By In the small village of Sonapur, Nawalparasi used to live a happy family. Hari and Meena were a very loving couple. They had two beautiful children, Sima and Suyog. The family was happy in all ways, even though poverty hit their life.
Over time, both the children were of the age of attending school. Suyog was sent to an expensive school and his elder sister in a small school. Sima also wanted to study in the very school where her brother was studying, but the family could not afford the cost. Sima used to dream of going to a school where all the big opportunities were available to supplement her big plans. Despite being in a small school, Sima was equally talented and scored A+ in every test and exam as Suyog.
After completing High school, Suyog was sent to the USA for higher studies, keeping the family home on the mortgage, but Sima stayed at home and started taking care of the household works. Hari and Meena both were proud of their son and had big hopes for their son.
Time passed by and now it’s been more than 6 years since Suyog went to the USA. He even married a foreign girl there. Hari and his wife, Meena, finally found out about their son’s marriage from Social Media. Meena was very sad and shed tears for what her son had done without informing the family.
Hari Sharma asked his son Suyog to come back home for her sister’s wedding. Suyog made various excuses about his busy work schedule and he couldn’t come back at that instant of time. He said he would send money and gifts for the family. The family made the marriage arrangements of Sima without the presence of Suyog.
One day, Meena became very sick and the family took her to the hospital. The doctor gave very sad news that Meena has stage three cancer. All of a sudden, the family was in misery and had to deal with this unbearable news. Hari made a call to his son requesting him to come back home as her mother is on the verge of a life-and-death situation.
This time also, Suyog made various excuses. He said that if he comes to Nepal, he would incur a big loss and would rather send money to take care of his mother.
Hari cried a lot when he heard his son’s words.
A few days later, Meena left the world. Hari called his son crying, ‘Son, your mother is no more in this world.’ He insisted his son come back home for the mother’s funeral.
Fortunately, he said he would come the very next day. The family waited along with the corpse for four days for Suyog to return for the funeral rites. He did not arrive for the funeral.
All the relatives, including Sima’s family, gathered together and discussions were held on how to perform the funeral rites. Hari sat next to his wife’s body and shed tears.
No one could decide what to do or how to do it.
All of a sudden, Sima came forward and hugged her mother’s body. She said, ‘Though I am not a son, I am also her child. I will perform the rest of the funeral rituals.’
A quick whispering discussion took place, listening to her words. Finally, a voice came out. ‘Go on, child! You are a responsible child of this family. A child in need is a child indeed.’
-Sandesh Ghimire
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