Page 179 - Musings 2020

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Heartbroken

Neha Maheshwari, 2017B5TS1215P

It was 7:00 am in the morning on Sunday, Mr. Vivek Shekhawat and his wife Neetu
Shekhawat having a sweet and peaceful conversation. Mr. Vivek, father of Sonu, a
12-year-old boy was just scrolling up his phone. Suddenly he got a phone call from the
manager of the company saying that he is being promoted for which he has been waiting for
past 5 years and has to attend a meeting urgently in Warli, 100 kms away from his place,
otherwise he would have to wait 5 years more for that on account of not presenting himself
there. With an unmatched amount of happiness, he hugged his wife and told the whole story.
At a time, he became a little frustrated as he recalled that his car was not ready and there was
no other option to reach there within the stipulated time. He quickly ran outside, took his car
out, and started cleaning and washing it. Sonu was in a happy mood, came out from home
running towards Vivek, and requested him to take him for a picnic to his favourite water park.
Already tensed and worried, he scolded him to go and study and promised him to take him
next Sunday for a picnic. Sonu became very upset. He just roamed around and thought of
doing something which was as good as going to the park. He went inside his room; picked up
his watercolours, came back into the garden, and started painting and drawing.

Vivek was so happy but at the same time under pressure that he would lose his promotion if
he fails to reach out on time. Sonu was a very creative child and always seen thinking and
imagining different kinds of stuff at the same time. He thought that he could write or paint
something on the mirrors of the car which would be remarkable and his dad would definitely
appreciate it. He didn’t know that his father was already becoming late and now he is about to
take off. He started drawing something on the mirrors of the car. After a few minutes, Vivek’s
eyes felt on Sonu. Anger went into his eyes and he ran behind Sonu and slapped him hard. He
fell down badly and got injured. He was crying loud as a nail on the ground pricked him and
the blood flowing continuously from his hand. Neetu came out and insisted Vivek take Sonu
to the Doctor. Vivek was in too much hurry that he said to Neetu “I need to rush to Warli. You
take him to the doctor, it’s just a minor injury. Stop worrying too much. What the hell is this?
I need to clean my car again.... this child is just...!” Neetu was disappointed by his behaviour
but at that time she found the condition of Sonu to be more serious and took him to the doctor
without wasting much of time.

As she left the house, Vivek got a call from the manager and he said that the meeting was
postponed to some other day because the chairman, who was supposed to conduct the
meeting, met with a heavy accident and is not in a condition to conduct the meeting. It was a
nostalgic moment for Vivek that the thing for which he scolded his son for is not going to
happen at that time. He took a taxi and rushed quickly to the hospital. He found his wife
continuously crying hard and his son crying in pain and lying on a bed aside. He asked Neetu
to explain what the doctor said about Sonu. She stood up, held his hand, and took him in a
corner. In a loud tone, she replied with all her anger, “The nail which pricked into Sonu’s
hand caused infection in the whole little finger and doctor has advised us to go for a surgery
in which they have to remove the whole the finger, as early as possible otherwise the
infection could reach all parts and he may die.” Unable to say anything he just fell down and
tears came into his eyes. He looked at Sonu’s face and felt helpless and cursed himself to be

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