An old friend in MAPO!!!

We have a mini super market in Han-Hwa Obelisk, the apartment building where I stay in. While the shop assistants’ faces have become quite familiar there are other faces too who I bump into once in a while. Nowadays some of them smile, and particularly one old man is quite a regular. Most often not I just see him buying a packet of milk and walk off. On odd days I see him paying a visit to the laundry too located just beside.

It was a Friday evening and I after returning back from office as usual landed up at the basement store for some sundries. He was there and he smiled and I was just behind him at the cash counter when he said hello. I returned the gesture and while we exchanged pleasantries, it transpired that he was staying just one floor above me and he has been here for almost a year. He invited me for a cup of tea and I readily accepted. The possibility of knowing somewhat more about Korea and Koreans goaded my instinct.

I had taken his permission to first change and then go up to his room. Since it was just a floor above I walked up the stairs instead of the elevator and found the relevant room number. The door was wide open and I was greeted right at the entrance. I opened my pair of sandals at the entry point and put on the pair of home slipper, as you would do in any Korean Home. The pad was an extended office cum sitting room with a kitchen enclosure and a bedroom, compact and well equipped as any such apartment is.

While I sat down on the sofa I scanned through the room, which had lot of plants, bookracks and a functional office table and chair with all the relevant modern office equipment. The view from his window was gorgeous. The Han River flowing by and the shimmering reflection of the Mapo Bridge lights on the flowing water was a view not to miss.

As we spoke I came to know that he was an exporter dealing in environmental engineering goods. He was a well-traveled man, having customers in most corners of the world. He was proud of his business and admitted to have made quite a bit of fortune and continuing to do so. He even mentioned that most of his money was stacked away in a couple of American Banks in the USA.

He had brewed some tea and offered me some in delectable pottery while we talked about a range of subjects. They ranged from Korea’s rapid development to his eating habits. He said that he never drove a car in his life and would never own one too. I did not want to enquire about his family, because somehow my mind prevented me from doing so. But then he opened up.

There was a family, a wife and three children, separated from him. He said he did not even keep in touch with his children lest his wife finds a route of communicating with him. They were divorced, due to some differences (I did not venture into details), and now here he was a man of about 65, living all alone and still going great guns. He normally had breakfast in the opposite Holiday Inn and that helped him through to dinner. He had some fruits late in the evening post dinner. He meditates for about 2-3 hours a day and is a regular to the local Buddhist monastery. He does not drink, nor smoke, nor was he ever interested in high society clichéd entertainment.

So what does the future hold for him? He mentioned that he has made enough for him to see through the rest of his life. He was planning to sponsor daily meals for 5000 homeless old people, starting next month and that would continue till he lives. The balance money has been bequeathed to charity for financing old homes. All he wanted now to concentrate was on making more money and give it back to the society he belongs to.

Somehow I felt very small that day. Sphere: Related Content