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Papa needs a Daughter - contd

by Krishna Chaitanya
(Srikakulam, India)

'Each of them has a son, who joined the club of teenagers, a good twenty years back. I observed both the fathers and their respective sons keenly. The fathers--either of them treating his son in a unique way.

'Father 1 treated his son very copiously. He gave his son whatsoever he asked for. He never punished the young boy. He gave him the freedom to choose his own profession. And finally the boy--'

'And the boy?' said the Wiseman curiously.

'Father 2 bought up his son very strictly like a headmaster of an army school. He gave his son nothing more than those minimum requirements- food to eat, books to read, school to learn, shelter to live, clothes to wear. He punished the young boy for any little mistake he had committed. The father demanded the son to become either a doctor or an engineer. And finally the boy--'

'And the boy?' cried the Wiseman eagerly.

'It's not about what the young boys became in their later lives to earn bread and cheese, or it isn't about the name and fame they earn in the society. And finally the boys--'

'And the boys?' yelled the Wiseman, standing to his knees in demand for an answer.

'What else a father can do? He dreams for a son before he gets married, he dreams to fulfil every need of the son once he lands onto the Mother Earth, he dreams to make him a fruitful citizen in the society, he dreams of him a perfect life. And finally the boys--'

'And the boys?' cried the Wiseman.

'The fathers stopped everything they did till then when they got sons now. Every penny they earn is for the sons- for their schooling, for their medical or engineering seats if not worked out with a free seat.

If not, to buy a job for them--if not, a lot of savings that they have to do nothing but spending all through their lives. And finally the boys--'

'And the boys?' screeched the Wiseman losing his patience.

'And finally, the boys left their fathers when they need them. They left their fathers when they have nothing. They left their fathers when they have no one to care for. They left the fathers when they have nothing to dream of. And I know the fathers well. And I know the sons too.'

'So you worried how would your son become?'

'No. I worry how to bring him up, Wiseman!' exclaimed Mr. Churchill.

'So that would he not become like those sons of those fathers who are well known to you?'

'No, no, Wiseman. So that he wouldn't suffer when he was a father.'

'Ah! You mean to say that--'

'Yes, please finish it!' requested Mr. Churchill. 'I couldn't bear it. And couldn't I say with my own--'

'So what you've been suffering for?' said the Wiseman. 'Your future?'

'No, no, Wiseman,' returned Mr. Churchill, 'his future.'

'I'm totally befuddled.'

'Ba..affled!' returned Mr. Churchill vaguely, 'Why, Wiseman!'

'What do you want from me?'

'An answer, Wiseman!'

'To what to do for he not to leave you when the time comes?'

'No, no, Wiseman; for what to do for his son not to leave him when his time comes.'

'None could answer for that's a miscellaneous question,' cried the Wiseman, 'just like the sons of those fathers who bought up their sons in two different but most apposite was, well known to you, either leaving their fathers. I too have known many a son of many a father, in many a condition--nine of ten concluded correspondingly.'

'Then what do you entail?'

'A leeway.' exclaimed the Wiseman.

'Yes?'

'Papa needs a daughter!'
***

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