~ Keep Walking...~

Today I write about a soul who is a father to another lovely soul who happens to be his only son. He dotes on the relationship he carries with him, more so as God has given him the responsibility and the resolve to nurture him well as he was born with serious medical condition “fickle mindedness” and will always behave like a child…

The bold father ("Maheshji" as I call him) took upon himself to raise him with whatever resources the family had at their disposal, as a gift of God, - his karma in this life.

The anguish which life offers when such instances happen in one’s life refutes the presence of God, “Why Me” is the only question which comes to one’s mind and unfortunately, the answers are not to be found. Maheshji had none of this torment when we were talking, his simple composure on the topic led me to believe the dignified approach he has meted out towards this happening, as if he has found the real meaning of life! 

Pankaj, his paraplegic son does not remain with him, as he has grown up now and cannot be taken care of by him, touching retirement, Maheshji is not in the best of his physical health to give a proper care and comfort to his ailing son. The alternative has been sending him to a far off home care center for such kids – Pankaj has been a resident of his surrogate home for more than a decade now , he has made friends and plays with them and shares his pains and pleasure with his lifelong inmates.

On special occasions such as Diwali and New Year, Maheshji brings his son back and makes him enjoy the family’s presence – the house is lightened up with utmost brightness and sparkle, not by lights but with the giggling and loudness of talk the family does when he is back – no wonder the mood gets ecstatic on such occasions but all the happiness gets short lived once the new dawn arrives, the mood gets somber and Pankaj has to be driven back to his dwelling where his caretakers are eagerly waiting for him. The parents can’t afford to keep him for long as there is a high risk of a fit happening which needs medical care.

Just the other day during my general conversation, the topic erupted and Maheshji was quick to address it with no qualms. “ I am not the only one God has done this to, there are many such parents who are doing their duty and have got such children, Its life sanjeev, this happens!, just keep walking till you reach the end…”

These words became a bedrock of my motivation – you sometime feel deprived of your aim and the zeal to perform and keep walking in the solitude of nothingness, with all the bad stories and mayhem that you have observed in life, suddenly you confront a man who has been raising a ‘differently abled” child with responsibility and no absolute vices towards the almighty.

At the end of life what really matters is not what we have built, but what we have shared, I guess you have found your man whom you can always look forward to at times of disgust – Thanks Maheshji for telling me the true meaning of our living… Just keep walking till you reach the end…