To be a father in India is not as easy as it is in other part of the world. Horde of responsibilities and ocean of thoughts buried inside the brain. If he doesn't have a good wife , there's no outlet for these thoughts . Chances are pretty high that wife isn't good enough to understand all his thoughts and feelings as they are chosen by some old and senior members of family. He needs to bear them silently and happily , though it may not always be easy to be happy with them. Irrespective of his social, economical and cultural background , he is bound do few basic stuffs , or rather a lots of basic things to do.
Today's story is about one such man. For the sake of anonymity and ease lets say his name is Mr K. Though he had a Bachelor Degree in Arts from one of the remote college of Uttar Pradesh , he had managed to find a decent space in the Accounts , since last 20-25 years in Mumbai . Now he is so experienced that he doesn't need Resume to get a job in another company. He earns some 0.9-1 lakhs and has two children to look after.
One daughter who he didn't study well and has some how managed to complete DEd. , after failing few times.
She was admitted to a Hindi medium school when she started schooling. But he admitted his son to English medium school who was two years younger than his sister. Mr K might have been biased on his side , but there was also a reason no one could deny for this . He had no money and understanding of English medium when he admitted her , but soon he realized world in India would run only in English as the time passes. So he had admitted his son to English medium school though he couldn't afford it at that time. He needed to have referrals and donations to admit his son to that school but he did it.
When he came to Mumbai he had started earning after sleeping on footpaths for months. He didn't earn that well but eventually after having some knowledge about how city functioned he had managed to survive and also managed to make his two other brothers earn enough to run their families. He was just an Arts Graduate . At his times many unemployed youngsters used to come and wander in Mumbai or so called "Bombay" at that time. When he first came to Mumbai he had done many menial things. He used to be a milk deliverer at first . He had worked in Colgate company as a person whose job was to fill the toothpaste bottles. . He than worked as train schedule announcer at a Railway Station. But as the time passed , destiny took a positive turn for him.
He then joined a textile company with a salary of Rs 700 in late 1980's . As he grew he outperformed his fellow competitors and kept growing in Accounts field endlessly. One of the company boss recommended his name to his relative for his new Textile Company . He worked there for next 20 years. Mr K didn't like taking holidays, as sitting idle was waste of time , was what he thought. So he had taken few other small jobs to avoid wasting his free time. He continued working in that company , he had earned so much respect and reputation that even his boss never talked to him roughly or inferiorly. He behaved as Mr K was his friend and colleague. Now that boss grew old enough to handover his company to his son. This new boss had a notion that older people took more money with them and didn't worked as actively and dedicatedly as youngsters who were ready to work at lesser salary did. So he gradually started removing all the old employees to save more and be more productive. Mr K realized, sooner or later it'll be his turn and he thought its better to leave than to be removed , so he started to search for another full time job. He didn't had to search as such, as other people wanted to him to work for them. So he took up one of his part time job as a full time job . Now he knows so much that some Chattered Accountants , solve their doubts from him. Though he cannot speak English at all and understands it roughly he has earned a position and status not many get to taste. He sometimes thinks that if he would have studied English in his school he would have been a different man today. But whatever he is today is not less than achieving a milestone.
He has an uneducated wife from some remote village . She had studied till 2nd standard . She couldn't study because schools were not present in her vicinity when she was of tinder age. Her parents didn't let her study because of that. She now can't even read Hindi which is a primary language of communication for her. She does all the household works all day with her daughter's help. She didn't study but always told her kids to study . She got very upset when she saw that her daughter didn't fair well . She had again and again asked her to just finish her education with flying colors as she now knows by not studying how much she is lagging from rest of the people around her. She cannot operate a mobile phone though she owns one like others. She knows if her kids are left like her they'll also end up doing household chores throughout their lives unconditionally and without any options.
He is now in his early 50s , his leg keeps paining because of some childhood wound. Doctor had asked him to do a knee surgery some 10 years back. But he knew if he would have done that , he might have not come so far that successfully . He knew surgeries didn't reap the desired results always . He still tells his kids about how India's senator politician Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost his whole life after doing some surgery. He has many such examples which pulls him back from surgeries and first do whatever he can for his kids and himself .
Now he is busy searching a groom for his 25 year old daughter , now its six years he has been doing this. He had gone through many ups and downs through this process. He has a fixed deposit account in a bank where he has all his life's savings. He hasn't told anyone about this , not even his kids and wife. He works in a private company which doesn't permit taking so many leaves as he takes , to go to his village and do all the formalities for his daughter's wedding. He knows that he won't be able to find a good groom for his daughter without paying a hefty dowry , maybe that's why he had been saving. He never bugged his daughter for not being good at studies. Instead he thought as his daughter is less educated he'll have to put more effort to find a perfect groom . This is not just the situation he is going through, most of the fathers in India have to go through the same phase of life . He might have visited some 8-9 boys but didn't find the right one for his daughter. Or maybe he was turned away by them. He is in process of fixing her wedding with a boy who is demanding Bolero as he is rich and is about get a good government job.
He along with his brothers , has four flats in a renowned Complex of his area in Mumbai. He also has sixteen room house in his village , which was not forwarded by his grandparents and ancestors legacy , but was made by him and all his brothers .
He has a son who'll soon finish his graduation and must start earning. Mr K had to pay one lakh per year for his son's graduation and this year it will be the last year he'll have to pay. Mr K always waited for this time: The time when his daughter gets married and his son starts earning. Mr K always said to his son ," Tumhari education complete ho jaye , Mai to ye company chod ke ek office khol lunga , jisme accounts ka chota mota kaam karke agey ki zindagi nikal lunga. " His son wanted to do MS from US after his graduation , Mr K didn't deny but he said " Beta , Ghar girvi rakhna padega bus , tum to do Sal me kamane lagoge na America me to EMI ka jugaad karna hoga ". But after his daughter's marriage and the sum he'll pay as dowry , it wont be practical for his son to study abroad.
