I am simply amazed at the people
I see around me everyday. The different facets of life that they come from and
the work they do with the dreams which each one of them aspire for. Some of
them have dreams for themselves and some dream for their families or loved
ones. I happened to come across such an individual in a train journey in the
local trains of Mumbai.
I had had a very bad day at work
and all I wanted to do was reach home and get some rest so that I could face
another day at work. I was in two minds whether to continue the job or to
remain with the company to pursue my social career.
I boarded the train at Churchgate
station which is the closest railway station from Nariman Point and on my way
to Borivali. I was lucky to get the seat that would change the way I looked at
life and the hurdles that came along with it. The train was fairly empty on a
Saturday afternoon as the weekend had already started for most of the office
goers. I took a window seat and sat starting out of the window and thinking of
how I hated my job and the life that I was leading. Then they came in and sat
right opposite me and were already in the midst of a conversation that I
assumed had started sometime earlier.
There were two elderly gentlemen,
Mukund and Salil, who were maybe in their late forties and were discussing
about their lives and its problems. Mukund was explaining to Salil how his life
was filled with problems. I was sitting in my own grief and didn’t want to hear
another sob story from anyone to make me feel more disserted than I already was
but I listened to their conversation since I had nothing better to do.
Mukund was describing the way he
was married to a girl in his early twenties by an arranged marriage and after 5
years of marriage and a son of 2 years she passed away in a freak accident.
Apparently, the driver was drunk and slammed into his wife when she was
returning home late at night from her mother’s place. He couldn’t do anything
to the driver since his father was in the high and mighty of the then ruling
political party and had already threatened dire consequences if he had to
pursue the case against him.
He was left with a 2 year old to
take care of him and raise him on his own. A second marriage was out of the
question as no girl wanted to be with a widower and would obviously not shower
the same love on the child as his real mother. He took the responsibility of
raising his child on his own and making sure he got all that he could give him.
It took a while before both of them
had adjusted to the new life ahead of them. He had rarely cooked and cleaned
the house or done any house hold chores as his wife had him pampered with just
sitting and relaxing while she did the needful. Nor had he spent much time with
his son in cleaning his diapers and making his meals. He was always the one who
would put him to sleep or play with him while she would do the rest of the
chores.
Working as an executive in a
Multi-national company only gave him security of his job but really didn’t take
care of the payments and the time that he could spend with his child. To add to
it, his son had a weak immune system and was as notorious as hell. Mukund would
be often called from his school telling him he is sick or injured himself. A
single dad was no joke for him to handle and he was terrified. He thought of
asking his parents to stay with him so that they could help with the nurturing
and care of his son while he was away but that was not possible as they
themselves were too old to take care of themselves. It resulted in years of running
around from home to work and then from his school to various doctors who were
poking into him and giving various medications to cure his son’s weak immune
system.
Till the age of 7 he was always
falling ill on regular intervals and his medical bills would always be a worry
for Mukund. Apparently, all through it he had always kept his calm and never
wondered of what the worst could bring. He had almost stopped meeting and
greeting friends and all his other worldly pleasures had come to a standstill
for that time. He was determined to raise his son and impart the affection of
both the parents to him.
The thing that really inspired me
was that all through this he and his son shared a bond that rarely a father and
son would get to share in a normal family. His son went on to become a chef and
was working in a leading star hotel and doing well for himself. Mukund said
that his son was getting married in a couple of months and he was looking
forward to it. Now he was busy with all the wedding preparations and was
relieved that everything worked fine till now.
I was simply amazed on listening
to this person who just managed to live an austere life for the love of his son
and dedicated all his resources to let him live his dreams. He had none of his
own and never in the whole conversation did he mention that he regretted
anything except the loss of his wife. Although, he also stressed that because
that happened he was drawn so much closer to his son that he may not have appreciated
had his wife been alive today.
I did not know him from Adam but
his synopsis of his life in the whole train journey made me realize the true
meaning of success in life. I could never compare the success he achieved in
raising and nurturing his son as a single parent with me who was leading a much
more relaxed and convenient lifestyle.
