A Tale Of Silence
Two men were arguing in front of the door. The laundry man repeatedly apologized to the other, who was trying to calm him down. "It's just a pair of jeans," the man said. "It's okay if you lost it; I'll buy a new one."
The laundry man remained sad, saying, "But it was too costly, sir. If you want, I'll slowly repay you. I'm really embarrassed that I lost your branded jeans."
But the other man denied, saying, "It's okay, you don't need to worry too much."
The discussion about the lost jeans ended. The man came inside his room. Everything was properly arranged, as if someone had already cleaned it. It was still and peaceful, like a sandy road after a rain.
Suddenly, his memory flashed back, a past projection in front of his present universe, like an old film projecting onto his present reality
When he was just 13 or 14 years old, it was the time of his 9th standard exam. Like any adolescent kid, he wasn't so curious to wear new clothes; rather, it was more his need to ask for new jeans from his father.
Being the youngest of five siblings, when he asked his father if he could buy him new jeans, his father, like any middle-class father in an Indian joint family, casually replied, "Hmm... We will consider this."
A silence prevailed in the room for a few seconds. Eventually, a new thought broke the silence, and the topic of the jeans deviated from the atmosphere, or perhaps it was deliberately overshadowed to ensure calmness for a while.
Days passed as usual, with the same household chores and the same studious routine for him, given his exam was on the next Monday morning.
He was crossing by a room and heard some whispering voices. Despite thinking of moving on, he realized it was a conversation related to him, so he stopped to listen.
His father was explaining to his mother, "Make him understand that we cannot afford new jeans for him as of now. When he asked for the jeans, I couldn't deny him, but you know everything; this month we have huge expenses, so please tell him."
He moved ahead, holding his heavy heart, swallowing the emotion. It wasn't hurtful; it was a simple fact that his father couldn't afford new jeans for him, and he understood this. Yet, it was equally poignant that for a 13-year-old boy, such a basic desire was a fundamental part of growing up.
Well, it was the first and last time in his life when he asked for anything. Days passed, years passed. What had been served in front of him was part and parcel of his life to accept with gratitude.
Another defining aspect of his life was how he had carved out his own destiny.As a river cuts a mountain to conquer, he too created his own path,
with scholarship completed his schooling from the renowned institute, afterward joined the super 30 batch in Bihar for which he cleared the entrance for engineering, his struggle burnt like a wick in a lamp to lit his life, then become the part of The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and got rank, completed his engineering
Thus become first in his entire village to do complete engineering, this had never watered the thirsty land of victory hence the same little boy cleared the scholarship for civil services preparation and initiated his journey of rise and setback, in prelim, mains and interview loop
For him calculation of life is always pragmatic, thus given state services here also back to back setback in interview phase like destiny loved to close doors over his face, but as for him silence is the weapon to conquer, he continued running the marathon of exams,
One day, when he and his younger sister were wandering in the street of the Delhi, a message struke in his mobile with" you are in, congratulation"
The moment he opened the notification, flood of messages begin simultaneously the flood of tears in his eyes,
Again become first person to excel in this path, silence filled with joy and happiness
Years passed , the story begin with a jeans or may be the spark inside the soul ignited that day when he ask jeans from his father,
All these have initiated calculation of emotion in his mind: the cost of the lost jeans now, which he hardly cared about. He could buy more than ten jeans at that time. Thinking this, he smiled over the projected past in front of him, the pride of hard work visible in his sparkling eyes and satisfaction in his face
Suddenly, the phone rang,
A voice reminded him, 'Your meeting is scheduled for 10 AM, sir
It's already 9AM,
He replied, I ll be there on time.
He became furiously active, donning his formal government officer uniform, and rushed toward the divisional office."
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