This is written for "Go further to get closer" contest by #British Airways.
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixbLMsVlpes
The farthest journey tied the closest bond.
Lata was feeling quite jaded that day after the hard work.
No it wasn’t just hard work but the weather had those unyielding
attitude with its unshakable demeanour of being cold, freezing and bitter.Lata had always loved the snow but that day it was not all
taken in a good note, it happened quite often but still life had all the
colours which Lata had yearned for. The black and white backdrop could not
dabble Lata’s spirit which was so high always.
It was 2 yrs back Lata had come down to this place on earth.
She had plans and hard work always made her plans yield results.
Ambition, aspiration, appetite, zeal these were the words which made Lata strive higher in life. Lata dreamt big for her career and placing herself in the highest stratum in life was her one and only aim.Lata could take any road (well, ethical) to reach the top shot when it came to her ambition and dreams. Life was all about ambition and growth, being stagnant meant death to her.
Life had not been easy for Lata.Childhood made her see all the sorrows of life which one dreads. Losing her Dad at a tender age of 5, Lata survived the first blow when her Mom who was not that well educated took to the storm to fulfil her duty as a mother and the sole earning member of the family. Lata’s Mom had taken up to her Dad’s job and they lived a decent life if not quite lavish to meet their ends meet well sometimes a little better off.
Lata had just finished her class 12 when she had started
applying for her scholarships in her own country as well as abroad. She had
pinned all her hopes of living a better life and sharing those pleasures with
her family. She always had this
confusion, a mixed up mystification that her ambition was too loud, too
overpowering and one day she would lose herself amidst a collision between the two.
She dreaded this moment, she feared her own self.
Her happiness and joy had no bounds when she had her first
dream realized once she got admission for the course she had opted for and in
that prestigious university which she had dreamt that too on a scholarship.
That day she had treated everybody from her Mom’s office to her own friends.
She knew she had caught hold of that little butterfly and she could fly high like those skylarks that never had height phobia. Flying high, reaching the zenith where there would be no canopy, where life would mean touching the unknown, the unexplored and the uncharted was her idea of a perfect life.
And there was no looking back, she was high and was flying higher,
her dreams had just kick started and she had planned life so meticulously that
everything was falling into place as she had desired for. That was Lata, life to
her was not an unpredictable maze but was something which was quite certain
because she believed that man is a creator of his destiny, divine powers are
for the lazy souls.
Lata had topped her University and had many job offers.
Recently she had joined one of the most prestigious organisations which anybody
could dream of in that posh city. Her life had changed and it had absolutely no
resemblance with the life in which she had grown up. She had always aspired to live
away from the middle class stereotyped life style. Her lavish living standards
and her zeal to live a life full of glitz and glamour was all falling into
place.
Back home Lata had always made sure her Mom had similar luxuries.
Though she had vacations in her country but due to her hectic lifestyle it was
becoming tough to travel often but her heart always yearned to see her Mom and
embrace her, feel her hands after a hectic day but somehow she managed to go on
with her personal preference as long as she knew Mom was all well and she had
all the comforts.
It was raining that day and the phone bell rang past midnight.
Lata had just come back from the office she was quite a
little apprehensive about the call as it was quite late at night. She jumped to
pick it up and the code flickered ISD code of her city. Her heart started
leaping in a peculiar tone, she could hear a faint voice from the other end “Lata,
you have to come as soon as possible, you mother has been admitted to Hospital
with a major stroke.”
She felt nauseating; her heart went haphazard with beats running
so aloud that she could feel them
She was standing in front of her mother, who lay with her
eyes closed. Her right portion was numb and Doctor had given his verdict “We
have saved her but unfortunately her right portion has been paralysed for a
life time, she could be better with proper care and treatment.”
Lata had at that time just thanked God for giving her a chance to embrace her mother who was pumping
those beats which was being visible in that monitor. The very feeling that one
gets when one confronts with those erratic yet mobile heart beats is just worth a
thousand gems.
After 2 months-
Lata was just beside her Mom. She had spoken to her Boss who
was quite adamant that Lata should think over her decision. He had tried
convincing her “Lata,why do you have to leave everything when you know your Mom needs a lot
of medical support which money can give her, you are just ruining your career,
you life?”
India has a lot of support service which can help people who
are less independent and have no one to look after unlike west but Lata had her
thoughts quite focussed on one and the only thing in her life was to look after her
Mom who was all alone.
Reality touches your heart more strongly than dreams and
this time it was ground reality which had made Lata take the toughest decision
which one can take. She had opted to leave her dreams because her calling was much
stronger here, she could not deny it or overlook it.
She had known herself to be the most prudent soul and now
she realized it that life is all about how you make it, there is no divine
power that would heal it, and you have to be the divine touch to heal your own
wounds.
Her mother lay there numb, immutable, tears always on that
little edge of her eyes desiring to speak something but so helpless.Lata used
to embrace those hands and wipe those tears comforting her “Ma, I
will stay by your side forever, don’t worry, my ambition, my zeal, my flight
is all grounded here, as long as you breathe, as long as you smile, as long as
your emotions come back rushing as tears, I have my dreams fulfilled. Now it’s
my turn to return back what you have given me.”
Life was all about flying high; it’s just a feeling of mind,
sometimes even touching the ground can render the spirit of flying high. The “high”
which Lata had felt that day could not be fathomed by words.
It was one decision which would be the most remote, farthest
choice for a girl like Lata to make but it was the closest call from her heart,
some choices are from a different chord of heart which might be very distant or
far-flung in real life but for that one special person it can evoke that
passion.
Lata had decided to go that far to stay close to her loved one.
She had given the resignation letter but her curved lips had a bold yet
blissful smile. A smile that left her with peace. Going that far to stay close to
her real happiness made her confront another side of her which she had never
realized.
The farthest journey seemed so near, so close.
P.C.-Google Images.
