Memoir: 9th July 1980. My happiness new no bounds when I came to know that I cleared my B.Sc. (H) Maths from Delhi (Zakir Hussain) College and that I had scored the highest in my batch in the college (though the score was not really high by today’s standards). I rushed towards the hospital where my father was admitted due to severe kidney failure. I wanted to give him the news as soon as possible. The night before he had asked me about my Final Year’s result in his feeble, flickering voice. I had wondered then. He was totally dis-oriented. How could he keep track of the fact that my result was due? But it was his dream, perhaps, that I should score a First division ( A First division was highly rated at that time!!). I could not find the Bike keys. My younger brother had kept them somewhere. I decided to walk down. Willingdon (Ram Manohar Lohia) Hospital was hardly 20 minute walk from Rajinder Nagar. So I walked…briskly. I had no patience to wait for my brother. Suddenly something started troubling me. I had a gut feeling that I was getting late. But why? I did not know. I started running and reached the hospital in record 10 minutes. When I reached the corridor which led to his ward, I was almost panting for breath. I somehow pushed myself to his bed. But it was lying vacant. My brother-in-law was standing in a corner with tear in his eyes. The ward boy who was cleaning the bed told me that he was no more. It happened just a few minutes back. I was shocked. Went to the place where his body was kept. His eyes were still open. Perhaps the dream was still alive. And I realized very soon- what I have missed. I wanted to see the happiness in his eyes, the happiness that I have fulfilled his dream. I would not be able to see the shine in his eyes, that satisfaction on his face. I was a little too late!!! I had troubled my parents a lot during my college days due to my careless attitude. I happy-go-lucky kind of boy, you know, who never took anything seriously. Be it their financial condition or my studies. Lot of activities: friends, cricket, poetry. It was very recently that I had gone a bit studious, and wanted to prove to my father that I can do well in academics as well. But, It was not to be. Today when one of my Ist year student called me and told me that she has scored well in her exams, it was almost the same time and the same day. I congratulated her and gave her my good wishes for the future. But it took me 33 years down the memory lane. I always repent. Had I run faster!!!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:01:30 +0000
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