He was standing at the cashier with a loaf of sliced bread which was wrapped nicely. I was standing behind him till my turn came to be billed.
“Two hundred rupees, sir”
He was benumbed.
“Two hundred rupees”, he asked the cashier. It was unbelievable. He kept the loaf of bread on the counter and left. I knew that he wanted to buy it badly.
“Just come. Buy the things. When the payment is to be made, they leave the place”, the cashier told the salesgirl who was standing next to her while placing it on the rack.
As soon as I went outside, I looked for him. He was leaning against a wall and he was on a call. I could overhear him.
“How can I afford such an amount of money just for a loaf of bread? Please inform her teacher.”
He took out his wallet again and he was carefully looking at it and he did not have the inclination to go back home. He wanted to buy it so badly. I walked towards him.
“What’s wrong?”, I asked him. He failed to give me a valid answer at once.
“Sir, I was asked to buy a loaf of sliced bread for a home-science lesson at school by my daughter. I don’t have money to buy it, but my child can’t understand it. She wants it so badly. I work as a mason’s helper. You know my payment,” he could not proceed. His eyes were full of tears. I patted his shoulders since I could realize his situation.
“If I had two hundred rupees, I would manage a kilo of rice which we could consume for two consecutive days. My girl’s too small to realise the situation”, he proceeded though I was in a hurry to make a move.
I gave him a thousand rupee note and he looked at me as if I was kidding him.
“For you.”
He was so thrilled that he rushed to the pastry shop again. I was waiting for him. It took some time, but he did not return. Thus, I got into the car. After a while someone was knocking at the shutter and it was him. I opened the shutter.
“Thank you, sir. I bought it. She’ll be overjoyed. Here’s the balance’
“No, it’s for you. Keep it.”
“No sir. I want to earn money in a reasonable manner. I should do something to get paid,” he said while keeping the balance on my palm and left. Absolutely he was an extraordinary person. I kept looking at him till he disappeared.
(Fatherhood is really such an amazing and wonderful thing in the world. However, the tragedy is that only a very few verses have been written in appreciation of fathers though he does everything possible to make his loved ones happy and satisfied. He doesn’t know where to be gone because no invitation is made. However, he is still committed to do everything possible to keep his loved ones contented.) [email protected]