[Desi Masala] Parents

This was narrated by an IAF pilot to IIT students during a Seminar on Human Relations:

Venkatesh Balasubramaniam (who works for IIT) describes how his gesture of booking an air ticket
for his father, his maiden flight, brought forth a rush of emotions and
made him (Venkatesh) realize that how much we all take for granted when
it comes to our parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday
and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had
never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make
him experience the same. In spite of being asked to book tickets by
train, I got them tickets on Jet Airways.
The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see
that I had booked them by air.. The excitement was very apparent on his
face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was
preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right
from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking
for a window seat
and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen. He was
thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching
him experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up
to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional
and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this
meant a great deal to him. When he said thanks, I told him there was no
need to thank me. But later, thinking about the entire incident, I
looked back at my life. As a child, how many dreams our parents have
made come true.

Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for cricket
bats, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability,
they have catered to all our needs. Did we ever think about the
sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes? Did we
ever say thanks for all that they have done for us? Same way, today
when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them
in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure
that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc.
But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our
sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their
dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young.
It is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and
their life is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have
actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me
something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they
would have felt at those moments. Let us realize that old age is a
second childhood and just as we take care of our children, the same
attention and same care needs to be given to our parents and elders.
Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry
for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much
he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best
possible attention to all their wishes.

Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give
up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They
have wishes, too..

Take care of your parents. THEY ARE PRECIOUS.

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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