He woke up to the sound of the bloody vacuum cleaner. At first he thought it to be a part of his dream. But soon his sleep broke into reality. He picked his wrist watch from the side table to check the time. It was just 5 o’clock in the morning. Turn that damn thing off he yelled. What is the special occasion, anyway? Suddenly the sound stopped. He kept his wrist watch back on the side table and was about to lie down again to complete his sleep, is when Aruna marches in, speaking a little loud, "do you have a sense of responsibility or not? Or is it just me who is supposed to act all responsible around here". Please recall todays date. You tell me what is so special about it? I am waiting for an answer. She spoke without a pause causing her a little difficulty in breathing. His sleep vanished like a puff of smoke in the thin air. He made her sit next to him. Handing her a glass of water that he picked up from the side table. She looked at him with her sharp eyes before taking the glass. She took a few sips and said this is why I married you 37 years ago.
The flight will land at 1300 hrs and it is a good 2 hour journey from the airport. You can relax and let Meena clean the house. I don’t want you exhausted by the time kids arrive. You don’t worry about me mister. You get out of the bed and get ready. And don’t forget to fold the blanket. He got out of the bed, folded the blanket to the best of his abilities and went to the terrace. He does his cardio up there. An extensive 20 minute brisk walking followed by a 10 minute session of yoga. He makes sure that they have their morning tea on the terrace. It is always quiet and peaceful up here he says mostly everyday, while sipping his ginger infused tea. There is a banyan tree in the verandah and goes all the way up supporting the walls of all the neighbouring houses. The tree has been there since ages. He has a fondness towards the tree.
It was 1000 hrs and he was all ready and waiting for the breakfast to be laid. Usually people don’t have breakfast late in the mountains. But due to the sudden deep cleaning scheduled today, led a delay in the breakfast. He went onto check the stock of bubbly in the refrigerator as kids would love to drink them during their stay. Finally everything was spick and span. They were all set for their arrival a couple of hours before hand. He was a retired army officer and she was a retired school teacher. After their retirement the kids continued to stay in Gurgaon and they moved to their ancestral house in Kanatal, in Uttarakhand. They have transformed the house and now half the house is converted into a lodge and the rest is their home. It was Aruna’s idea not to depend only upon the pension for managing the expenses. They have hired helper who manages the operations at the lodge. While renovating the house the builder suggested to cut the banyan tree off, but he was adamant and asked the builder to work in a way that he gets the architecture around the tree.
They were talking about the time passing by so soon like it was yesterday when their daughter was born and now they becoming grand parents to a mischievous child. The time glided by and they could here the car honking at their main gate. The parking was neat and clean and had enough space for them to park the car safely. The architecture for the parking space was a brain child of Aruna and had received a lot of accolades till now from various relatives. Their son in law didn’t miss to appreciate the architecture too. This brought a proud smile on Aruna’s face which didn’t go unnoticed. After a couple of bubblies they all went to freshen up while lunch was being laid. Ahaan came running out in the dining area. He started helping in laying the table and in no time they all were having lunch. Post lunch they all rested in their rooms for a while, as the journey was tiresome. They were laughing at the snores of their kids. He helped Aruna clean the kitchen and then they sat in the verandah and were recalling the time that had past and how far have they arrived in the journey. The lodge was also completely sold out and was bustling with families coming in and going out of the lodge.
He has been the provider of the family and during his struggle Aruna stood tall. She provided the support and push whenever it was required. She had managed the house with the whatever funds were given to her which never affected the studies of their child. And today they have enough that they are able to give it back to the society whenever necessary. The kids were up from their nap and tea was arranged on the roof. The weather was pleasant and the view was magnificent from there. He was standing on the other end of the roof and observing the tree. Ahaan came to him and asked him about the tree. He told Ahaan that listen carefully son, my grandfather and your great grandfather told me this story. Try to observe these leaves, on every branch of this tree. You will notice that on every branch there are a bunch of leaves. All these leaves are like a family. Each leave is bigger than the other, just like how it is in every family. All these branches are families and these leaves are the family members. The biggest one being the father, then the mother and then kids. This tree resembles to me as a society with in. If nourished and nurtured well enough this will flourish till the end of time and if not looked after, it will wither away. So always look after the society you live in because it will eventually affect your family.
Little Ahaan learnt a very important lesson today. This will help him become a better individual and an integral part of the society.
1 comment:
๐ Well written
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