Vijay Shekhar

Tragedy

5.0  

Vijay Shekhar

Tragedy

Twist Of Fate

Twist Of Fate

3 mins
9.5K


He had everything going for him. A good job, a six figure salary, enviable perks…in short, he was living the life his parents had always wished for him.


They belonged to the lower middle class strata of society. In his growing-up years, his father worked as a labourer at a textile mill, while his mother worked as a maidservant in neighbouring houses. The monthly earnings were meagre… just enough for the family to rent a one room house and have two square meals in a day. Life was tough. But Shanta and Rambabu had a dream…that their son will not live the life they had compromised to live. They begged and borrowed from every possible source to ensure that Anirudh went to one of the best schools and colleges in the city and that he lived up to the stature of his classmates and friends.


And Anirudh did not let them down. He was a brilliant student and scored well in school and college. He won a scholarship too. The booming IT sector was where he wanted to be… he got himself aptly educated and trained for the same; and landed a job as a Trainee Executive in a multinational company. The parents were glad that he was doing a ‘Computer’ job. He respected them, but over the years, as he progressed with his education and job, the respect got laced with a little bit of arrogance. The arrogance came from the realization that he was bringing good times for them. They didn’t mind his arrogance. In five years, he became the General Manager, reporting directly to the Managing Director. He was just 27.


Very soon he bought a spacious three-bedroom flat. The nameplate on the front door read ‘SHANTA NIVAS’. His mother had tears of happiness; and Rambabu bloated with pride. This was followed by the purchase of two expensive cars. Anirudh drove one to office. The other one was for his parents…he appointed a driver to drive them to wherever they wanted to go.


The next thing on their agenda was to get him married. But Anirudh wanted to give it some more time. He had invested almost all his savings into the new home. He wanted to have a comfortable bank balance before plunging into matrimony.


A well-earning son, comfortable life, parents lovingly coaxing for marriage…life was shaping up well for them.


Their happiness seemed to have caught the eye of the devil. One evening, Rambabu’s mobile phone rang. It was Raghu, Anirudh’s colleague and friend. Raghu sounded very low. He asked Rambabu to immediately come to office; and particularly mentioned to him not to get Anirudh’s mother along. Rambabu knew that the worst had happened. He prayed for everything to be fine as he told Shanta that he is stepping out to meet a friend at a nearby park. Raghu met him at the gate. He didn’t say anything. He alongwith few other colleagues led Rambabu to his son’s workstation, where Anirudh lay motionless. He had succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest… the first unexpected one that took away his life.


Rambabu went numb. He fell on his son’s body and cried. He beat his chest. He was thinking how he would convey it to his wife.


Around a month later, Rambabu and Shanta sat listlessly in the front room. A garlanded photograph of Anirudh smiled at them from the wall opposite to the main door. For them, everything was over. There was nothing to look forward to in life. Between them, they had taken an unspoken decision to just exist till their end came.


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