My friend told me a story today while we were travelling in bus. It made me think of human emotions and the ways they are manifested in relationships. On Monday, my friend got into her bus as usual and sat on a vacant seat near an old man. He was bent with age, possibly carrying the life's burden. After a while, he started talking to her, asking about the time and her destination. When the city bus stand came near, he said he had to go to Sayyaji Rao Road to buy dosa, come back near Town Hall to buy churumuri and go somewhere else for some other eatable. She just nodded thinking why he was telling her all this. He then said it was all for his son. My friend asked him what work does his son do, to which he replied 'nothing.' He is well-educated, with good computer knowledge and intelligence enough to work. But he never steps out of his house and this aged dad works for a living, not only looking after his grown son but also cooking for him and lovingly serving him by trudging all around the city for kilometres to buy snacks for his son's evening tea. He even lovingly remembered that his son loves snacks but doesn't eat much the food prepared at home. She was speechless. I was speechless. Does such unconditional love exist in the present world where parents invariably expect their children to go to a job, earn and look after them in their old age? Of course parents are selfless, but it is natural for any parent to expect this. And there are some parents who go beyond this. This maynot be an extraordinary story, but the resilience of that aged dad who toils each and every day without complaining is extraordinary.
Guess I am out of touch with everything right now, so no blog entry for many days. From many days, a question is bothering me. I haven't found a satisfactory answer yet. So I'll write it down here. Maybe anybody who reads this may know the answer. "Just because we are journalists, writers, opinion creators and thinkers, do we have the right to judge others? Either personally or professionally?" I think we don't have the right to judge a person, even if we are right. But as writers, we would have to judge others whether we like it or not. And it's very difficult forcing people to think, but that's what we are doing or pretending to be doing right? Another question: "How come life is so simple if you just let it live by itself without bothering much and so complicated if you try to manipulate it or even understand it?" Blessed are the ignorant. We who can understand everything, try not to let anything go by without understanding and thus miss the b
hmm! surely the old father seems to be a Buddha of sort - particularly for the less fortunate ones missing a loving father (sorry!)
ReplyDeleteisn't compassion different from passion ? and, nurturing-Love different from protective-possessiveness ?
one can only symphathise, never empathise, with the father as well as the son - the father, with all his Love, for missing out on nurturing the son's potential to evolve into productive, purposeful, complete being; and the son, for all his need to be taken care of, for not realizing what a miserable being he'd be, once the father is gone!
... i've in my extended family 2 such cases of educated, grownup sons, getting fully ready but not going anywhere, lazing on TV & internet the whole day, acquiring & dispensing all wisdom of world for anyone ... while their retired fathers aging/aged mothers with ailments toiling to keep the house clean, cooking for them 4 times a day, washing their clothes & plates, getting them supplies, praying for their well-being all the time ...
ReplyDelete... Now, i suspect these poor fathers might just be telling their life stories to strangers in the busstops & temples, expecting to get some succor from the shared conscious of goodness at large that's God!
... when folks are called upon by the mothers & sisters to help the situation, we hear from the fathers that its their 'Karma' and they have to endure it themselves in this lifetime ... and from the sons that 'yeah! its my parent's Karma, what's your problem dude?' ...
ReplyDeleteNow, does it complete the story 360 degrees?