This was narrated at a Seminar recently on
Human Relations :
Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT)
describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket
for his father, his maiden
flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and made
him (Venkatesh) realize that how much we all
take for granted when it comes to our
parents.
My parents left for our native place on Thursday
and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact,
my father had never
traveled by air before, so I just took this
opportunity to make him experience the same. In
spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got
them tickets on xxx Airways. The moment I
handed over the tickets
to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked
them by air. The excitement was very apparent
on his face, waiting for the time of
travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing
himself on that day and we all went to the airport,
right from using the trolley for his luggage, the
baggage check-in and asking for a window seat
and waiting
restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He
was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was
overcome with joy watching him
experience all these things.
As they were about to go in for the security
check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his
eyes and thanked me. He became very
emotional and it was not as if I had done
something great but the fact that this meant a
great deal to him. When he said thanks, I told him
there was no need to thank me. But later,
thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at
my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents
have made come true. Without understanding the
financial situation, we ask for cricket bats,
dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their
affordability, they have catered to all our needs.
Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to
make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did
we ever say thanks for all that they have done for
us? Same way, today when it comes to our
children, we always think that we should put them
in a good school. Regardless of the amount of
donation, we will ensure that we will have t give
the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we
tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot
for our sake to see us happy, so it is our
responsibility to ensure that their dreams are
realized and what they failed to see when they
were young. It is our responsibility to ensure that
they experience all those and their life is
complete.
Many times, when my parents had asked me
some questions, I have actually answered back
without patience. When my daughter asks me
something, I have been very polite in answering.
Now I realize how they would have felt at those
moments. Let us realize that old age is a second
childhood and just as we take care of our
children, the same attention and same care
needs to be given to our parents and
elders.Quality time and politely answering them
with out making them wait is important. Now I
realise that I must look at their eyes and answer
them pleasantly and pretend to be reading papers
and answer in mono syllables. Rather than my
dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say
sorry for making him wait so long for this small
dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed
for my sake and I will do my best to give the best
possible attention to all their wishes.
Just because they are old does not mean that
they will have to give up everything and keep
sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have
wishes, too.
Take care of your parents!
THEY ARE PRECIOUS!
