A Solitary Journey

Tring Tring….Tring Tring….. That woke me up from deep sleep. I got down from the bed and walked haphazardly towards the phone to put an end to that screaming sound. I fumbled with the receiver and finally got it to in a decent position and mumbled sleepily “Hellllo, this is Murali”! My ears faintly heard “This is Susan. Something bad has happened this morning. Mrs.Parthasarathy is no more.” I was shocked. I had met Mrs.Parthasarathy, the previous night and she was hale and healthy. I threw the receiver down, rushed to my bathroom, brushed as fast as I could and in a few minutes I was whizzing in the road in my Santro.

I reached the apartment, parked my car and rushed to the second floor. People had already gathered. I managed to sneak in and in the hall, Mrs.Rohini Parathasarathy (we used to call her Parthu Mami), lay in deep silence in an ice box. Couple of tears rolled down my cheeks. Mrs.Susan caught my hand and dragged me to the balcony. She told me that both her sons had been informed and so was her daughter, Gayathri. Her sons were staying in Bangalore and I was told that they would be reaching within an hour. Gayathri, who was in the US, would not be able to make it to India. She was carrying and her due date was quite close. Doctors had advised her to not to travel.

Parthu Mami, lost her husband within 6 years of their marriage and she already had 3 children. Since her husband was holding a key post in one of the top leading motor cycle companies, she was offered a clerical job. She had a rough terrain ahead of her and managed to get past it without any help from her relatives. She managed to give her children the best education and got them married in very decent and affluent families. In return, her children had got her a nice flat in Chennai. She was like a boat caught in tempest. She made her way to the shore all alone. And in the end, she sank all alone. There was not a being around her to help her out when she was in pain. Of course, we were there to help her, but still a mother would definitely expect her son or daughter to help her out.


Most of us today belong to these main sects – Software Engineer, Consultants, body shopped engineer etc. The job profile is such that it lures us into lucrative opportunities. In many cases, the more one gets the taste of dollars, the more one yearns for it. In the process people get lost and lose their identities. They forget where they came from and their past and even people who would have helped them in their early stages. I have heard of people who even neglect their parents to some extent. Such people feel that if they send them money or keep them in a luxurious house it would soothe them and make them happy. But the truth is they would have probably not liked all this false living. They care more for relationship than the dollars. If children can’t be with their parents in their last years, maybe they are leading totally worthless lives. Its time for us to think and ponder over all these, as some day or the other we will be in the same shoes!!!!!