Time Heals Wounds

A teenaged boy was cycling along a road, in the early hours of the morning with newspapers piled up behind. Strange, isn’t it, in this day & age? You might be worried of him being asked to work underage. The problem was that his father is lying on bed, ill.

Though his mother worked at other people's homes, he also worked a bit. He went to school after doing his job. He was used to getting up early and rushing around. But, he was dependent on the generosity of the people at whose homes his mother worked to be at a respectable school.

His teachers were always happy at his efforts at study and they knew that he will do something in life that they'll be proud of. He had always been hardworking. One day, he met an old man whom he had always seen teaching poor children like him. The old man had always watched him running around on his cycle early in the morning.

That particular day, he was already out on a walk, so he asked the young boy why did he have to roam around doing this. At first, the young boy, Ajay was a bit surprised, but, he being an honest person, blurted out his problems, also describing which subjects were his best and what he wanted to be.

He also described that the spinal cord operation to get his father back onto his feet required ₹4lacs. He and his mother had been saving since five years and had accumulated about ₹ 3.5lacs, but, he wanted the rest to be there soon. Ajay had given many exams for scholarships and that reduced the trouble for his mother.

He also said that his mother had always been great at cooking and wanted to start a business out of it. The old man wasn’t surprised or confounded, instead, he wished of helping Ajay as much as he could. But, he dare not say that because it may hurt Ajay’s self esteem. He knew that because, he had known the boy’s father as he had worked for him, before he got ill and, he could see the same honest work ethic.

He asked Ajay to participate in science competitions, after hearing how good he was at it. He also told Ajay, that if he needed any help in anything related to studies, he was free to come to him. A week later, he found a letter at his doorstep.

Ajay picked it up and found that it contained ₹50,000, he read a short letter that was signed, ‘Your Best Friend’, asking him to accept the money and use it to get his father’s operation done. A bit surprised, he thanked Lord Ganesha and went to tell his mother about it.

He stopped in his own tracks, thinking that his mother might not approve of this mysterious money. So, he lied to her saying that he had won the money in various competitions. The next day, his father went inside the operation theatre. He came back from school and after having a snack he rushed straight to the hospi tal. His father could stand up at one place for about five to ten minutes, Ajay was overjoyed.

The doctor later told him and his mother that for two months his father had to be brought to the hospital for exercise, after which he could go back to work. Ajay had a hazy memory of how his father had become bedridden, but knew that he had fallen off the stairs and landed on his back, damaging his spine.

A week later, the old man came to visit, Ajay was a bit surprised as to how he knew where he lived. He told his mother how it was he who had given the money a week back. His mother hugged the man and said, “Why did you go and live with that uncaring brother of my husband even after he almost took his own brother’s life?”

Ajay was taken aback by this outburst of his mother. He had never known that he had an uncle. Then the old man said, “Forgive me, but, I left him and I had him arrested and he killed himself in jail.”

He then told Ajay, that his father had been put into this state by his own greedy brother who forced his father to create a will leaving a thriving business to the younger son.

His grandfather recorded all this through a hidden camera and this evidence put him behind bars after a six year long case.

Grandfather then said, “Well, I also have to say sorry to all three of you, for leaving you in this state, but, I'm sure, together, no mountain is unconquerable.”

Ajay was very happy that finally, his family was united. He now had a renewed sense of purpose and he wanted to make sure that he did justice to his prodigious talents in science.

Hope you enjoyed my work. Think about your family, thank them for being with you through rough and smooth, how much you value their advice, family is what you live for and they live for your happiness.