Letters

Absolutely Anonymous

Date: 1 Jan 2013

Lieutenant Colonel Krishna Iyer did not see the dawn of 2013. Before the rising sun could reach the window of the Geriatric Ward of CSI hospital where he lay, at 6 a.m. on the 1st of January he quietly passed away. There were no military salutes or funeral processions. A few of his most beloved friends took over the last rites while the nurses of the hospital, who had become deeply attached to him, shed quiet tears.
Retiring early from the army, Krishna decided to devote himself to those whom society shuns. He became a ‘sponsor’ to anyone who wanted to give up alcoholism. Day in and day out, quietly and without expecting anything in return, he would visit such people, call them over, sit for long hours chatting with them, and constantly reaching out with his helping hand even if they pulled away theirs and walked away from him.

Image Credit: Kevin, cc-by-2.0, flickr.com

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), as the name suggests, is a fellowship of men and women who have the desire to give up drinking. [Times of India news article on AA]. No one holds any position of authority, there is no funding, and even names are kept anonymous. Thus, even though he served for years as a Trustee and in various other capacities of AA, the world did not know him. And he did not care.
He had just one mission, to reach out at an individual level, one day at a time, one person at a time. And he did it till his last breath. His last breath came sooner than it should have – for when his kidneys started failing, he refused dialysis, allowing himself to sink into eternal sleep, and the money that he saved and had earned through his military services was willed away for the formation of a Trust to educate girls through B.Ed. – for he believed that one girl who becomes a trained teacher can spread the light of knowledge to thousands of others.