier to deliver because one person can do ten to fifteen deliveries per building. I had to be mindful of the time as I had to go to school right after finishing my route.
If it’s not picked up early then someone else would pick it up and I would be charged for it. Only once in a while you can cry wolf that you didn’t “get the delivery.”
I had to finish my route between 5:30 AM to 5:45 AM so I could come home and get ready for school. School hours were from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Every Wednesday morning the Sunday section will be dropped off; containing comic sections, arts section, business sections, etc. On Saturday morning after the delivery, I had to assemble the Sunday Edition Newspaper. It would visibly be heavier and thicker. The rubber band would not fit and sometimes break!
On Monday mornings along with the newspaper an envelope would be given to the customer for the dates of service. The customer would leave the envelope under the mat. Those who did not pay I had to go back and collect on a Saturday afternoon or on a Sunday.
We had to give the money to the manager. He would charge me a flat rate for weekdays and an extra charge for weekend editions.
Sometimes I would get extra sections of the newspaper on weekdays and weekends. I would stand on the street and sell them. It was extra profit for me.
After a few months I wanted to make some more money. I asked my brother who was two years younger than me.
My brother worked for a few months and gave up stating “it’s too much work and was not his type of work. He was a very studious guy”.
Some customers would tip me every week and I would always take care of them to make sure the newspaper was covered in a plastic bag to avoid it getting ruined or damaged in the rain and snow. I was delivering Daily news and later added on the New York Post and New York Times for those selected customers who wanted it. Then of course there were people who would be mean, dismissive, and rude. If I was short of paper I would not deliver them.
Christmas was the best time as most of the customers would tip; some very average while some very good.
Things were very cheap in the 70’s. One could buy groceries for the entire week (i.e. for a family of 7) for $35. Gas was $0.35 a gallon, the subway was $0.35, milk was $1.19 per gallon. The average cost of a house was $19,000. The cost of a car was $5,000.
After Christmas, I would come back home and count all the dollar bills and separate the coins. Total income minus the cost of the goods ended up being my personal savings. I had made over $1,000 delivering newspapers in 6 months after coming to the United States.
Violin Lessons….. In the apartment building there were many other children who were taking Carnatic classical music lessons,. I wanted to learn Violin Lessons. My teacher lived in woodside, Queens. I had to take 2 trains. In the winter months it’s a bit difficult and many occasions I wanted to give it up even before learning much!!!
As I was new to taking trains one day I took the train going the wrong direction and a passenger told me I needed to get down and go to the opposite side. I stood at the station and looked but didn’t know how to get to the opposite side. I jumped down and crossed the tracks and got back on the platform. Now looking back what a stupid thing I did luckily I didn’t get electrocuted!!!!. The violin career ended as my teacher’s family moved to Stony Brook, Long Island, NY. I still have the violin but no music is being played!!!!.
Bayside, Queens
I gave my entire earnings to my parents as they were purchasing a single family house in Bayside, Queens. I remember there being a synagogue across the street from our house.
It was a cape-cod style solid brick house, a corner plot, on a main thoroughfare. We didn’t know anything about real estate. The house had a large kitchen, living room, full bath, and two bedrooms on the main floor. The upstairs had two bedrooms and a one and a half bath. It also included a large basement, a large cedar closet, a large yard with a pear tree and a detached garage. Just a year later we added another bathroom in the basement.
At 15 years old, we had gone to attend a wedding and I always enjoyed working in the kitchen helping the cooks. After the event he had a proposal for me. He wanted me to work in a clothing store as a stock clerk after school every day.
After school finished I would take a bus to Main St. Flushing, take a #7 train to 42nd St. and transfer to RR to 59th and Lexington Ave. Depending on school hours I would arrive at different times to the store. I would do my homework on my way to the store and at times I would stop at a convenient store to pick up some snacks.
Part Time Experiences
Working in a clothing store in the city, part time, on weekdays, and full time on Saturday, and even on the days I was off from school was where you could find me. My pay was $2.00 an hour. With that money I would buy various household items (bedsheets, IZOD T-shirts from Bloomingdales) for all my siblings and my parents. The entrance to the subway was near the entrance of the store. Bloomingdale’s was a very high-end retail store.
I also did several other part time jobs such as stuffing envelopes, delivering movies to various vendors.
At the age of 18 I started working full time at a clothing store and at other similar clothing stores.
Full Time Experiences
At the age of 19, I opened a retail women’s clothing store in New York. I also had a venture with a partner at a restaurant in Boston.
I met many people who were in the movie industry as they lived just around the corner from the store. I also met many people who were affiliated with the Mafia (an under world lifestyle if you may). I never felt threatened by anyone and liked the way they treated me. I would get full cases of wines and other goods.
On Saturday night many of the employees would go to Studio 54 to dance and see famous artists and other people. They would get picked up by their boyfriends in fancy sports cars wearing fur jackets. For some reason that never appealed to me and would go straight home.
The Social Experiences
While I was in high school I didn’t have any friends as I was always busy with work. I had 2 people who I had come across; one person was a year older than me, Pradeep Gupta, and the one was Rocky Sethi. He would wear his turban and come to school. Rocky was a year younger than me. We would occasionally sit and do our homework together. I had visited Rocky a few times in the apartment. He had a younger sister and his mother was a homemaker. His father worked at the United Nations.
Rocky liked a fast-paced life and was mixed with the wrong kind of people. His mother would beg me and say “please save my son. You are such a nice boy.” I tried speaking with Rocky but he would just not listen.
He was taking drugs and going to nearby streets meeting people who were involved with prostitution. After graduation he knew I was working at the clothing store in the city. He came in during the day all clean shaven. He was very scared and kept looking over his shoulders; looking paranoid if you will.
I asked him “what are you doing?”
He said “they are following me!
I asked “who? I don’t see anyone. Where are you staying these days?”
He simply answered “under ground.”
I never knew there was such a thing or place.
He went on to say “during the day I come out and go back underground and hide in the large cement block so no one could see me.”
I said “why?”
His response: “I took a lot of drugs and didn’t pay for it.”
In 1978 he died with a gunshot to his head.
I met his mother, father and sister.
I honestly had no words for the grieving family.
The parents said “you are a very nice person and did your best!!”
Choose your friends wisely or you will not live to see it.
*Why does Bhagawan insist that we must keep away from bad company and have the company of the good? Bhagawan reminds us today with a beautiful analogy.
Good thoughts appear small at the beginning, like one’s shadow at noon. But as the day advances, the shadow lengthens. Likewise, the influence of good thoughts also grows as time passes. In due course, it acquires a magnificent form. It attains a highly sacred place. It confers divine bliss and redeems one’s entire life. Thus, satsangam (good company) is supremely important. Good company, by promoting good thoughts, leads to the highest achievements in life. Bad company, on the contrary, is like the shadow caused by the morning sun. At dawn, the shadow produced by the sun is long. As the morning progresses, the shadow gets shorter and shorter. Ultimately, it gets limited to one’s feet. This is how the effects of the bad company operate. In the beginning, the gains seem to be large. But as time goes on, the gains vanish. Human values get destroyed. The power of thoughts is immense. Bad thoughts should not be allowed to enter the mind. Bad company should be avoided as much as possible. The company of the sick will make you sick. The company of Yogis will make you a Yogi. Through yoga, you realise the Divine. Through yoga, you control the mind; hence, the importance of Satsangam.
- Divine Discourse, Jun 26, 1994
Sharing of good thoughts with good people brings about your transformation. Therefore, good company is very essential to attain the goal of life. - BABA
The Tragic Losses
June 3, 1983 my brother Harish met with an accident and died in Waymart, Pennsylvania. My wedding date was already set for July 15, 1983. The tickets were already purchased but due to these unforeseen circumstances I didn't have time to set the store up properly while in my absence.
When I returned the store was practically barebones and the employees had purchased over $80,000 of merchandise on credit and whatever else was in the store was completely stolen and absconded. Although I had filed a lawsuit and won judgement I could not collect due to the attorneys wanting constant fees in order to collect my judgement. I had absolutely no money to my name and I was banking on getting this amount to make a living and now I had no other avenue to support myself.
I had lost $250,000-$350,000.
Towards The Uprise
1983-1984 Post loss of income I had to look for other avenues to pay my expenses.
I worked at various Flea Markets (outdoor & indoor vendors) selling anything and everything from a trunk or setting up a stall as a vendor. We hardly made any money and had to work in all types of weather conditions.
I began working part time jobs and had gone to agencies who assigned me various jobs.
One of those jobs was the Revlon plant in Edison working on packaging.
I also began working at IFF (International Food and Flavors) located in Middlesex County.
From 1983-1984 in order to pay rent and other expenses I had to find any type of work; so I began working at UPS loading the tractor trailers and by the end of my shift you were not even able to walk out of the trailer standing straight up from the hours of constant bending.
Later on I realized even those jobs were not fulfilling what I needed to take care of my expenses.
The Life of a Bus Driver (1985
When I started driving there was no automatic transmission buses. They were only double shift stick shifts. The first is to release the gear, the second for getting the gear engaged. The clutches used to extremely hard, so people don’t ride on the clutch which would wear off very quickly. Your knees would practically shake especially when in traffic, or climbing on the port authority bus terminal ramp entering into the building. Many times there would be back ups as the buses needed to pull out after dropping the passengers off. Every single day was a nightmare and prayed that there would be no back up!!!
After a few years was updated to Automatic, with manual steering, seats would recline, seat covers were of Rexin . In the summer you would stick to the seat, in the winter it would be freezing cold.
In 1990 MCI was leased by New Jersey transit buses and they would lease it to the other bus companies. Only the most experienced drivers would get the bus. I had picked the bus 6798 which I would always pick when starting my route. If I was reliving another person I had to take his vehicle. I knew my Vehicle when I would sit on the seat if something wasn’t working? Or something needed to be repaired. We had a report card which had to checked before taking the vehicle and if we noticed anything we had write and hand over every single day with the trip sheet.
I went to look for any kind of employment and found a job to operate a bus for $9.85 an hour. I didn’t get a chance to experience what holidays were like. I worked every single day 14-16 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year continuously till the day I left the company.
While driving the bus every day after arriving at the Port Authority Bus terminal I would have only 15 minutes to run downstairs to use the restroom and buy a cup of coffee and some snacks. Over time I became great friends with the owner and staff.
I had worked all types of shifts and hours because the company always needed employees on weekdays in rush hour both in the morning and evening. We had a choice of working mornings, evenings or both on your day off but not everyone had weekends off.
One day when I was coming out of the Lincoln tunnel back to New Jersey on the ramp( 495) South an armed vehicle was struck by another vehicle and money was all over the ramp. People who were driving their personal vehicles, stopped and grabbed as much bundles of cash and fled off before the police could arrive. As I was a few feet away from the incident passengers asked me to open the door so they too can grab the cash.
I refused to open the door as it’s a huge liability for the company in case a passenger gets hurt or doesn’t get back in the vehicle.
When the police arrived they blocked off the road till all the cash was picked up and the vehicles were moved out of the road. It was a good talk all the way back to the bus stop. The next day it was all over the news and newspapers.
When we had an ice storm and no buses could climb the uphill into the bus station, or come back to New Jersey. On such a day every one wished they had a manual transmission vehicle to control the bus. I had bus 398 a manual transmission bus and I had already left the PABT back to Princenton ( The bus looks like a fishbowl) very round with basic equipment. It was not made for interstate travel.
Cars very stranded all over the road and turnpike, buses, some trucks were not moving. It was huge dilemma how to get the passenger off to the destination with least amount of harm.
The turnpike service area was stretched onto the turnpike as everyone wanted to park their cars and sit inside a warm building. Some people wanted to use the rest area.
I had no place to stop . Men went out to relieve themselves and ladies just squatted in the aisles to relieve themselves. No other choice. The trip took 8 hours from the bus terminal to East Brunswick tower center ( a 45 minute ride).
I used to work different shifts and this time I was working 6:30pm- 2:30am. I left NY at 12midnight back to Princenton and after crossing 495 into the turnpike the bus broke down near exit 15E( overpass). When I had started my work the weather was pleasant and I didn’t take a jacket.
The next bus which was at 1 am from the city picked up the passengers. The office at the bus terminal close at 10pm. In case of emergency we had to call the mechanics and they would decide to come and repair or send a tow truck ( Guaranteed motors were the official company for suburban transit.
I was frozen, the bus had no heat due to the mechanical failure. No radio to get in touch with anyone. The first bus when it was getting into the city saw one of our buses on the highway and called the dispatcher.
I returned at 6 am. My wife happened to call the only pay phone in the garage and I just happened to pick up?
She said what happened?
Bus broke down?
Really? I said check with the state troopers and towing company.
As I was already at the garage went to work!! No rest for the weary!!!
I always preferred to have weekdays off, so I could work the day and make time-and-a-half for the entire day. If you worked only one shift then you would get paid only for those hours at the going rate.
I had a higher goal of getting back to my business and wanted to save as much as possible to make that happen.
The benefits were extremely good for a full-time employee. The company had three garages:
New Brunswick was the headquarters, Hightstown was for charters (long-distance travel, group tours) and the third was the Route 9 Corridor.
Total number of employees: 500.
I was the only person who was of Indian nationality. We had a lot of fun working together at the start of every day or even waiting for the bus to arrive as we would be a relief driver or our shift would start.
One day a driver by the name of Wendell Thurmonson went to a Chinese restaurant to get his lunch and just opened the box.
I asked Wendell “did you notice all the dead animals in the back of the restaurant? I saw a lot of dead cats. Maybe you are eating them instead of chicken!!” He was upset and threw it in the garbage. I said it was a joke!!! He was not angry but he said Kumar I am getting you out.
If you were on the extra board then you would wait for any situation which would take place like if a bus were to break down, people who called out sick for their shift, too many people waiting for the bus due to an overload of passengers. If there were no problems then you would just sit there and go home.
Every single dispatcher knew who they could rely on in case of an emergency. I was willing to work anytime they would call me.
In the 10 years I’ve worked I have seen it all on the bus.
My name was in the newspaper as a package was found on the bus while on my shift most likely containing drugs/contraband. Maybe the person knew someone was watching him and left it on the bus.
One night at 2:30 AM I found a suitcase, didn’t want to leave it in the garage and took it home. I got so many calls in the morning asking if I found anything on the bus. I am sure the person forgot about their suitcase and was frantically trying to figure out what happened?
I gave the dispatcher my word to bring it in its entirety when I came back to work. My shift was Monday through Sunday 6:30 PM to 2:30 AM and had Tuesday and Wednesday off.
It turns out that the very same suitcase was full of diamonds. The man was very relieved after getting back the suitcase. He only checked the contents and walked away without even a simple kind word. There were many more things affiliated with that situation which I have deemed inappropriate to say or put in writing.
A few others who worked with me had adopted children. One man, Mr. Shovlin, adopted 2 boys from Vietnam and another man, Mr. Cohen had adopted 2 girls.
Overall I had a lot of fun working with an excellent bunch of people from all walks of life.
Drove close to a million miles over the 10 years of service.
300 miles a day/365 days/10years. I thoroughly enjoyed driving the bus. King of the road!!!
Port Authority
In 1994 due to several stomach surgeries I had to give up my career as a professional bus driver.
In 1987, I opened a store with a partner outside the Port Authority Bus terminal open all year around while I was still driving the bus.
I would take such daunting trips while driving the bus to give me time to take care of my business alongside my bus-driving.
From 1994-1998 I worked full time at a convenience store.
I originally met my partner, a man from Pakistan, who worked at the store inside of the bus station while I was driving.
We constantly needed people to work long shifts as it was a 24-hour operating schedule.
I was working 12PM-11PM and in the late evening I would meet people who were starting the shift at the main post office, GHI insurance company, Port Authority Police Station and many unhoused people.
I had sympathy and compassion for the unhoused people while my partner had zero tolerance towards them.
I would offer them coffee, sandwiches or whatever they wanted. Over time I got to know them well enough to have meaningful conversations. I was very curious about their lives and the stories behind their eyes.
Mr. Cuba
One very short man in stature with long black hair wearing a trench coat was carrying 2 shopping bags holding his entire life’s possessions.
He was originally from Cuba and never knew his name or any personal information. He was however very informed of worldly affairs.
I asked him “how do you know all this information?”
He said “I read the New York Times every single day.” I was extremely impressed. One has to have a decent amount of education to understand the story behind each article in The Times.
One night when I came to the store. I instructed him to have a seat first and place his bags down.
“I will watch over them. You go wash up. Tell me what would you like?”
He answered “anything you have left!!”
I didn’t want to give him leftovers. For me he was my special guest. I would then go and make him a fresh sandwich, soup and a hot beverage.
After some conversation he said he had to leave. So naturally I asked him where he was staying. He said people throw away lottery tickets and don’t check them properly. “I check each one again and cash it, take the money and go to the theater which is open 24 hours. I buy a ticket so I can get a seat all the way in the back just to get some sleep.
On his way he probably felt hungry and stopped at a coin-operated phone booth that cost $0.25 for the first 3 minutes and $0.25 for the next 4 minutes and so on.
There was an African man staring at him while he unraveled his sandwich. He immediately got scared. He asked him, “Do you want some?” That man replied “I have not eaten for the past 2 days!” Mr. Cuba gave his entire sandwich to that gentleman.
The reason I even know of this incident taking place is because Mr. Cuba himself came back to ask for one more sandwich from me.
Mr. Willy
A young man who was extremely polite when leaving after his purchase. He never once panhandled or did anything wrong to another person.
He had a full time job at a company but still had no place to live. For reasons unbeknownst to me there was not a single family member who would support him.
After a few years I started seeing him all the time and asked him what happened and that's when he told me he lost his job.
I offered him a job at the store and said “I want you to stop smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. That’s the condition if you want to work here. I will give you a place to sleep, you can eat anything you want for free but don’t create any sort of drama. I won’t be able to save you.”
He was a very honest and excellent worker. One day my partner Irfan and Willy got into an argument and Willy lost his patience, took a kitchen knife and threatened him in front of the customers.
The police station was right next door and immediately a swarm of police officers came in to arrest Willy not knowing anything prior about the incident.
I was just walking into the store and saw all this commotion. I asked the officer what happened. He narrated the incident and I gave my assurance that Willy was a very nice person and unless he was provoked he would never do such a thing.
The police released him from his handcuffs and said “only on one condition…you can’t work at the store again.”
While exiting the store he said “Kumar is an extremely nice person but his partner is a piece of ____. I will do anything for Kumar.”
Just because someone is unhoused doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the same amount of respect as the next person! You never know the story behind someone’s eyes; because everyone has a story.
Treat everyone how you would like to be treated!!
Jersey City Soriero
In 1999 I opened a retail store in Jersey City.
I have met some amazing people in the years of running the company business; several of them are still in contact with me.
One of the people who stands out is Mr. John Soriero and his lovely wife. He was working for the Jersey City building department. He knew all the codes and connections to get any project moving forward.
One day his wife had come to the store to purchase some items. After she wanted to try her luck with an instant lottery ticket.
She spent a lot of time conversing about her life and employment. She eventually left the store and figured she had other things to get done.
Mr. Soriero came in and asked if I had seen his wife. I said I didn't know who he was talking about. He said “Marie, my wife” and described her to me.
I insinuated that maybe she is upstairs.
He asked why and I told him I have a brothel upstairs and she wanted to check it out.
He was so furious after that day he wouldn’t allow her to come to the store. I said to Mr. Soriero I was just joking and that no one was upstairs. I informed him that she left a while back and didn’t say anything about where she was going.
Over the years he remained a great friend and helped out with any project I had.
When he died he would always come in my dreams and tell me “please take care of my wife of 65 years. I did the best I could for her.”
I wrote a huge summary about our relationship over the years and hung it in the store window.
When the hearse passed by, his son asked the funeral director to stop the vehicle. He came inside and asked “Can I please take this writing to the funeral service? It is so touching that you have written so many beautiful words about my father.”
Even after the funeral I felt Mr. Soriero came and stood in front of the store looking inside talking with me. I could see him very clearly and hear his voice. He only wanted his wife to be taken care of until her end and knew that I would indeed fulfill his request.
She died just a few years later.
Anthony “Tony” Nieves
One of my customers, a man by the name of Anthony Nieves turned into my very best employee; loyal, honest and extremely hard-working. The very first year after purchasing the store I was constantly feeling that something wasn’t adding up for all the purchases I had been making. I was always short of money and couldn’t put my finger on what was happening.
September 3rd was Labor Day weekend and had only one employee working when suddenly I had the feeling he was stealing the cash. I asked him to walk away from the register and while tallying the money found $150 over the receipt total and knew instantly he had been in fact stealing money.
Now I had no employee to work on an extremely busy day. The customers were very cooperative and helpful with watching the store when I would go inside the walk-in refrigerator to get the beer cases.
Tony loved to play instant lottery tickets. He was married but ended up being divorced from his wife and also had 2 daughters whom he had not seen since they were young.
Tony was 56 years old when I met him. I called and asked him if he could do me a favor and just stand in the store. He was a very simple person. His arms and chest were absolutely solid. He told me his life story as to why he left Puerto Rico and came to the USA.
After a few months he started working full-time. I have never met a single person like Tony throughout my entire life. What a loving, caring, loyal, and trustworthy person. He wouldn’t take a single penny that didn’t belong to him. He would squander away his entire paycheck week after week. He was smoking Marlboro cigarettes initially when he started but with my constant pressure he gave it up and never touched it again.
The Scariest Thanksgiving
November 27, 1999 Thanksgiving Day was the busiest business day. At the end of the night I had asked the employee to lock the door but didn’t and started to close the gates.
Two armed men got him outside and had a gun to his head, jumped behind the counter and pinned me on the floor and placed the gun on my head and said “open the registers!”
All I could say was “ohh my goodness…. I never thought it would happen in such a location.” Of course I had no other choice but to give him the entire day’s worth of business. He even took the money from my wallet. Luckily I had some coins to pay for the turnpike toll. It was a scary situation even dealing with the aftermath of the police.
Not The Christmas Eve Spirit
In 2009 on Christmas Eve the same thing happened. One guy was telling Carlos to go to the back. Carlos thought it was Tony fooling around and said “get out of here!”
When he felt that cold iron on his back he knew it was a robbery in progress in broad daylight. He placed the customer and 3 employees inside the freezer and asked one employee to open the registers. I was home that day as my brother was visiting from California.
Luckily the manager had just made a cash drop in the safe and there was hardly $200 in the register.
Tribute to Tony
Tony had a massive heart attack in front of the store on April 26, 2012 and died literally in front of my eyes. He was born on November 2, 1941.
It was my honor to pay for his funeral service. He would always say to me “when I die please throw me in the river; at least the fishes will have something to eat.”
He loved feeding birds with any scrap of bread he would have on hand.
How beautifully life connects with people from all walks of life to fulfill our baggage from our past lives.
After Tony had died he used to come to the store and even many employees had mentioned that they had seen him inside the walk-in refrigerator and would be scared.
I said be kind and loving because he doesn’t know anything else but this store. That was his life and identification for the past 13 years.
I would have a normal conversation with Tony even after he had passed. For me these things were not abnormal as I had experienced many such occurrences. Then shortly after he stopped coming to the store.
Carlos; My Brother
Carlos was another such special person who was originally a customer turned into an employee and then to a wonderful friend.
Many people say when we introduce one another it’s always “He is my brother.”
In Carlos' case he went a level above and changed my last name to his last name making us 100% brothers.
He always says he is my brother and every single time we hang up the phone it’s an automatic response of “I Love You!!!”
I have never gone to see any of the buildings or properties. He takes care of all the repairs, collects the rent, deposits into the account and never asks for anything in return for his work.
I have to constantly remind him to take his money and pay for his work even though he doesn’t want it.
Business is separate from friendship and no one should take advantage of other’s simplicity.
Since I have asked him to work in many friends' places he has seen Sathya Sai Baba’s pictures. He has one in each room of his apartment.
He used to smoke Winston cigarettes and after my continuous pestering he finally threw it away and hasn’t touched them in 25 years.
A Good friend should uplift his friend from bad habits.
Finally in 2013 The Lord said ENOUGH; Sell The Business & Stay Home.
I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed my life with all the types of employment, personal ventures and business opportunities. I would do it all over again if I could!!
It has been 13 years staying away from business. That’s what I truly miss the most!!!
Every single thing happens in life for a particular reason and the understanding that people do come and go.
In 1996 we purchased our current house but before that we had a townhome right across Vonthuns Farm.
In 2002, I purchased a Lexus for $50,000 and in 2003 an S-500 Mercedes Benz for $100,000 paid in cash. The first thing I did…. called my father from the showroom!
He said “you just purchased a Lexus just last year?!”. The only unfortunate thing was that he would never see or ride in the car. It was simply to show and prove to my father that I can do anything and everything despite not continuing my education to the max.
My mother told all the relatives that “Koushik is the richest person in our family and retired at the age of 53.”
In July of 2004 I went to Mr. Patel’s house and he gave us a photograph of Sathya Sai Baba. We brought that photograph in our brand new car all the way to our residence. That was our very first picture of him and is still in our home to this day.
On November 6, 2004 my father passed away.
Discipline, dedication, and determination will always work in your favor.
Not one person has died due to work!!!
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