Vicious circle
by Sriram
(Netherlands)
"And the second prize in oration goes to Ramesh of 6th C."
Hearing a huge round of applause, he felt elated!! In fact the happiness clouded his vision, and he could hear his heart thump. Like a levitated iron filling he was gliding through and reached the stage to collect his prize. He just grabbed the packaged item from a suited up possibly very important person. He ran back to his classroom neglecting all the people who wanted to congratulate him. Dialed his mom's number. He was really eager to talk to her now.
"Amma, I got second prize in oration competition."
"Congrats Kanna. Very good, let's celebrate today evening. Where would you like to go tonight for dinner?"
"Lets go to dinner with dad. Call him also!! Meeting him once a month is not enough for me."
His main elation behind winning prize was that he could show it to his father. Though they meet once a month, his father is almost never impressed by him. His father is the chairman of the local Chapter of Toastmasters and will be proud when he hears about his son's prize!! That was the logic behind his outworldy elation for a simple prize. So all that had to be done is hope that his mom arranges the dinner. Then his phone rang. "He has agreed to come for the dinner."
"Great mom!! Lets go to the Mauryas."
Then he proceeded to call his dad. "Hello, Appa, I got second prize in oration."
"Good Ramesh. See Appa is a bit busy now. Let me hear more about this during the dinner. Don't trouble mom too much." This was rather an abrupt end to a long awaited call.
On the other end, he was rather relieved. His son has done it again. Yet again he has another chance to meet her. Though he was relieved when the divorce went through about an year back, the separation
did hurt him badly. He still had his ego to content with. He was not ready to accept this and resolve the issues. But still wanted to meet her whenever he could. And the only way he could do that was through his son. He made it a point to meet his son at least once a month. And thus meet her also. So he called her "Suji! Ramesh had called me. I want to give him some gift. What do you think I can buy for him?"
"Come on, you are also his parent. You should know something about him also."
"Come on Suji!! He lives with you. So I just want to know what he would like now."
"He just wants your presence. So don't disappoint him." And the line went dead. Another much awaited call resulting in a disappointment.
On the other end, there was another person who was rather relieved. She had done what she could to please her son. She loves him very much and readily talked with the one person whom she would avoid under all other circumstances. She even initiated the talk. But still her son hardly notices this. He takes it for granted. He craves for the acceptance of his father and grossly neglects the one person who is ready to sacrifice anything for him. How could she make him realize this.
"Hello Kanna, should I pick you up from school. I thought before going for dinner with dad we will go to your favorite ice cream parlor."
"No need amma. I will come with my friends as usual."
"Ok. Just be careful."
"When did you make the reservation?"
"Its at 7.30 in Mauryas as you wanted."
"Great amma. Just don't fight with him again today. I want a peaceful dinner with dad." And the line went dead again. Another call ending in disappointment.
If only someone had the will to break the Vicious circle.