A Situation - A Grief

                He was a person who was liked and appreciated by everybody for his cheerfulness, generosity, his pranks and his attitude of making fun of himself and everyone. His attitude never hurt anybody but made everyone happy. He was a good husband and a caring father. His' was a happy lived small family.

                 All his relatives gathered and were leaving for a Puja, a Puja to river Kaveri which was very auspicious for their family. The lady of the family could not join the Puja. She had a genuine reason for it. She wanted her husband to come back soon after the Puja, they had to visit a friend who had come back after a long time. He promised her that he would definitely come soon and take her to her friend's place. They left.

                 All the kids were jumping to get into river Kaveri. But, he stopped them all as he noticed Kaveri roaring with her huge waves. Localites near the banks told that the gates of the dam were opened due to which Kaveri was fully flooded. His 13 year old daughter was too naughty; she was excited to see full flooded Kaveri after years. He warned his daughter strictly not to get into water. She stayed away with a sad face.

                 She was gazing the water when her dad started offering Puja. She was observing the kids of localites who were playing in water. She cribbed about her dad for not allowing her to play in water. After a while, she was confused to see what her dad was trying to do instead of finishing his Puja. She observed, her dad was trying to save a kid who was almost sinking. She felt happy to see her dad being a hero. She was so cool to see her dad doing that, she knew her dad was a great swimmer. But, the relatives were worried. Her dad saved the kid and was about to reach the banks. A huge wave took him away from the banks. He started to flow along with the river. He moved away and away. She was still cool looking at her dad moving away. She was so confident that her dad will swim and come back. Her relatives started shouting about he getting sunk. She saw a scene in which her dad's head was only seen and it was moving far and far from her. Tiny lines of tension appeared on her face. Soon, the localites got the information of the hero lying on the banks near the bridge which is 1 KM away from the place where they offered Puja. All her relatives and localites ran to see him. They forgot about the little daughter. The daughter was able to see her dad after an hour when the localites had placed him in an Auto. The auto driver observed tension on her face and said " Don't worry baby, he is just unconscious. He will be alright." She was so happy to hear that and smiled as if she is relieved from her worries.             

                 She was confused about her uncle who was trying to take her dad back to her home as soon as possible. She also heard people telling words like   " They have got the body, they are taking the body to their hometown". She believed the words of auto driver so much that she shouted at the people telling " Hey, he hasn’t died. He is alive. Don't address my dad as 'Body' ". People left from that place. She wanted to join her relatives, but no one was found. A boy told her that they had left. She was angry on her relatives for leaving her alone there. She was not scared as the place was familiar to her. She rushed to one of their relatives' house near by thinking that everybody will be gathered there. But, nobody was there. A lady told her that everybody left to her hometown. She borrowed some money from that lady and left to her hometown.

                When she was about to reach her place, she found the road of her house crowded. She stopped the auto there and started walking towards her house. She hardly had some space to walk to her home. She heard many things about her dad. She made her way to her home by telling " Please leave me the way, I am his daughter". When she reached, she saw her dad lying on the ground with garlands on him. She saw her mother sitting beside him, with no expressions on her face. She could not believe what had happened. She saw her dad's face. It was as calm as usual. She felt that he was just sleeping. She had an illusion that her dad was still in respiration. But, the environment forced her to believe that her dad was dead. She looked at her mom. Mom uttered , "He had promised that he will come back soon and take me to my friend's place. See, how soon he has come. He is almost 2 hrs early." The whole family got shattered. Little daughter realized that she witnessed her father's death. She was speechless when her mom asked her, " Dear, why did you leave your dad there and came alone?". Mom and daughter became numb, while the relatives were busy with the rituals.

 Both, mom and daughter, could not accept that the hero of their family was dead. They were always in an illusion that he would come back from his long trips that he used go very frequently. They used to feel that he is still alive, along with them, cracking jokes and pulling their legs.

They still feel the same as they used to feel 13 years ago. Yes, it was Oct 16 1996 when they lost the cheerful man. The family wonders if they realize that they have lived 13 years without him till Oct 16 2009. The fact is that they will never realize that he isn't there. They will always feel he is alive in the memories. Mom always tells that her hero has left beautiful memories for her and the years which she lived with him was the most valuable years in her life time.

Rgds,
Meera