It was my nephew’s Annual Result Day at school. While parents lined up awaiting results, children were busy playing around. Suddenly, a very beautiful child while running to her sister, tripped over something and fell. Her dress went all muddy and she started crying with tears. In a flicker of second, while I was just thinking to step forward to comfort her, her father appeared out of nowhere, picked and hugged her while she was crying. He kissed her on her forehead and consoled her, “kuch nahi hua baita!” He didn’t care for his white starched ‘shalwaar kameez‘ which went dirty in no time. In next few seconds, the little angel was smiling again and running around.
I stood there smiling as I recalled this beautiful verse from the Holy Qur’an.
‘Lord be merciful to them as they have brought me up in my childhood’. 17:24
Bringing up children is not just taking care when the child is young. It’s about being there all the time for your child. It’s about giving all attention to your child despite your commitments. It’s about listening to your child’s stories when they comes back from school no matter how silly they sound. Parenting is all about sacrificing. But our parents do get weak and the cycle of attention and care does reverse when they grow old and when we are able to stand on our feet tall and confident.
I thought in the next second, how would my father have felt when on a weekend, I heard him coughing badly and with his back bent and asked, “what’s wrong? You never go to doctor in time and and take care of yourself?” – and he remained silent. Suddenly I realize, I have not been home for quite a few weeks due to my “job, commitments, meetings, dinners, hangouts, shopping” etc. How would I know how my father has been all this time? I tried to imagine what would have happened to me if he weren’t there to support me during my years of weakness and childhood due to his commitments; what if he had left me ‘unattended’ just a single day when I “sagheer” (young)?
He needs me more than he needs a doctor. Ageing is a natural phenomenon and it brings some inevitable things that he can’t help. He needs someone to listen to his heart. He still wishes to guide me by telling me his experiences but I am too busy to learn, what a shame!
We must realise that we have a very important commitment at home. There is a very important meeting waiting for us, we have VIPs (parents) at home counting on us, and moreover we have a golden opportunity to make our future here and the hereafter. Ask those who have lost parents or one of them. Ask those who never got any chance to ‘serve’ their parents. Love them, atleast, a bit of that what they gave to you as you can’t ever pay back their love and care.
Reminds me of Hadith here,
“ Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: Let him be humbled into dust; let him be humbled into dust. It was said: Allah’s Messenger, who is he? He said: He who sees either of his parents during their old age or he sees both of them, but he does not enter Paradise” (Sahih Muslim)