I may not have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth but with the fingers of my mother clutched hard under my soft gums.
I may not have ridden on expensive rides but had enjoyed swinging on the back and legs of my father.
I may not have been sent to expensive schools but the preaching’s by my parents are still instilled in me.
I may not have got a chance of sleeping on those comfortable mattresses but the lap of my mother has always been the coziest place for me.
I may not have been taken to restaurants to eat those delicacies but each bite of food put to mouth by my mom was the tastiest ever.
After all they are our parents. Salute to parenthood!
Parents are the one who would refuse to buy a saree or a pair of trousers only to save money and pay the admission fee for their tiny tots.
“Our children come first” is the attitude shown by our parents and very few children realize it nowadays. They don’t feel the real worth of their parents anymore.
Parents can give birth and cater the needs of 10 children. But 10 children can’t take care of 2 parents. It’s easy to speak but hard to realize. We may have succeeded to meet our goals and aspirations in our careers but have failed to spend time with our dear parents. Each day we are minting money to make our lives better and cater our parents’ need but my dear friends, our parents don’t need our money what they really need is our love, our time , our support and our attention.
This reminds me of a real life story of my neighbor Mr. Khurana. He was a retd. Lieutenant from Indian Army and was staying with his wife and a servant Ramu kaka. Mr. Khurana’s only son was settled in Australia and used to visit them once in two years. Whenever they used to call him up “Son!! Today your mother is missing you a lot since she saw you all in her dreams last night and wants to meet you, Please plan to come over and visit us”. Then there is this reply from him “Dad I have told you so many times, I have meeting, don’t call me at this time of the day. Bye! I will call you back.” Son forgets to call his parents and then dad calls him again and says “How are you son? How is our grand daughter?? These days we are facing a lot of issues with the car, we need it often as we have to take your mother to the doctor.” He then says “Mummy- Papa, you don’t have to worry, I have asked Ramu kaka to get it fixed.” Such children don’t realize that their parents are not looking for their extended support but them.
Next week, the son himself calls up and says “Dad I have talked to an old age home for you and mom and you will get shifted there soon since mom is not keeping up well. Also, we are paying unnecessarily to Ramu kaka.” Without any arguments and mess, Mr. Khurana agreed to shift to an old age home along with his bed ridden wife. When relatives visited Mrs. and Mr. Khurana at the old age home, they were always happy and said “Raj, now has a small family, he has so many responsibilities to look upon, he keeps busy all day long in his work and is unable to find time to look after us. Also it was becoming difficult for him, so he has sent us here. And, we are both are enjoying being here, we are served new dishes, clothes are old though, but we still are happy.
Such is the magnanimity of our parents! Again salute to parenthood.Have we forgotten those days, when our mother used to sleep on the wet beds despite being ill and made us sleep on the parched ones? She agreed upon having the left over but always fed her children first. How can we forget the toil of our fathers who used to teach us every evening because he couldn’t afford our tuition fee despite getting tired from the work?
Their never “SAY NO” attitude has continued to make us become more demanding and neglecting their basic needs.
When our parents can save for our brighter future then why can’t we save for their older and better future?
When our parents can invest most of their time teaching us, feeding us well, caring, knowing about our whereabouts then why do we find them as a burden and send them to prison like shelter homes under the observation of unknown people and assume they would be happy there.
This is the harsh reality my dear friends. Old age homes have got plenty of singles and married couples who have been captivated by the children like us. These places might serve food, shelter and clothing but not the love of their children. Friends!! These parents are in dire need of your support and not money. Don’t forget to give them little space in your homes and much more in your hearts. One day, you have to reach this juncture of life too. And imagine this happening to you, when you are yelling in pain and the closest ones are missing to listen to you.
At the end, I would like to say, share happiness and memories with your parents, enjoy every discussion over the dinner table, give them also a chance to share their experience and learn from them. And don’t forget to take their blessings after all, Love begins at home, it can’t be bought or sold.
-Shruti
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