MY FATHER

It was one of those days when you can see the clouds getting dense; you can see that it is about to rain. You know that you have to go for work; you know that you cannot give rain as an excuse to your boss. You know you should be taking your umbrella but still you do not. You know that you should drive safe, you know that you should be taking a safer route but you do not!

It was one of those days when I could see all this coming but I did not take the necessary steps that were to be taken. I had to reach office on time but I left home late, forgot the umbrella and took the wrong route.

As destined, it started raining. I was standing at the traffic light with cars all around me. I had to take a right turn from this signal but when I tried to start my car, it did not start. So when the trouble begins, one follows another. My car did not start and all cars behind me started honking. I felt scared, I felt like crying, I did not know what to do.

I had always heard of helpful people but not one came to my rescue. Only the honking of cars grew bigger and bigger. I wanted to get out of my car and shout for help but I was not carrying my umbrella! I decided to call the car helpline. I remember my father had got me its membership for one year. The help lines are supposed to reach you very quickly. Though my call was answered the wait time was more than agreeable. All attributed to the heavy rain! I knew I was stuck and I knew I was helpless.

The one person whom I knew would never say no to me was my dad. I knew he would come to my rescue. But I also knew that he must be rushing for work. I knew he would also be caught in rain somewhere. I knew it would be very difficult for him to come for help. But I also knew that if someone would help me it would be only him. I called him up.

He is my dad and he came. I saw his car approaching mine. He parked his car under a tree nearby where he would not be blocking any traffic. I saw him walking towards me. He was not carrying his umbrella, but the rain did not bother him. He was getting drenched. I saw him getting soaked in the rain but he asked me to keep sitting in the car.

He then told me his rescue plan. I would never have called the rescue plan as genius but as per my dad it was the only way to rescue. So I reluctantly agreed. He started pushing the car with me sitting behind the wheel. It was a five kilometre stretch till our home. Those five kilometres seemed endless to me. I saw my father getting drenched. I cursed the rain that day. It was pouring down heavily on my father. Why it couldn’t stop for some time, I thought!

We finally managed to reach home. Had it not been for my dad, I would have been stranded that day!

Treasure the real treasures of life. Treasure the real gifts from God. Treasure them, for today you may not realize their true worth, today you may ignore them, but one day you would realize their true worth. Treasure your parents just the way they treasure you. Share their smiles, share their laughter, give them a hug, and give them a kiss. Remember when they cried when you fell, remember when they smiled when you smiled, remember when they clapped at your success, remember when they woke up waiting for you to reach home safe.