Dear mum and dad
As I grow bigger each day, I have realized that you have
been growing old. There were times you and I thought of the day I would grow
matured. I am sure you dreamt of the day your son would grow into a man. Yes,
today as I realize that I have successfully grown into man that you had dreamt
of, there is a feeling of sadness mixed with nostalgia. Never had I thought I
would grow this big to just remain away from you all. I know you also didn’t
think of this but selflessly never ceased to educate us.
You received the rainfall but kept us dry. You burned
yourself under the sun and kept us under the shed. You swallowed the pain and
gave us the relaxation and happiness. A little money you earned shedding the
rivulets of tears, I know, you spent on us. The money with which you could have
purchased a cozy jacket or a beautiful pair of shoes, you expended on us. For
out tomorrow, you forgot your today. Just to gift us the better days, you
fought with bitter days. I have remembered every little that you provided me
that kept me going. I asked one and you gave me ten, perhaps, the biggest
amount of anything that human on earth can give.
You and I have trodden the path that poverty laid for us. I
have witnessed the adversities that fate threw on us. I have perceived with my
own hand the hardness of life that pressed us hard. Eating half stomach, you
would fill ours to the fullest.
I can remember vividly when we had to shift to our own house
from grandma’s house, how tough it was. We had nothing other than sooth-painted
dishes, old rugged clothes and the cracked fate with us. With the hope for a
better tomorrow, to write our own destiny and to challenge the fate that every
married son had to face, I have seen you migrated to our new house. We had the
cheapest house that stood like a tower and still we have it. We had nothing
except the empty rooms without beds to sleep on and without fate to bless us.
One person that was there spectating us was only God. To the world, we just
looked assess with- what- will- you- do- to- eat kind of people. As small as we
were, perhaps, never must my parents have thought we would one day grow into
respectful asses. Or perhaps they must have dreamt us of growing big. Unsure of
what our future would look like, I assume you must not have dreamt of big
dreams.
Dad and mum, I still remember the time we had to take
kharang. Only on occasion, fortune would allow us to eat rice. I still hate
those moments when we had to eat Kharang out of no choice. I still keep imaging
as to how much you would take to go for shopping. We had no source from where
money would come from. The produce of paddy we would reap at the end of the
year, most of them would go the money lenders. I have seen you, my mum working
damn hard, getting others land for sharecropping. How tough it might have been
to clear the bushes for ginger plantation. I was too small to think of your
health and never did help you. As we grew bigger we had to go to other places
for our study and you still struggled under the scorching sun and lashing
rainfall. However, I have understood the toughness that would hit us having to
work as a farmer. Don’t worry, your son has grown empathetic and never fail to
appreciate the sweats that drain from your body.
The time we had no oxen and had to hire from others with
paddy in return, still haunts me. We had thatched house that wouldn’t
effectively prevent dripping of rain into the room. Twice in a year, you used
to replace with straw. The time needed and the difficulty you used to face in
reaping the straw that too on a sharing basis is, unimaginable.
I look you with great awe for your greater sacrifices for me
and my siblings. You never wore new shirts and shoes, but never denied to buy
us one. You wore torn clothe stitched again, and gave us new ones. Still today
you have maintained the same trend. Our tower- like house is on the brink of
losing its name. It seems like it would collapse anytime. The money that
gambled on me and my siblings and of which the return would be never even
quarter of it, would have made a good house for you two. Yet you forgot your
comfort for ours. Your love showed our need and concealed yours.
I want to ask you, today this question: are all parents
around the world, as foolish as you are? Foolish for the reason that you know
you won’t get even one tenth of what you gave us back! Is it that you expect
your children to look after you when you grow old? Have all the children been
able to fulfill the expectation of parents? Perhaps, you are living with
inferior feelings that your children may not come nearer to your dreams.
Nay, don’t worry! I write this, today, as a proof for
tomorrow that, no matter what, I will try to fulfill many of your dreams. I
will make sure an expectation of a parent never go in vain. I will fill the gap
that life and fate have created. I shall struggle every day and night to be
your good son. I shall keep this writing as an evidence for tomorrow for you to
refer and comment on me. The worries you have that you reiterate almost every
day will be clarified soon.
I sure by now,you must be worrying as to what type a wife will come to me.This worry,i know,is harbored by all the parents of grown up kids.Let me assure you that when time comes for me to marry,your son will not search a wife who would drag your
dignity to the ground. I will search a wife who will come like a daughter to
you, love unconditionally and travel with us endlessly. I will not breed
a feeling in you to feel low in the society. I shall serve you as any good son
would serve their parents. You have given me so much that i won’t be able repay
in my whole life. But I will make sure your dreams see the horizon of reality.
I love you!
Your son
