Family Short Story – With His Own
Photo credit: mvictor from morguefile.com
“I am not able to take care of him because I am not at home most of the days… So are you. We are a working couple and hence we cannot afford to look after him, now that he is so old! Don’t you get it Pooja?” an exasperated Sriram asked his wife.
“I understand we are busy! But this is his home! He has been here always. Now if he cannot take care of himself, we should keep a caretaker to look after him. Moving him to an old-age home does not seem right. What would people say? I don’t think you have thought about that!” retorted Pooja.
“Great! Now we have to do everything based on what other people like and what they don’t. Awesome! When would you realize that we cannot keep him with us if we are to go out of home everyday leaving him alone! He is almost deaf; he tends to sleep off anytime, now he has even started forgetting things! Few days back you had to rush home because he would not answer the door for our maid, and then we realized he had forgotten to put on his hearing-aid. How long do you think we can continue like this before any mishap happens? At least the homes can provide protection to him. And I shall make sure he gets proper care with my finances.”
“You know what, do whatever you want. I don’t want to prolong this uncomfortable topic now. I have to wake up early tomorrow as I have a meeting. So let me sleep.”
With that Pooja turned her back to Sriram, while he sighed and thought about searching for good old-age homes to next day. He felt confident he was doing the correct thing as per his duty to his parent – his old father, who has now almost become an invalid. Pooja would understand – although he sometimes feels she seems to be closer to her father-in-law than him, and feels a twitch of jealousy pricking him when he sees them laughing on some silly joke together, but surely she would understand he too loved his father and was doing all this for the old man and not for himself only.
The next evening Sriram landed up at the building addressed as “Home for the Retired”, and asked to meet its manager. The meeting ended fruitfully with the formalities getting completed and a relieved Sriram reached the bus-stop to return home.
A crowded bus halted to a stop and he struggled to balance himself on the footboard. Somehow he reached inside the bus, pushing through the crowd, but the jerking was causing him to sway enough to almost lose his balance. He was counting the minutes of time while holding onto a seat, when he felt a light tap. Looking down he saw a demure be-spectacled old man smiling at him. Through signs he conveyed that Sriram could slip to his seat once he got up as his stop was near, and then raised his fingers to his old lips signaling that this be better kept a secret from the rest of the crowd. Pleasantly surprised, Sriram nodded. Then he asked, “Where would you get down?”
“Two stops from now son”, the old man replied.
-“ Where are you traveling from?”
-“Far off. I am traveling for around an hour. Going to see my son in the city hospital you see.”
– “Traveling alone? This is not good for you uncle!”
-“Ah! The youth and their worries about the old! Don’t worry son, I am fine. I have been traveling like this for the last fortnight. My boy does not have any one else to be with him, he is an invalid. He also worries about me and blames himself for not being able to take care of me. But”, the old man smiled a toothless smile, “he does not realize that we old people are not mere responsibilities of the young. For us, just being with our children is equivalent to staying happy and healthy – old age is all about loneliness, children remove that and keep us happy. After that even if we end up in mishaps, we still bless them because they have kept us close to them just as we had done when they were small helpless creatures! Hahaha…”, laughed the old man and then became slightly somber when he said, “You are understanding this, aren’t you? Your parents stay with you?”
-“Er.. yes. My father stays with me. He has become very old now and needs constant supervision, so I was thinking…’
-“Hopefully you are not thinking about tearing yourself away from him, are you?”
-“No, I mean I… I did not think in that way… I would be visiting and all of course.”
-“What would you have felt like if you had been left in an orphanage because as a baby you needed constant supervision? Would you have accepted it if you knew you had parents and family and not that they didn’t love you – it’s just that they wanted you to be better looked after because they could not afford your constant dependency on them. Would you like it?” Two peering, tired eyes looked up at Sriram and he didn’t know where to turn or what to say.
“I have an invalid son, and he is in hospital because he needs those medical facilities he would get only there. But both of us are still happy because we know we are there with each other. In fact, when the doctor says he can be taken home, or even says that nothing more can be done at the hospital, I shall take my son back because he needs his family till his end and so do I.”
Sriram was thinking of what he could reply as he was already feeling guilty for reasons he could not understand, when the old man pulled his arm and started getting up. Remembering the agreement about the seat, he smiled at him. As they exchanged their positions, the old man whispered, “I know you mean well. Your parents know that too. Bless you!” and disappeared into the crowd.
Pooja saw the crumpled paper in Sriram’s hand and chided him for not being careful with the document as it was the entry form for the old-age home. He didn’t reply but went straight to his father.
His father was dozing off, so he was about to leave when the old, croaking voice called out, “Son! Came to say something?” and waving his frail hand about he urged Sriram to be seated.
As he sat holding his father’s hand, the old man went on blabbering, “I was thinking of your Ma… I know I have been causing difficulties for you here. I am weak and a useless weight now. Believe me my son, nothing is dearer to me than living with my family. But I feel lonely without your mother. If she was with me, I could have stayed anywhere with her without being unnecessarily dependent on you. Now that she is not there, you are the only family I have left. I just pray not to be separated from my own till my last breath. It would only mean my death before the actual end to my heartbeat.”
“Oh Dad!” Sriram squeaked as his voice was choked with emotion. “I cannot bear to be separated from you either!”
__END__
