My wife called, ‘How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you
come here and help me make Hannah eat her food.
I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene.
My only daughter,
Hannah looked frightened; tears were welling up in her eyes.
In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd rice.
Hannah is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age.
I cleared my throat and picked up the bowl. ‘Hannah darling, why don’t
you take a few mouthfuls of this curd rice? Just for Dad’s sake, dear.
Hannah softened a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hands.
‘Ok, Dad. I will eat – not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole of this.
But, you should…’ Hannah hesitated. ‘Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice,
will you give me whatever I ask for?’
‘Promise’. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with
mine and clinched the deal. Now I became a bit anxious. ‘Hannah, dear,
you shouldn’t insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items.
Dad does not have that kind of money right now. Ok?’
‘No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive. Slowly and painfully, she
finished eating the whole quantity.
I was silently angry with my wife and
my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested.
After the ordeal was through, Hannah came to me with her eyes wide with
expectation. All our attention was on her.
‘Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!’ was her demand.
‘Atrocious!’ shouted my wife, ‘A girl child having her head shaved off?
Impossible!
‘Never in our family!’ My mother rasped. ‘She has been watching too
much television. Our culture is getting spoiled with these TV
programs!’
‘Hannah, darling, why don’t you ask for something else? We will be sad
seeing you with a clean-shaven head.’
‘Please, Hannah, why don’t you try to understand our feelings?’ I tried
to plead with her.
‘Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice.
Hannah was in tears. ‘And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for.
Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story
of King Harishchandra, and it’s moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?’
It was time for me to call the shots. ‘Our promise must be kept.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ chorused my mother and wife.
‘No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her
own. Darling, your wish will be fulfilled.’
With her head clean-shaven, Hannah had a round face and her eyes
looked big and beautiful.
On Monday morning, I dropped her off at her school. It was a sight to
watch my hairless daughter walking toward her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted,
‘Hannah, please wait for me!’ What struck me was the
hairless head of that boy. ‘Maybe, that is the in stuff, I thought.
‘Sir, your daughter
Hannah is great indeed!’ Without introducing herself,
a lady got out of the car, and continued,
‘that boy who is walking
along with your daughter is my son
Daniel, he is suffering from…
leukemia’. She paused to muffle her sobs. ‘Daniel could not attend
school for the whole of last month. He lost all his hair due to the
side effects of the chemotherapy.
He refused to come back to school
Scared of the unintentional but cruel teasing of his schoolmates. Hannah visited him last week and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue. But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son!
Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as
your daughter.’
I stood transfixed and then, I wept. ‘My little Angel, you are teaching me
how selfless real love is!’
The happiest people on this planet are not those who live on their own
terms but are those who change their terms for the ones whom they love.
Let’s all try to be selfless in our dealings with people. Hannah showed Daniel an act of love and selflessness.
Wow!
This piece is nice and touching.