Again And Again

A young man came home after a long day at work. He was tired and hungry. He eased himself on the couch and called out to his daughter, “Can you tell your mother, to give me some fruit, I’m hungry.” Just then, his old father called out from his room beyond the lobby. “Amar, are you home, son?” “Yes father, I just came in,” he answered wearily. After a few minutes, the old man called out again, “Amar, are you home son?” By that time, Amar had dozed off on the couch. His wife said, “He’s home, but he’s sleeping.” Half an hour passed. The old man called out again, “Amar, are you home son?” This time he was loud enough, to wake up his son. Amar answered back crossly, “Father, I told you I’m home, why are you calling me again and again?” The old man kept quiet. After some time, dinner was served to the old father on a tray, in his room. He asked his grand daughter, “Meenu, where is your Papa?” “He’s eating dinner, Grandpa, what’s the matter?” Grandpa sighed and said, “Oh! It’s nothing. I just wanted to know, where he is.”

Some time later Grandpa noticed his daughter-in-law, bolting the doors, as it was close to bedtime. He called out to her, “Is Amar home? I haven’t seen him.” She was irritated and snapped back at him. “He is tired and has gone to bed. Why do you keep asking for him again and again? Why can’t you leave us alone?”

The old man went to bed very unhappy. The next morning too, his son went off to work early without meeting his old father. When he returned home, Grandpa was at the door, waiting eagerly. The son said, “What’s the matter, father?” The old man said, “I was waiting for you. Come and sit with me for a while.” The son said, “Any problem, father?” “No”, said Grandpa, “I just wanted to see you. That’s all.” “Father, my wife was complaining last night, that you keep on calling for me again and again. It’s very irritating.”

Grandpa smiled, but sadly and said, “Amar when you were small, you used to sit in my lap and look at the crows on the mango tree in our backyard. Each time, you saw a crow, you would exclaim, ‘Look father, a crow!’ and I would say, ‘Yes son, that’s a crow’. One particular day, you and I repeated this dialogue 20 times. I never got tired of re-affirming to you, that yes, that is indeed a crow! Now I am old. You get irritated when I repeat the same things again and again. All I wanted was to have a glimpse of your face. I have nothing to ask for from you.”

Many of us lose our parents before they get old. If your parents are still alive, value their presence, for when they are gone, you shall realize what they meant to you. Life is a gift to us from our parents; they surely need to be revered for that if not for anything else!

For all that our parents have done for us we need to ‘Pay-Rent’ in the form of love, respect and care. If we don’t, we are not worthy children of our pay-rents (parents)!