A run on a rainy day

It was 4 o'clock in the evening when I stepped out of the house. The run was not planned that day; however, the weather turned and it started to rain.

This was the first couple of rains in the season and I could not miss it.

The cool breeze was bringing the scent of the rain along with it. This tells you that it was raining nearby and it was moving towards you.

I normally look around and take a visual picture of the place before I start my run. That's when I spotted an old man in a turban looking confused.
Not the normal kind of confusion where you are not sure about what you're looking at.
But the kind of confusion that creeps up on you as you walk into a narrow street and slowly realize that this is in fact not your street. This is a completely different street.

I quickly figured out what was happening and I walked over to the uncle to say "hi". He had kind eyes. He looked at me and said that he was lost. He was speaking a mix of Punjabi and Hindi and English.

I asked him what he was looking for. He said that he was out here shopping for some supplies. He had a large packet of milk and Dhaniya in his hands. He said that he was confused and wanted some help figuring out where his house was. We spoke a bit while he was looking for the address to the house on his phone.

Then we walked around the neighbourhood to find his house. We spoke a bit during this time. He had difficulty walking, so this was quite a bit of time.

He was very stressed so I was trying to get him to talk about fun things. I asked him about his family. He had a daughter and a son. The daughter was married and living in Bangalore. I do not remember what he said about the son.

He kept saying that he was living with his daughter in Bangalore and that he was just visiting here for a few days. I did not have the heart to tell him that this was Bangalore.

More importantly (than my heart), with patients of dementia, it is helpful if you do not disturb their model of the world. :)

After some walking we found the house. He was super excited about the house. I was also very happy.

I waited for him to enter the building and then he said "hi" to the guard, who recognized him. I let out a sigh of relief. This man was finally home. We said good-byes and I turned back and resumed my run.

A couple days later

I ran into the uncle some weeks later at a traffic signal in Indiranagar. He recognized me and we spoke. He told me that he was headed to a different part of the city on a bus. He was on his way to the bus stand. He had a small backpack that he was carrying.

Good day uncle.
Slowly getting older.
Sohom