Uncle Tom is still very fresh in my memory. His sharp eyes, rough face and coarse voice was so endearing that it seems only a few days ago I had met him. In reality it has been ages since I last saw him.

Thomas  Albert Anthony, better known  as Tom uncle in our locality was a very decorated police officer of Bangalore. He was famous for handling riots and angry agitations. Stories of his courageous encounters were very popular then.

After his final posting in Bangalore, he bought a house in our locality and that gave me a chance to get introduced to him. He too showed a great liking towards me and so I frequently visited him. I learnt from him about many of his heroic deeds, every meeting with him was a new source of enthusiasm for me.

I learnt  from Tom uncle that he was an orphan and had been brought up in an orphanage. From there he completed his graduation and through sheer hsrd work became an I.P.S. After joining the police service he was revered for his fearless adventures and very soon had become very popular. 

Though in profession Tom uncle had earned a lot of name and fame but his personal life was totally shattered. He had married his long time girl friend, Nandita and they also had a daughter, Garcia. But their conjugal life did not remain as smooth as they thought. Tom uncle's frequent transfers, his ill-tempered attitude and abusive language was too much for Nandita to bear. Ultimately when she could not withstand him any more, she left the house with their eight year old daughter. The relationship had worsened so much that no reconciliation was possible. 

Since then Tom uncle had been living alone and for five years he did not have any information about them. Though he always felt for them but his ego prevented him from going back to them. 

Things changed when Tom uncle found that he was forgetting things. He met a Neuro-surgeon and after various tests, he was reported as suffering from Alzheimer and there was every possibility that in two or three months at the maximum he might forget everything. 

This report of the doctor totally shook up the otherwise robust uncle Tom. He felt  he had nothing to cling on to and nobody to share his pain. He could not  believe that after a few days he will not be knowing who he was and the whole world would forget him as a by-gone-bye. So, uncle Tom took up a diary and started writing his memories, he wanted to be remembered and not forgotten.

He was very badly missing and feeling for his wife and daughter. He used to hold their photograph in his hand and weep for hours. He had never been so emotional ever before. He was yearning to meet them at least once, he wanted to see them once before forgetting everything including them. He requested his department to find them for him. The department too promised him that they would do their best.

With the passing of each day Tom uncle's mental state was deteriorating. We were also forbidden from visiting him. He himself was also sceptical that  if he moved out of the house, he might forget the route and never return back. So, he locked himself up in a room and  always sat beside a open window. All his dreams and ambitions were gone, he was just waiting for  one glimpse of his wife and daughter. 

The last time I saw him was before going to my hostel. He was clinging to the window grill and searching with blank eyes. The search seemed to be never ending and his blank eyes still linger before my eyes.

                                                              ------------Anupam,