#5 The Story Of An Old Man…

I was just strolling in the park; I decided to sit down for a while. I found a bench on one corner of the park, there was an old man already sitting on one corner lost in his own world. I went straight, took my seat and let out a sigh of relief. The problem with humid weather is you sweat a lot and I hate that. There is only one minor difference between Chennai and Mumbai as far as the weather is concerned that Mumbai is a lot more cooler than Chennai but still humid. I was in Mumbai for a vacation and I was enjoying my every evening with vada pao and chutney.

So I sat down on the bench and was busy admiring the beauty of nature. The old man was feeling a bit uncomfortable and he got up to leave. I didn’t pay that much of attention then but when he went a little ahead and sat down on the other bench I felt bad. Why would he do that? I tried not to bother about the same but I couldn’t resist. I needed to know what his problem with me was. What did I do that he did what he did.

I got up, went straight to him and asked,

“Excuse me, what is your problem?”

“Sorry” he said

“Why you changed your seat when I sat on that bench?” I asked again

He didn’t reply for a while, I stood there waiting for his reply.

“I don’t even know you. Why does it bother you so much then?” he asked me

“Because it was very rude of you to do that.” I said

“Have a seat.” He offered me

I sat down.

“What you do?” he asked me

“I am a writer. I write stories.” I said

“Good stories? Bad stories? Huh! What sort of stories you write?” he asked me

“There isn’t anything good or bad. It is the deed of human being and their perspective which makes them either a good person or a bad person in the eyes of other people. I write about my experiences.” I said

“You sound more mature than your age.” He said with a glint of sarcasm and then he continued

“You know I was more like you when I was of your age. I was one enthusiastic kid who always jumped to grab any opportunity came in his way. But when life slaps you hard you can’t do much.”

“What is it which is bothering you from a long time? You are not happy, right. You are upset with your life. You don’t talk much with people. Sometimes you are scared of people. Because you are afraid of losing people from your life and you are scared that you will end up alone. What is your story? Tell me I am all ears. I am a good listener and I know when you share you will great about it.” I said

“Why my story interest you so much? I am just an old man. Go home kid; write some story which the audience wants. Or you will end up with regret for the rest of your life.” He said

“A good writer is not someone who write what others want him to write. A good writer is someone who make people fall in love with whatever he writes.” I said

“You are one stubborn kid. You are not going to give up, are you?” he asked

“Never.” I said

“I was a go getter my whole life. Being the elder son I had many responsibilities and I managed to take good care of every single thing in life. I worked harder, earned a lot of money and respect. My idea of retirement was when all of my children are well settled in their life then I will take a break and spend the rest of my life with my family. But that never happens. I have four daughters and only one son. As soon as I took retirement, my son went abroad. That time I was very much healthy and had nothing to worry. I was having a great time of my life with my old friends, family, and grandchildren. I couldn’t ask god for anything more. However my son was still stuck in abroad and he had no plans of coming back. He use to visit us every year but that was not enough. I didn’t care that much since he had his own life and dream I never stopped him from doing something. But my wife had many plans which was failing one after the other. She wanted to spend time with her son and grandsons but they were never here for her. Silently she wept. She always longed for them to come back and live with us but that never happened. Years passed after years and my condition started degrading with every day passing by. I had a lot of stress and worries which I never shared with anyone, I never showed my unfulfilled desires to anyone and faced life the way it came to me. I was never like this. Now I am scared of people. I am anxious all the time. I have lost some good friends as they passed away and it scares me to know that even after some years my time is going to come when I will have to say goodbye to this world. When I look myself into the mirror I can’t recognize the person standing there. I have done so many things and I have achieved a lot in life. But now I am just a helpless old man who feels abandoned by his own son. People think that in old age all we need is money to survive. But no one knows we don’t care about the money anymore because our whole life we were busy running behind money and never spent good time with family. They don’t understand that we don’t want their money all we want is someone to be there for us. Someone to stand by our side and say that everything is gonna be okay. Like how we use to hold our children whenever they fall in life, we want the same thing in return. But that is just a waste of time to even talk about it. You do everything what your children asks for and then they all go abroad settle there and never come back. They will visit you every year and feel good that they have done their part. People of my generation have more expectations from son, in my case my daughters has done so much for me that sometimes I feel blessed. But there is still one part missing from my life and it makes me feel sad. I feel bad about that one missing part from my life. I and my wife had a dream to live with my son and his family. But dreams are just some silly imagination of our mind, which are seldom fulfilled. That is the harsh reality of life.”

I was moved by the story of his life and had no clue how to react over it. I have heard this many times seen plenty times in movies, read a lot of books which had similar story but when I was witnessing it from my naked eyes I had no clue what to do.

“I know what you are thinking. I would just tell you one thing kid; you are good and a lot sensible than other people of your age. I know you have your own dreams and you want to fly high above the horizon. Do all of that, never ever stop working for your dream but make sure you balance your life by taking care of your family. They may never tell you in future that they need you. It is you who will have to understand this and take initiative. Thank you for hearing me out. All the best for your future. May god bless you kid.” He said and he left

I sat there for another half an hour thinking about his story. There are so many such stories in the whole world. There are so many unfulfilled desires in the whole world. But still no one cares; people talk a lot about it but never act. If someone can’t take care of his own parents then what they will do in life. And since karma is a bitch it will all come to them when they will reach that age. And the cycle keeps on continuing. Will there be any end of it?