Like Father, Like Daughter

Shankar and Naina were a happily married couple living in a city. Shankar was working in a private company while his wife naina was a housewife. Shankar never hesitated to help anyone in need. When they were newly married he wanted to give  a golden bracelet to his wife on their first marriage anniversary. In order to buy the bracelet, he started to save money by working overtime. On their anniversary day he bought the bracelet and when he was returning from his office, he saw his frnd who was in a hurry. Shankar stopped him and asked what happened. He told Shankar that he is in need of a huge amount of money and asked Shankar to help. Shankar gave the bracelet which he wanted to gift his wife. He thanked Shankar and left saying that he’ll return the money soon. Time passed by and after five years of their marriage, Naina gave birth to a baby girl whose name is Riya. At the time of discharge, doctor informed the young parents that “Riya is a weak child, in future she may encounter health issues so you must take good care of her.” This made the young parents worry a lot but Riya was very cute with chubby cheeks and her innocent smile used to flatter her parents and this made them to be determined to save their child from every problem. One day, Shankar left for his office as usual and Naina was busy with her work in the kitchen and Riya was playing with her toys. Suddenly Riya started crying bitterly, Naina tried to console her but Riya didn’t stop crying. Naina saw an ant at Riya’s knee which was biting her. Naina removed that ant and tried to console her by giving toys, eatables but nothing worked. Naina called Shankar and told her that she was unable to calm Riya. Shankar gently smiled and told his wife to keep the phone near Riya, so that he can communicate. After a few moments Riya stopped crying and started smiling. Naina was shocked to see this as she was trying to calm her for an hour and was unable to do so but Shankar’s words worked like magic. Naina thought “like father like daughter”. Riya became their world as she was their only daughter. In the meantime Riya had some severe health issues because of which they had to shift to another city. As her parents were determined to save their daughter, they were successful in fulfilling their duties. Time went by, Riya grew up and joined school. One day Naina observed that Riya’s eyes had become red and she was taken  to the doctor. Doctor advised Naina that sleep is the only medicine for her eye redness and he told them to let her sleep without any disturbance whenever she feels sleepy. This advice from the doctor made Riya a sleepy and lazy girl. She used to sleep in all the classes. She never listened to the classes attentively which always ended up by taking punishments but she never felt sad for taking punishments from teachers as she was habituated to that. Her classmates used to tease her by calling her ‘Kumbhakarni’, the female version of a mythological character who sleeps for six months straight. All these teasings and bullyings made her an introvert. The school correspondent was vexed up with Riya’s bad performance at studies and called her father. After knowing that Riya is not studying well, her father felt sad and decided to talk to her once. In the evening, her father brought a variety of chocolates that Riya likes. She felt very happy for the chocolates. He gave those chocolates to her and said “You, my little princess….you are my life…..I know that you’re suffering from hypersomnia but you should also be good at studies…. right! I know you never let me down”….

Riya was able to see the sad smile on her father’s face. She loved her father more than anyone else in the world. He is her hero. Her father’s words really worked. She determined to get good marks at any cost. So she decided to train her brain in such a way that even while closing her eyes she can listen to the classes with utmost concentration. She started training her mind from her home. That night she heard her parents worrying about her future. She started listening to the classes by closing her eyes. But, her classmates never stopped teasing her. However, she waited for the right time to prove herself. After a month, mid term exams were conducted in the school in which she stood first. Whole school was surprised to see Riya getting first rank. After seeing her grade card, her father felt very happy. She continued at the same pace till her graduation. She started attending for campus placements as she wasn’t interested in further studies. Although she passed all the written exams conducted by the companies, she couldn’t give her best in the group discussion and the interview. Being a sleepy girl her eyes were always red and she was so lazy that whoever saw her for the first time can say that she is sluggish. She didn’t have friends as she was an introvert. She didn’t know how to talk with anyone other than her parents.These are the reasons which prevented her from getting a job. After continuous encounters of failures, Riya started to drop her confidence and used to spend her  days by sleeping. She used to wake up around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. On her birthday, she woke up at 5pm in the evening which made her parents  feel incredibly bad as they were eagerly waiting to wish her from morning. Few days later, a man came to their home and asked for her father, Shankar. Shankar came out and questioned ‘who r u?’ The man who arrived there introduced himself as Ajay. Shankar recognised Ajay as his classmate in school times. They were meeting each other after 26 years. Ajay was a priest. They chatted for hours and memorized their childhood days. When Ajay was about to leave, Shankar fell down keeping his hand on his chest. They immediately called their family doctor. Doctor advised Shankar to take rest as it was a mild heart attack. Riya was shocked and this incident made her feel more depressed. Ajay consoles her and tells her about a ritual which is to be performed by the children for the good health of their parents. He asks Riya to perform that at the temple which is on top of the hill for 101 days. The one who performs this ritual must wake up at 4am and visit the temple before 6am and should not sleep during day time. Riya was unable to see her father in this situation. So she accepted it as a challenge as she had to withhold herself without sleeping. She knew that she wouldn’t get up for a single alarm, so she brought 20 alarm clocks and arranged them around her bed with the same timing and closed all the windows and doors of her room.

At sharp 4 o’clock all the 20 alarms rang. She put off all the alarms closing her eyes but she couldn’t open her eyes as she didn’t get up during these early hours not even once in her whole life. After opening her eyes, they were filled with tears and were burning like hell. She completed the ritual and came back home. After seeing Riya, her parents wanted to see the doctor as her eyes were swollen and watering. The situation became worse than before. But she refused to go to the hospital. She thought that it generally  happens as she was going against her routine lifestyle and she was able to convince her parents by saying “Give me three days’ time. If the situation continues then we will consult the doctor”. She anyway convinced her parents but she couldn’t prevent  herself from sleeping. Inorder to stop her sleep she started watching TV which made her eyes swell even more. So she went to her mom where her mom was busy with her work. Riya asked her mother to give some work to do. Naina was shocked to hear this but quickly recovered and  told, “of course,dear.  You may cut these vegetables and help me in preparing the lunch. After that we can complete this work in the garden.” Riya was doing this work for the first time and was very excited to do it and she didn’t get sleep after doing the work as her mother started telling her about their hometown, which they left years back and how they used to live there happily. Riya asked suddenly, “Mom, if we were so good there, why we shifted here?”. Riya’s mom told her, “it’s a long story, sometimes circumstances make us leave the things which we want most”. Riya was puzzled and asked her mom to tell her what happened exactly. Naina started telling about their past.

 ” You were about three years old, one day you got rashes on your hands and legs. I thought it’s common to get this kind of rashes for small children. So I  applied some home remedy and it worked. After 2-3 days your whole body got rashes. So, you were taken to the hospital. Doctor told it’s a mild infection and prescribed some medicines. After a week, rashes on your body were cured. But again after a few days, you got fever.  We took you to the doctor again. This time he said, ‘this baby cannot survive this state, you can leave your hope on her and be prepared for the worst.’ Hearing this, our world became upside down. Your father was extremely disturbed and he left the hospital taking you immediately to the home. For the very first time, I saw tears in your father’s eyes. But we didn’t lose hope. Next day we went to another doctor. He suggested some blood tests. All the reports showed normal but your temperature kept rising. The doctor gave you some medicine and asked to see him after four days. Medicines prescribed by him didn’t show any effect on you. So after two days we went to see him. That doctor after examining you told us, “Sorry sir, I have never dealt with this kind of case. I’m unable to help you. But I have a friend in Delhi, who is a renowned children specialist, so you can consult him. I’m sure you will see some improvement in her health”. Saying this he also refunded the amount  to us which he had taken as a fee. Your father took leave for a week from his superior and we both left for Delhi with you. It took two days for us to reach Delhi. We went to the hospital which was referred by the previous doctor, consulted the doctor and explained the present health condition of you. After hearing what we said, the doctor told us that they’ll keep you in observation for a few days. You were shifted to a ward where the nurse informed us that only one person can only stay with the patient. Your father told me to stay here and after looking at you,  he left from the hospital and took a room nearby. He used to sit near the window of his room looking at the hospital and thinking about you all day. Even after 15 days of your joining, there was no improvement in your health. This situation continued even after a month. One day, your father got a call from his superior to join the job immediately or else to resign. Having no other option he resigned for his job. He started working as a mechanic in a girl named, Vijendra motors in Delhi. Within a month he ran out of his savings  and started spending the money which was kept for constructing our own house. Although he worked for 8 hours he could not meet our monthly expenditure. He then decided to work hard so he started  working overtime and during weekends he used to work as a waiter in 5-star hotels. Your father was ready to bear whatever the cost to save you , but there was no advancement in your health. One day, I told your father that the doctor wanted to say something and asked him to return early in the evening. He completed all his work early on that day and when he was heading to the hospital, he saw an oldman on the highway waiting to board a bus. But none of the buses  stopped as all the buses were full. The person looked dignified and behind him there was a car, which was stopped due to some sort of repair. Your father went to him and asked, ‘Is there any problem with your car, sir?’ He replied ‘no, nothing’. Your father said, ‘I’m a mechanic so I think I can help you.’ The old man said that he tried many hacks to start, but it was all in vain and allowed your father to check the car. After checking the car your father said, “Ok, I understood where the problem is.” and repaired the old man’s car. When he tried to start the car, it started on the first trail. The person came down and gave money to your father. With a smile on his face your father told him, “Thank you sir, but I don’t think this repair is worth taking money. You just try to help someone who is in need, and consider that as my payment.” and came to the hospital. When he reached the hospital, we both went to the doctor’s cabin and he said, “Even though we are trying hard we are unable to improve her health condition. Now, vomiting and diarrhea are an addition to her previous condition which makes her health even more critical. During these three months, we tried our level best but it is of no use. we have become helpless now. Your child’s life depends on continuity of treatment. She will live as long as the treatment lasts. She cannot survive without the treatment.” We were baffled by the doctor’s words and couldn’t withhold our tears anymore. But your father still had hope for your survival and recovery. Then I wiped my tears and told your father, “we cannot pay the bills for her treatment forever. We have spent all our savings for her. I think it is time to leave her to her fate.” My sharp words hurt your father even more. He again convinced me to check you with some other doctor. When we were about to leave the hospital, a nurse told us about a doctor who is well known for giving treatments to this kind of typical cases. He was an expensive doctor. We went to the  hospital recommended by the nurse and there your father was startled after seeing the doctor. The doctor was the oldman whose car was repaired by your father. The doctor  remembered the help of your father and told him that he will treat you and he also gave an offer that we can pay his fees in installments. The next morning he started treating you. Within a month, your health started improving and in four months of time, you recovered completely and became healthy. Then you were discharged from the hospital. We thanked the doctor for giving back our happiness. After that I wanted to go back to our hometown but your father didn’t agree to go back as he thought if you get any kind of health issues and the lack of better treatment may harm you. So, we started to live here.” Saying this Naina turned to Riya, who was already in tears. Seeing her crying, Naina hugged her tightly and consoled her. In the meantime someone called Naina and she went away. Riya, after listening to the struggle of her father in order to save her, made her strong. She thought while her father had gone through so much of struggle and sacrifice for her, couldn’t she at least stop her sleep and do a ritual for him? She then decided that she would not sleep in daytime whatever the circumstances may be and left for her room. She also started  preparing for her exams.

She slowly adapted to her new lifestyle. In this meantime, she started conversing with her parents and started spending time with them. She also attended functions of her relatives which made her mingle with people. Even though she was determined to get up early,,she struggled a lot to do so. Her father couldn’t see her struggle to get up early so he told her to stop this ritual as he was healthy then. But Riya told, “I am still alive just because of your hope which you didn’t lose in me even though all the doctors and even mom too lost her hope on my survival. My struggle for performing this ritual is nothing when compared to your struggle for my survival. I want to see my dad healthy so I will perform this ritual. I’m YOUR daughter and do you think that I would fail? No, I won’t. “Like father, like daughter”, right dad?” Riya can see tears in her father’s eyes and he said, “I know dear, you would  never let me down”, and hugged her. Finally, she completed the ritual of 101 days successfully.

After a few days,She saw a job advertisement in Nirmal Group of Companies, one of the largest companies in India. She started preparing for the exam as it was considered as one of the toughest exams. She used to get up early and sleep late at night. Her father didn’t even notice her sleeping during her preparation for this exam. He understood one thing dat she wanted to get this job under any circumstances. She applied for that and got the job as her oversleeping nature and laziness were lost during the ritual time. After joining the company, she saw Ajay uncle and went to greet him. After talking with him she came to know that he is not only her dad’s best friend but also the manager of Nirmal  group of Company. She also came to know that when her father was newly married, Ajay uncle was in desperate need of money and her father gave him the bracelet he had bought for his wife. After some years when he wanted to repay the amount, Shankar refused to take it. Ajay, due to his work, had to leave the place. One day, both Ajay and Shankar met at the market accidentally and they went to a nearby stall. Shankar told him about his daughter that she is intelligent enough to get a job but was lazy because of hypersomnia. Shankar asked for help to get a changeover in  me. Shankar never asked Ajay anything, this was the first time, so Ajay agreed to it.  Riya came to know that both her father and he planned this ritual in order to make her win over her problems.  Everything her father did inspired her with reverence and was beyond question. Only one thing was revolving in her mind **MY FATHER,  WHO IS MY WORLD…..CHANGED ME!!**  And tears of joy rolled on her cheeks making her feel blessed.