Mr. Banerjee was sitting at the breakfast table with the morning daily visibly frustrated. His wife was setting up the breakfast table.
“Did your sleepyhead son get up ?” he enquired.
“No ! I have been waking him up for so long.I think he slept late at night.” Replied back Mrs.Banerjee as she poured the tea.
“And how do you know that ?”
“Well, I woke up last night to go to bathroom and I think I heard noises.Some mumblings from his room.I sneaked through the door and though the voices stopped, his cell phone was glowing. I guess he was busy talking to someone.” cautiously complained Mrs.Banerjee.
“That monster cellphone. You should have never persuaded me to buying him that machine. See, now that he should be studying preparing for his high school exams, he is indulging in late night talks…How careless can one be about his career ??” lamented Mr.Banerjee.
“You speak as of you never were so careless about your career ! Do I have to help retrace your days when you wrote 10-12 pages love letters to me all night.” retorted back Mrs Banerjee clearly upset over her husband.
“You see…That’s the point..I missed out on the train. I never want Rahul or Shantanu to miss out on days that matter the most.” Mr.Banerjee was clearly taken aback.
Shantanu and Rahul were twins of Mr.Banerjee who were to appear for their 12th exams next year.
“I know. But don’t you also have to allow some teenage space to the kids!! You know they too have emotions, a life other than just academics.” Mrs Banerjee was a good mother who always wanted to gift her sons a perfect childhood.
“You don’t have to protect them. You know adolescent life is the stepping stone of our lives. It shapes up our lives. How can you be so complacent about your son’s lives?”
“Well, in that case, if they are our sons, they are boys too…And it’s their life after all.Merely giving birth doesn’t entail exclusive and exhausted rights on our sons lives” Mrs.Banerjee looked at her husband with a stern look.
Mr.Banerjee was about to showcase the fallacy in her point when
At that point Shantanu came breezing in with a football in his hand and his face red with exhaustion, sweat drenching his t-shirt. He was tall, strong and had a masculine aura about his persona.
“Good morning gentleman! Good Morning Mom !” he boomed his deep baritone.
“So, you have decided to continue with your tantrums of playing football even in this desperate times of studying “ his father gave him a pensive look.
“Mom !! I am hungry. I need to eat “
He ignored his dad plain.
“Sure Shantanu !! Just get fresh and I will lay your breakfast plate.” His mom cooed to him.
“Did you see the audacity in him ? He didn’t even bother to answer his dad.” Mr.Banerjee was clearly annoyed.
“Why should he answer you? Everyday you tell him the same thing. You always nag and pester about how he should be a bookworm. You always disliked his knack for football .And all you care about is if he studies the whole day, if he takes his tuitions everyday and that he has not gone to play. He’s growing up too. He knows what is right and what is wrong at least partially. Don’t expect him to respect you always” retorted back Mrs.Banerjee.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that. Neither am I elated to see your apathy towards your son’s career. How can you be so blindfolded Manasi ?”
At this heated point of discussion, the younger of the twins Rahul entered the dining table rubbing his eyes. His long soft hair adorned his head and Mr.Banerjee couldn’t but appreciate his cuteness.
“Good Morning sleepyhead..How come you are up so early ?” taunted his father.
“Am I up early? I thought it was 9 in the morning.” Clearly Rahul was still in drowsy to understand the sarcasm.
“Yes, my able son…why don’t you go and sleep for another 4 hours or maybe the entire day. Better still, why don’t I get you deregistered from the school and you get to sleep all day long !” fumed Mr.Banerjee.
“Yes Dad !! Go on and deregister me..I don’t want to go to school. “
“Yes ! I will..I do wonder why even I strive so hard all day long when I have such nuts in my closet. You know, you and your brothers should feel ashamed of yourselves.”
“Mom !! The day is already ruined. Why don’t you give me something to eat ?”
“Eat and sleep. And for the other one it’s eat and play. I am so proud of you two” Mr.Banerjee gave up in rejection.
He busied himself as he got dressed for office. His sons too got ready for school.
That evening as the two brothers settled down to self study, their minds were both sour over their father’s caustic remarks.
As Rahul fidgeted with the phone his brother was busy toying with the pens there.
“Rahul, one of my friends told me you and Ayesha are dating big time!! How come I don’t know that?” asked Shantanu.
“Are you nuts bro? I haven’t proposed her yet. Everyday I think how to propose yet the answer doesn’t come. And had I asked her out, how come you have not known it ! You know the story since last 3 years.” explained Rahul.
“Story !! Man, you are always stuck in the first page where the boy sees the girl and falls in love. Hahaha….You are the most hopeless coward lover I have ever seen. How come you are not proposing her yet?”
“I don’t know bro..Every time I see her my words betray my words. When I don’t see her my heart betrays my mind. It’s like Ayesha! Ayesha! always. I can’t bring myself together myself when it comes to proposing her”
“But Rahul, you are suffocating inside. You have become fidgety, dreamy, irritating over the last year. Even your academics are falling. I guess you let your emotions out. At least do it for yourself. The exams are approaching.”
“Look bro, I do respect you but stop sounding like our goddamn Dad. One is enough to ruin the day. I don’t need another to ruin the night.”
“Seriously,Rahul. Every time I step outside this home, I feel I am living my life. One step inside this hell, I suffocate. I don’t know how long can I take this mental torture!!”
“I know bro..Dad is always stuffing our noses. Now a days, every time I hear his advices I feel like running away. Why can’t he be like our mom ?” Rahul was sad.
“I don’t know Rahul. I know whatever Dad tells us is for our good. But always ?? We too have our lives .We have our own dreams and approach to life. He cant take away that freedom from us.” Shantanu thought he could clearly see the line his dad has breached.
“You know bro, the first chance I get in a college I will run away from here.”
“Hmm.” consented Shantanu.
“Hey bro!! What about the football tournament in our school.You are going with the team to Delhi, right!!” enquired Rahul.
“I don’t know. Only if dad allows. The principal said he would talk to every player’s dad to get the permission. I am not so optimistic.”

Now Shantanu was the best football player in the team amd he desperately wanted to represent his school and win the prestigious trophy. But it all depended on his father.
In the other room, Mr.Banerjee was lying on his bed mumbling to himself.
“Do I think too much of my sons ? Are my expectations higher or is it just that I can foresee their careers, so I bid to give an extra effort to their careers ? Or as Manasi told me, I seek too much rights in my son’s life ? Or do they see me as a threat to their individualism?”
The next morning Rahul woke up rather abruptly. As he gulped water in haste, he looked outside the window to find it was twilight still..And surprisingly Shantanu was awake too with his head in hands sitting rather absurdly on his bed.
Rahul spoke in a soft frightened voice “Bro ! I had a nightmare..But it was so close to reality and I remember it so vividly that it seems reality to me.”
“Same here !” replied Shantanu with melancholic baritone.
“So, what did you see bro ?” asked Shantanu
“I saw that I was madly in love with my wife, Ayesha since I first saw her in IX. I used to stalk her and did everything in my power to appease her. I proposed her one day and she too reciprocated my feelings. We used to bunk our tuition classes and spend our time in parks. I left all my tuitions without informing Dad and used the tuition fees to buy gifts for her. As obvious, I had pitiable results in board exams. Still, my Dad, being optimist about my career, managed to admit me in a private college in Jaipur while Ayesha had decent Board results and shifted to Delhi. I bunked my college classes to go to Delhi just to be with her. I didn’t care for the backs I acquired in college or the miserable result. All that interested me was I still got Ayesha. After college, I managed a deplorable job with a paltry salary, Ayesha landed up a good job. But as love would have it, we were married and we settled here. Life suddenly changed after marriage. She seemed to be give more priority and time to her job than me, while I was reduced to a mere prop in her life. As she was economically far more off, the rudder of our family was with her and she began dictating terms and dominating me. Our relations turned bitter and we picked up big fight on every small issue. Our marriage was on rocks and we barely spoke to each other. Eventually we got divorced and Dad just looked in my eyes and said “Only if you understood what I used to tell you in your hay days life would certainly be different”.”
“Amazingly horrible!” was all Shantanu could say.
“Well bro! What’s your story?” asked Rahul.
“Well, I saw, after my class XII exams, I played for my district team and we won a tournament. A national football club signed me and I, against my father’s wishes, renounced my academics and pursued my dream of becoming a footballer. I was good with my footballing skills and so, I made it to the National team of India. For my consistent performance, I became a regular player. But always, the coach and I were on different boat. He always did contradict my views. In due course, I was made the captain of the National team. But, the coach never agreed on my suggestions. Gradually we began to differ on every aspect of the game and one day in the heat of the moment, I, unabashedly abused him in front of the team. He didn’t take it lightly and one day, mixed some illegal chemicals in my drinks. The next day, before an important match, I was caught and accused of doping by FIFA. They banned me for 10 years from all level of football. All my pleadings fell to deaf ears. I became penniless and became the laughing stock of the nation. I came back to mom and dad and somehow, dad managed to fetch me the job of an assistant in a medical shop but there too, the owner accused me of being dreamy and I resigned the job after blasting my employer. Thereafter, while I was feeding on my dad’s money, he said one day “If you really knew the meaning of my words, things would have been different.””
“Bro, why do I get the feeling it was a snapshot of our life if we move the way we are going.”
“You are right Rahul..It was a harbinger. Perhaps dad is right. Perhaps we are too amateurish to think of lives and rights.” added Shantanu.
“Perhaps that is the lesson for us from heaven. Perhaps we should change our way of dealing lives and hear to what dad has to say.” mechanically said Rahul.
“I guess so…I or rather we would be following the trail of life our dad wants us to follow.” philosophically added Shantanu.
“Yups bro”
On the other room, Mr.Banerjee had a similar horrifying night. He too wake up in sweats and as he fidgeted to grab the water bottle, his wife Manasi woke up.
“What happened to you ? Why are you sweating ?” asked Manasi tensely.
“I had a bad bad night!”
“What ! Did you have a bad dream! Tell me about it ! Maybe you will feel better then” said Manasi as she put her hand in his back.
“I saw, as my sons reluctantly acceded to the way of life I chose for them, they landed up with decent jobs after college. Though there was a cold relation amongst me and my sons, I thought getting them married would soften them up. Soon I became grand dad. As I tried to be a father-figure to my grand childs, my sons and daughter-in-law always forbade me. They said they didn’t want to ruin their childhood innocence by materialistic preaches. With time, as I withdrew myself in a shell as there was no one to talk to, my grand children became artists and chose unconventional career options. They became writers and sportsperson. One night I saw both my sons standing beside my bed and pointing their fingers at me and screaming to me “This is called parenting. What you did was for your selfish reasons of securing your future. A strict, disciplinarian, insensitive father doesn’t guarantee child’s prosperity in life. Caring for them does guarantee that. Taking away your child’s life and giving them yours preferred lifestyle only ruins this magnanimous relation. I guess you realize that now father.””
Mr.Banerjee couldn’t speak more. He was visibly agitated.
As his wife calmed him down she said “See, the nightmare that you saw was the manifestation of your hidden insecurities. Look honey, being a father does bring some great responsibilities in guiding your child’s life. But it is your experience that you remain the advisor in his life, not the intruder.”
“I guess. I know now what you are trying to say Manasi. I can see where I went terribly wrong. I would make up for it now. But promise me, you will always be there to placate me.” begged Mr.Banerjee of his wife as he took her two tiny hands in his palm.
“As always Sir..I will be your guiding light.” chuckled Manasi flattered by her husband’s appeal.
Did someone else there pass a wry smile too?? Maybe.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 18.02.2010

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