In Search of Happy Town!

In growing economy and wealth, grows number of rich people, with their growth grows transport on roads and Malls in suburbs, World looks beautiful homes palatial. Opportunities to education and better paying jobs increase, but it is the same old world for this 75 year old couple, they have seen the days when there was hardly any transport on the roads and people preferred to walk. Days were good when every one had little to brag about but had the heart and desire to share whatever little they had. I wonder how life was for this 75 year old couple, they live in a small village right by the bank of a beautiful stream which comes through the beautiful hills and mountains. Wind waves the long willow trees and it seems as if they are trying to hug each other. One can see the beautiful blossom in the apple orchids and open fields, beautiful forest surrounding this village makes this a dream land! Everything was beautiful in this village, people, homes, surroundings, but all was not as it looks from the cover. Couple had a cow and few sheep’s which were bought by their son with the thought that cow would give milk and that would help parents with fresh healthy milk. It was a nice thought but son left with his wife soon after they moved to this home in Village, it was important that children get better education as they have to compete in ever progressing world. I noticed that this old man would go every evening to a higher ground right in front of his house and watch the last bus coming to the village, I was curious and asked what is the reason that he without any break sits on that ground, His answer was I am looking if my son and Grand children are in the bus….. I could not understand and asked again but they are not coming, he smiles and tells me how you know he might!! When I was in the Military I would track a large mountain down just to see my son and I would go back, every one thought I was sleeping, it took me seven hours to track but I could save and spend one hour more with him if I ran half way.. So I did that, It is a bond between me and my son, you won’t understand” I asked why I won’t understand? He replied because money is more important to young people then relations, I wanted to ask him his son too was a young and ambitious person but I thought that might hurt the soars of this old man, who knows that his son is not coming but he still sits there with the hope that he may be back one of these days. I watch him wait till the last person de-boards the bus and walks pass him and every one would tell him may be tomorrow your son would come. He was a strong old man, who is known for his heroic acts and dare devil skills but no one knew that his heart beats thousand times per second for his son; even today he would not show how much he wants to see his son. He come back to his home and went straight to his room where he has pictures of his son, he would look at them touch them and then would go back to his bed, right next to his bed he has kept an album, it had all the pictures of his son, He will open Album and start looking into the pictures and would smile and play with his son, for a moment I thought he must have lost his senses but again, he is as sharp as I am if not less, he speaks much more effectively then I can, no he is not it is just my imagination or I can’t fathom that love can make you like this. His lovely wife brought him dinner; his words were we had seen good days when my wife would cook and we always had more then few people for dinner, they lived in an area which was closer to the temple and any one close went to the temple got invited to dinner. It was their son who wanted them to move to the village as it was more peaceful compare to the town, so this old man sold his house in town and built a nice place in village with the thought that it will accommodate whole family and they will live happy after, little they knew that with in couple of months of stay in Village their son and his family missed the lifestyle and convenience of the town. It was a hard piece of Pie for the old couple to swallow and let their son move 100 miles away from them but they had no choice, infect whatever savings they had they give it to their son and family as they wanted him to be comfortable and buy a home or land in town. After watching the old man go to sleep after looking at those pictures I am invited by the generous old lady to sit with her on outer Verandah, I could not resist to ask her, If her husband was fully conscious, she looked at me smiled and said yes he is normal but he loves his son too much! He cries when alone looking at his pictures… She told me that few months ago father went to town to see his son, who he had not seen for few months, he went to his house, daughter in law was home……… she got annoyed that he was not wearing proper clothes…….. clothes which can match her status In the society, so she created a big scene and when his son came he also took her side and told his father that he should be aware of his reputation and respect in the community. Obviously old man was hurt and did not eat anything whole night and in the early morning he said good bye to his grandchildren and his son who was for sure grown more then this old man had thought. He came back to his village for never to go back to that house again. But he still hopes his son will come one day after realizing how much he loves him… She told me that after giving their savings to their son, what they have left is pension from the Army he worked for and it is not even enough for two of us to survive, He used to invite lots of people for dinner, now if he invites any, one of us goes empty stomach to bed. He is aware of it and I know it bothers him a lot inside but he is not the kind who would complain. Cow which was bought by their son has not been giving milk for the past 4 years and doctors have confirmed that she would bear a calf again but he still every morning wakes up to take her to woods when someone tells him to sell this cow and get a new one, at least you will have some milk. He is so attached to it because it was brought by his son, no matter what………. he will keep it” I was amazed at few of the things this old lady was telling me, She told me his eye sight is week and they can’t afford to buy new glasses, she knows he can’t see well as he is having difficult time to look at the pictures of his son so she got magnifier from one of her friends and told him that he should not stress his eyes and use magnifier to look at the pictures, he does that when no one is around him. She said he goes to town once a month to collect pension, it is so meager that it can barely buy daily needs so she has raised chickens and ducks as he is very found of meat, wheat and rice grows in the fields, vegetables are few but few friends who know how to grow vegetables drop by without the knowledge of husband. Neighbors know our financial situation but no one dares to say anything as they know that old man would retaliate to any comment, should not accept any help smaller or larger, it is wife who creates a balance in the family. He wakes up in the morning chants few prayers and gets ready for breakfast without milk as they can’t afford it. After he finishes his breakfast he is ready to go to the woods with his cow and few sheep’s, each one has a name and he calls them by their name and I was told that he carries his album and magnifier with him and sits under a tree and when he is ready to move from one tree to the other he calls his herd by name and they all come and sit next to him. He is liked by all in the village and lots of people go to woods just to see him and talk to him. He also shares the story of war he had fought and won but after winning all those wars he lost the war with himself. His routine is to come back home around 4:30 he would go upstairs Verandah and looks towards river and forest behind it. Wife brings evening tea with home made bread, which both of them sip while talking their daily routine including the condition of his shoe which is torn underneath and his feet touches the ground but the upper part is still nice. He has few military boots but they are too heavy for him to wear, they laugh at their condition with heavy hearts and move on to the next topic. After their tea ritual it is time for him to go back to the higher ground to see the last bus of the day and wait too see if son was one of the passengers. He can’t reach before this bus as it is a seven hour journey and two bus transfers. Some times some one would come and tell him that they saw his son and would bring smile to him, he will ask them many questions, like how he looked and what did he say? Did he ask about me? Was he healthy? ….and many such questions with very few answers. He had kept a nice pair of slacks and shirt so if he has a chance to go back to his sons place he would wear those so they are not embarrassed… as us usual he comes back to his room looks at the pictures looks at the Album eats his dinner and goes to Sleep.. Now I hurt to think how he must be feeling, I looked at him with loving eyes and wanted to hug him tight but I was shy to do that. I went back to sit with the Old Lady at the verandah, she looked into my eyes and told me that her husband would not live long because he is hurting all the time and he thinks of nothing except his son. She told me that once when their child stopped berating for no reason it was her husband who ran seven miles towards city carrying their son on his shoulder and stopped only when he heard the cry of his son. It was relief for both of us to see him cry and that was the day we decided to move to town. I think what my son is doing is right; he is making sure his children get best of life and education as we wanted for him. He really doesn’t want to come or want us to visit him because his wife thinks we can be bad influence on their children. I have accepted the realty of life and just wish that my husband passes before me so he does not have to suffer my loss as well. I could see the eyes full of tear, they were saying different story then what she told me, She wanted to hold her son the same way she used to hold him when he was a child, he must be grown up but he is still little baby for both his parents, She too was hurting but she has compromised with it. I wonder if their unseen wounds would ever heal. I wonder if she stops cooking nice sweets for his birthday. I wonder if he will stop waiting for the last bus. I wonder………