Son

Charulatha Panigrahi posted under Flash Fiction QuinTale-01 on 2018-10-01



It was his first night in the new rented house in Jamshedpur. His mother did a puja of Griha Pravesh in the morning. The aroma of dhoop, sandalwood and ghee was still lingering in the air. Avinash was feeling happy in his sleep. He was seeing his father in a dream. His dear father was smiling at him, standing near the bedroom door. "Bapa!", he screamed, and he woke up. His mother ran to him from the adjacent room, "what happened, Avi?" Avinash mumbled with tears in his eyes, "Ma, do you know Bapa was standing over there? And how could he vanish when I called him?"

“Its a dream, my dear. You should be happy your father came to bless you. Now you sleep.”

Avinash was a brilliant, smart and handsome boy. His father loved him very much, not for being studious or of good looks, but of having a very caring attitude towards his parents. He was a gem of a boy. Even when he was small, he was very caring and loving to his grandparents.

Avinash was about to finish his B.Tech in one more semester when the thunderbolt fell on the family. His father lost his life in a bike accident. He and his mother were shattered by the tragedy.

In his seventh semester, he was selected by the major IT company Infosys. Now, after the unfortunate incident, he decided to become more careful about his job selection. If he joins Infosys, he would have to move to the city. So, he decided not to join. He completed his graduation and applied for a job at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. His plan was to work in a good organization in a small township. It will be affordable for him to rent a single house with a compound. This way, his mother will live comfortably there with him.

He got his job at Tata Steel, he went to join there. His friends at Tata arranged a two-room house in street 10.

His mother was working in a private school as an English teacher. She had almost ten years to retire. But on her son’s insistence, she had to leave that job. The son wanted his mother to move to his workplace.

He hired a full-time maid to take care of her mother and the household works. Since his childhood, he had been seeing his mother working from morning till night. Now, she should retire and have some relaxed moments for herself. Till now, she had been living for others, for her parents in law, for Avinash’s father and for him she never had any time for herself. Enough is enough, thought Avinash. Now, it's my duty to look after her comforts. She has been suppressing her likings, being duty bound. Now, she must feel free to think about herself and should fulfil the little joys she missed till now.

The essence of satisfaction engulfed Avinash, the doting son of Mamata Dash.

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