On 3 6 2010 on the occasion of the birthday of T P Anand – my close friend for over 25 years – I posted an article in Tamil. I had accounted in that article that he always rose to the occasion to lend multiple helping hands voluntarily several times.

That article spurred one of our mutual friends Mr. Sekhar who now lived in Dubai for few years and now lives in USA. Over to Mr. Sekhar…

*****

TP – A True Friend in need indeed

After working for a number of years in India I decided to try my hand at an overseas job that too by sheer coincidence. I was trying to find an overseas job for a friend of mine and casually inquired whether I could also be considered for an overseas job. It was my luck that the person who was recruiting people for a job in Dubai was interested in my profile and put me on to the interviewing team from Dubai. The rest is history as the team just took 5 minutes to offer me a job in Dubai with a leading law firm and thus started my overseas sojourn.

I worked in that firm for about 9 years when suddenly tragedy struck me and I went into a coma and was lying in that state for over 50 hours in the house where I was living alone.

Now came the role of friends. One of my colleagues at the firm was in touch with my family and the one and only TP who took over from my colleagues in coordinating with my family in Mumbai and my son in USA. To continue where I left, I was moved in the coma stage to the Welcare Hospital in Dubai and the great TP once again arranged for a conference call with the Surgeon who was to operate on me and my son in USA to get approval for an immediate surgery. Approval was given and I was operated upon within 4 hours of removal to the hospital.

Remind you there was no one in Dubai to take care of me at this critical juncture and the operation was successful and when I woke up the first person I could see was TP right in front along with other friends and colleagues. To continue where I left, while I was being operated upon TP arranged for a visa for my son and my son was already on his way by the time I opened my eyes after the surgery.

T P Anand (Left) Sekhar (Right)

Next day morning my son landed from USA and TP was there at the airport to receive him and bring him to the hospital. Both TP and my son came to the hospital and after a brief stay both left for TP’s house where my son was take care of.

After 2 days of stay at the hospital during which time my wife and daughter also landed in Dubai and once again TP offered to take care of my family by offering a part of his house. I was discharged and after one week went to see the surgeon for a follow up and I was in for rude shock when the surgeon informed us that the surgery had to be redone as he felt that the first surgery was not satisfactory. Now again everyone had left including my son and daughter and except my wife.  The second surgery went off well and when I woke up at 2.30 in the morning after surgery I could see my friend TP in front with my wife in tears waiting for me to open my eyes.

After my discharge from the hospital we stayed at TPs house and he was magnanimous in allowing me and my family to stay with all facilities including his expensive car till I was fit enough to travel to India.

This stay was for about 3-4 weeks and till date I feel indebted to TP for his gesture as no one on this earth (barring the family) would have done what TP did for me.

This is TP the great and till date I am in touch with him and he is ready to help me always and I welcome others who have had similar experiences with TP or others ( I doubt very much) to share on this portal.

TP used to say there can be only one TP in this world and how true his saying was !!!!!. I could narrate several incidents about the great TP but it would seem an exaggeration which in truth not. One can count the number of TPs I have mentioned in this narration and it is too less a mention.

S.C. Sekhar
******

I do not know how many of you who read this true account are blessed by God to have a friend like Anand.

In the days of Web 2.0 which is dominated by Facebooks, Twitters and Google Buzzes, “a flesh and blood real friend” in true meaning of the phrase is sadly very difficult to get.

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