More than a hundred people seemed to have crammed up the Bhosle drawing room. I entered through the door, trying to find where Rajat was. But he was nowhere to be traced, nor his parents. For a moment, I felt lost in the crowd who were cheering for apparently no great reason. I took out my phone and dialled Rajat’s number. After quite some time, my host received the call. “You fucker, where are you?” I blurted, “I am waiting near the door.”Rajat arrived shortly, looking unnecessarily happy and surprisingly handsome. He was clad in a black pin striped suit, and an awesome red tie. “Sexy tie,” I couldn’t help complimenting, “but why are you wearing a suit at home. It’s neither your engagement nor your marriage reception.”
“Am I looking bad?” he joked.
“Obviously not…”
I smiled, “no one looks in such a dress.”
He smiled and replied, “Dad gifted me this; especially for this day. He is very happy.”
I smiled sarcastically at Rajat and shook my head. Yes, the party was more for Rajat’s father’s dream fulfilment rather than his achievement. Oh yeah, the occasion was Rajat got his CPL – Commercial Pilot License. I have seen Rajat putting in a lot of effort behind this. And wanted his efforts to be fruitful. But, seriously speaking, I didn’t want him to take up the profession of a Commercial Pilot. Coz he was himself never interested in it. His dream was the Administrative services. And he was fit for that role from all angles. Sadly, his father never realised it.
Uncle, Rajat’s father, dreamt of being a Pilot in his youth but he failed to clear the medical fitness test due to some eye problems. Shattered but the rejection, he resolved to make his child a pilot. And, unlike many other sons, Rajat silently obeyed his father’s resolution and fulfilled it too.
“You and your dad,” I said this again (don’t remember how many times I have made this comment
before also), “I sometimes wonder how you put up faking yourself.”
Rajat never replied to this remark, perhaps he was now used to it. As always, he just smiled and said, “I will tell you.”
Most of the guests were gone. I sat on Rajat’s bed, eating. He was sitting on a chair in front of me, occasionally lifting something from my plate.
“It’s not always faking you see,” he said all of a sudden, “it’s sometimes adjusting with the fact.”
“There is a difference between adjusting and sacrificing,” I retorted, “You wanted to be something else but you are ending up doing something because someone has burdened you with his unfulfilled hopes. I was losing my temper a bit too much but Rajat was in a habit of maintaining his calm.
“You might be right yaar, but I don’t find them as burden,” Rajat replied in his usual saintly calm tone, “I find it something I should do.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“Not one night have I gone to sleep without any of my wish unfulfilled. Even when we were going through a bad financial phase, my parents never ignored any of my desires because they thought it was their duty to fulfil them as they had given me birth. But I have seen Dad living through the depression of not being able to fulfil his dream. But, never did he put me or mom through those humiliations.”
Rajat paused for a while and cleared his throat. “It was not possible for me to see him in that pain throughout. If he could fulfil all my dreams, can’t I just complete one of his?”
“What about your dream?” I asked, “you will put that on your son?”
Rajat smiled at my question, “No, I will fulfil that myself. I might not give more than 3 years to this profession. And dad is ok with it. I will concentrate on my IAS preparation after 3 years.”
The idea didn’t seem very feasible to me. The life of a commercial pilot is very luxurious. If he spends 3 years in that profession, the chances of him coming out of it seemed very less to me. I just shook my head and said, “Whatever.”
Rajat patted my cheek and went off.
As I came out in the drawing room to wave them farewell, I saw Uncle standing on his arm-chair and Rajat standing behind him, massaging his shoulder. Uncle asked me to sit for a while and have another ice cream. I refused but he insisted. So, I sat down, pretty sure that he wanted me to sit not because he wanted me to have another ice-cream but to tell me something.
“I don’t know what you think of Rajat’s decision to be a pilot,” he said, “but you must be as proud of him as I am. After all you are his best friend from school.”
I looked up at Rajat who smiled at me shyly and signalled me not to be harsh. Even if he hadn’t signalled me, I wouldn’t have been harsh to his dad. But, I was in no mood for his gyaan either.
“You don’t know how a father feels when his son fulfils his incomplete dream,” he went on, “Rajat is going to help me in living a life which I always wanted. I might not still be able to sit in the cockpit but I will fly through his experiences. I have assured him that I won’t resist if he feels like leaving the profession after 2-3 years. I don’t know what he owes to me but I owe to him these 3 years, which he is sacrificing unconditionally.”
He was at the verge of breaking down into tears. Rajat hugged him from behind and said, “I can never give back what I owe to you.”
I am scared of such senti scenes. I excused myself and got up in a hurry.
As I reached home, I saw my mom watching TV, the food kept un-served on the table.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” I said, “its pretty late.”
“Your father wanted to see you home before eating,” she said.
It was one of dad’s habits. I guess all dads and moms across the world have such sick habits — caring unnecessarily for their children and thinking that they would never grow up. I don’t know whether Rajat was right or not. But he definitely taught me something that day – to care for those sick habits. I don’t know whether sacrificing 3 years of your life for your father’s incomplete dream is cool or not but it definitely takes load of guts. But on second thoughts, it is indeed noble to think the way he did. Those who give years of their lives just for us really do deserve something from us too. To what extent we can repay that is an individual choice…
I can’t help ending this blog abruptly because I have nothing very concrete to conclude. It’s for you to decide whether Rajat was right or not. Would you have done the same thing had you been in his position?
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