Thursday
Brijmohan Das, 78, a retired professor of Geology, lying on his bed in ICU, unconscious, at least what doctors believed. Unfortunately he was unable to move; but somehow he was connected through his sub- consciousness to the outside galleria of his family and doctors; and wondering how trying to pull up the cords of his family together but in the end, noticing all the beads had fallen apart and scattered. It was that time on the bed when he finally reviewed his life 50 years back.
All he could hear now was distant chats of the doctors, untimely wailing nurses, his younger son shouting at times and intermittent blips of the strange equipment bugged to him. Amidst this noise, he drifted to a time 5 decades ago.
He witness through all those years in a flash; birth of his children; Dheeraj, anita and bhaskar,their jobs and marriage, death of his lovely Wife, feuds between his two daughter-in-law over petty issues and his consoling solution for them, his sons becoming puppets of their ‘Missus’.
He tried everything to balance things out between the two sons and their ladies but they remained on edge of the tight rope as ever. Taking care of their parents was getting a troublesome affair for their children. Elder son opted for caring of mother, while Brijmohan was in younger’s bag. Brijmohan smirked with a thought that how he took care of his kids in his only income and how the income house of 4 found it difficult to bear the caretaking of 2 old parents. He witnessed the partition of his “home” into “2 houses”. At that time, only thing he could think of was where he missed out on his sons caretaking that now he himself feels as an unwanted entity among them.
Mid way his memories, sound of his lovely daughter Anita brought him back to the present.
‘Since when is he unconscious?’ asked Anita.
‘About 2 days. Doctors said that as soon as he recovers he must be shifted to Delhi for better Medicare’, answered Bhaskar with a lost hope look on his face.
‘And where is bhaiya? Does he even know about it?’
‘ He must be knowing. We live in the same house. There is no need to print an invitation to invite him’, answered Bhaskar irritatingly.
‘Ah….you and your petty issues. Let me make a call.’ Anita said, putting an end to a pointless conversation.
Meanwhile in his thoughts, Brijmohan wondered, how simplified and tender was her daughter. She shared the same morals as taught to his two son by them, then how she glittered and the two remained dull. Maybe he knew the answers within but reluctant to believe.
‘He said it’s normal for father and kept on insisting that he will be okay without even knowing the scenario’ , said Anita with a surprised look on her face.
‘This was a kind of response I was expecting’, Bhaskar said with a grimace.
‘He said he would be visiting as soon as he gets time’, Anita said still trying to find hope with her elder brother.
‘I know he won’t show up. Father is my responsibility, so he doesn’t want anyhow to be attached to this scene’, said Bhaskar initiating the blame game.
‘Could you just shut up for some time and keep aside your complaints’ yelled Anita to his younger brother.
Friday
Brijmohan came to senses the coming day, more of delighted to see his daughter standing by his side, wished to speak many words, but was restricted by his weakness. Anita tried her level best to improve her father’s condition, in order to shift him to Delhi, but the doctors didn’t see any positive signs. They suggested that it would be better to take him to Delhi in the given time they have as keeping him over there only won’t bless him with more days to live.
‘I think we must start now only. Even the doctors here have surrendered. I can’t afford to leave him here’, said a disappointed Anita.
‘I suggest we let him stay here. Why causing him trouble for such a long journey. Let him have peace in his last days’, popped Bhaskar with his ideas.
‘Are you insane? How could you even think of this? Taking away even the slightest of chance of keeping him alive’ ‘said Anita with a furious flare in her eyes against his brother.
‘I am just saying that his chances of survival on the journey is minimal’, Bhaskar said, still defending his point.
‘And even less are the chances with these hopeless doctors’. ‘See, if you don’t wish to co-operate, I’m doing this on my own. Afterwards you can play your shitty blame-game on me but now, we are taking whatever limited chances we have’, said Anita with a strange firmness in her tone.
The strength Anita possessed at that time made Bhaskar nod to her decision; as anyone would have done given the strict dialect she possessed.
Dheeraj was also informed about this, and as expected he said he will be there asap. He asked not to take his father anywhere till he arrived.
Tanvi, Bhaskar’s wife, sensed the moment. She slid a blank paper in his husband’s hand and asked him to get thumb impression of her father-in-law. Bhaskar knew that his father would not do any such given the ignorance he has shown in the past few weeks towards him. So he decided to ask his elder sister to get it done.
‘Don’t you have an inch of shame in stock within you? Shamelessly asking me to do such cheap things’ said Anita, slamming away Bhaskar’s demands.
‘But I just thought,’ continued Bhaskar in a liquefied tone.
‘I plead you, don’t do such things. Anyhow these things are going to be yours. Why do you need the official confirmation?’ Anita broke down and sobbed as she said these words thinking how drastically things have worsened.
They waited for Dheeraj to show up till Anita’s patience lasted. They left for Delhi without seeking his approval.
Dheeraj, knowing that they had left without seeking his opinion, was more infuriated than ever.
Post reaching Delhi, under treatment, Brijmohan survived for another couple of days till he departed for heavenly abode.
Left all aside was a daughter, kept on crying the whole day by his father. Two sons, tainted in greedy ideas and their own cobwebs, who forgot their duties as sons, and a soul, departed away, finally opting a balanced pathway.
It was the stinging fact, that the ethics and values he imparted to his sons were superseded by minds of their mistress and passive greed, stung more viciously than the disease within.
