Indebted in love…

At the hospital, I was welcomed in by my aunt, my dad’s brother and a cousin… Aunt, who was my dad’s sister who was more than his own mother for him…Her house was my paternal home. So, my attachment to her was most and she too had so much say in everything concerning me, including what I should study or what I should do next in my life…. Aunt explained the absence of uncle and it seems, he has been taken in for some tests and will take an hour atleast to be back.

It was a very jovial mood in the hospital room as aunt’s husband was much better now and would be discharged soon. With my entry, the topic shifted to ‘my dad’. ‘Did my father call’, ‘Any luck on job front’, ‘How is he doing’…etc etc. I answered with “hmm”, “yes”, “no”, “don’t know”… As it went on, the tone changed to sympathy… to my mom and me & brother… How we had to go through all this due dad’s carelessness in managing his business… I knew, the conversation was not taking a good turn… I wanted to leave…

Shockingly, my cousin took over the conversation…Like the Head of our family, he started giving me instructions… “Tell your father to NEVER EVER come back here. Tell him to be there only and work in as a street vendor or anything of that sort. Don’t dream about big Managerial jobs. Just find something and stick On… After all these problems, still he cant put down his pride… What we should be doing is ‘give him a smack’ and put him straight….”

I didn’t know what was happening. My father had been always selfless and I have seen him limitlessly helping every single person who had ever asked for his help – be it emotional or financial. When this man was going through hell in his life, I have seen him at my home and my parents supporting him with all heart like they would do to own son. And today, he was spitting venom about his own uncle, who was equivalent to his father… and that too in the presence of elders who atleast had an authority to say anything about my father…

I heard my uncle stopping him from talking further. I was weak and could say nothing. What can I say afterall. I wished to shout back at him for all that he said about my dad. Whatever be it, he was my dad and HE HAD NO AUTHORITY TO TALK LIKE THAT… I was angry at my aunt too on why she let this man talk ill about my father. I wanted to scream, shout, cry… I did nothing, just got up and said, “I am leaving”… For then, my fear was what if my mother come in then and had to listen to this @#$&*… She was expected to reach anytime. I had to rush out…

As I walked out, my uncle came behind me. For the first time in my life, he hugged me…tight…holding my head close to his chest…he gently spoke as if to console me… “Its ok mole, everything will be alright. You don’t feel sad. He is an idiot and just talks out silly. Don’t put it into your heart. Forget it. Brother is going to be fine and you all will happy soon.” It was something that I have never expected. This man who was just my father’s brother till that day, suddenly became so close to my heart…

We looked at each other’s eyes filled with tears and I walked out of that room…I had added one more person into my list of people I would be indebted to. I started loving him as my own. He was not just a relative anymore and was someone who would be in my prayers…It was a beginning…of a new relation…a new bond…There on, he was there for us, with us, during all the hard times and good times. Atleast, that was when I was realising that he has been always there…

Its been more than 15 years since that evening… Me, my family fought a very tough battle and today, we have regained our strength and started living with our heads up… I and my uncle share a very close bond… I made sure that I was always there for him during his tough days too... Today, he is with me for a 30days vacation. It was more of a Thank you from me and my brother to him and his silent love and care for us…For that hug and tears he shared with me on that evening…We are trying our best to give him all the happiness during this holidays…taking him all around the country….After all, can we ever pay back what we gain in love…we cant…we will always be…

Indebted in love…