Amongst all his children totaling eight I shared a different relationship with my father too, very much away from the others. I was his most adored son being intricately involved in all matters of importance to earn his name in almost every field and accordingly my sitting next to him in the Dinning Hall was always reserved for me irrespective of whether or not I was present in the house. Although he worked as a Clerk in a government Office, he later hold the coveted position of ‘Tehsilder’; post retirement and was a renowned and respectful personality in the state of Assam, India.
Unlike my other brothers, in no point of time he ever even shouted at me although I often did much graver misconducts. His love towards me was so much so that he invariably once in a day time shall wear one of my shirts to go around when I was grown up to fit my shirts to his size. Out of limitless sweet encounters, the following are still vivid in my mind; never to go away ever. He often reminded me that a light regularly visits me when I am asleep in the early morning time which he once traced coming from the temple nearby.
I was never a brilliant student and also labored the minimum either to touch or to learn my lessons both at school and College but pursued my entire Education on scholarship secured without giving slightest pain financially to my parents who were overburdened to meet the expenditure of education of Professional Courses for all of my brothers excepting the second eldest one whose monetary requirement was minimal while securing our final Engineering Degrees in different fields. But somehow by luck, whatever I select for the examination, it invariably always appears in the question papers and hence able to secure good marks. My scholarships were result of that only.
Prior to my 12th class examination, I was given a separate room to study for my final Board Examination away from my parent’s room. I was also fond of witnessing good cinemas irrespective of languages of depiction of pictures. The day before the beginning of the said examination, a new cinema was released which I decided to see anyway even if advised otherwise. However, not giving any information to my parents, I broke-off at mid night covering my bed with the bed cover with pillows underneath to look as if I was asleep in the bed to catch the second show of the cinema along with one of my friend and returned home well past mid night. As I slowly came inside the compound without making any noise, I found my father sitting outside waiting for me and sounded ‘I should have gone with my sweater on to avoid catching cold in the midst of my examination’, and he reheated the food kept by my mother for him before her going to bed to share the same together me even though I took it together with my mother after long wait outside by him. I never spelt a single word and took the food most silently together following which I took a decision of not repeating such actions in future and I am still bounded by the oath taken within. Later I came to know that my father always offer me a good night kiss even if he comes home late at night due to pre-occupation for community services as a religious head of the area and hence I was caught.
When I received my first merit scholarship in lump-sum following opting for admission in the nearest professional of engineering, I took the next bus to home and walked straight to my father taking shortest route to meet him who was at the office that time and handed over my entire scholarship money to him who taking money on his hand cried aloud to be heard by everyone in the office after immediately keeping the entire sum again in my shirt pocket and yelling ‘I never heard anyone doing this’ and asking me repeatedly to tell him who I was or to disclose my actual identity. He further murmured why I was giving him so much love which he unable to withstand and fell down fainted. As his colleagues took charge of him, I most silently retuned to my mother and then to my college and opened my second Bank account. My first Bank Account was opened by my father when I stood one out of the 10 in the primary school scholarship Examination prior to my admission to high school.
However my father’s life long wish to stay and breathe his last near me was never materialized due to my forceful absence under compulsions which was beyond my control to over ride. In spite of my most unfortunate and painful separation of association between myself and my father, my attachments with him is one of my greatest strength in my life next to my mother to give a boost in my search of absolute ‘TRUTH’
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