Stories

The value of happiness  

Sudhir was staring in his laptop. Room messy, fans and lights off, he didn’t care about the ambiance. The day had passed and had worn the shawl of evening. But Sudhir was unaware of anything.

Focused and determined, he was trying to work out something on his laptop. That’s when his door flew open. It hit the wall behind with a thud and that brought him back to the reality. He looked out of the laptop screen and the world seemed different.

Mr. Mehra walked in. Throwing the lights and fans on, he said “What have you done to your room son?”. Sudhir looked around. He was 27 by now, but he could easily pass for a 18-year-old.

Habits and looks, both were deceiving in his case. His father gave out a light laugh. He seemed to be in a good mood. Sudhir looked at him with a straight face. Unaware about what to say, he chose to stay quiet.

Mr. Mehra walked inside and sat on the bed. Sudhir was still perplexed. His father never walked into his room wearing a smile. In fact, he never bothered to walk into his room. It was always the other way round. 

Things were varied today and Sudhir couldn’t fathom the reality. “Come sit next to me son” said Mr. Mehra. Sudhir gulped and then sat beside his father. Mr. Mehra put his arm across his shoulders and said, “I heard from your mom, your start-up idea finally worked!”

Sudhir’s face turned pale. He didn’t know where the conversation was headed. He being the only child in the family had to bear a huge basket of hopes on his head, right from his young age. Born into a middle class family that believed in doing job and service, Sudhir’s dreams were different and unaccepted by his father. 

Yet, at his own will he decided to pursue a career in the Fin-tech industry and later he left his job to start his own venture. His decision was not accepted with grace at home and he was facing the toughest time of his life. 

While he was lost in his own thoughts, he was brought back to the reality when Mr. Mehra snapped his fingers. “And where are you lost now?” he asked, smiling. Sudhir nodded his head into a no. “So your mother was telling me that you participated in some start-up conclave and your project got a heavy investment!” 

Sudhir managed to nod into a yes. Mr. Mehra gave out a huge laugh and patted his back hard. “Now that’s like my boy! Very well done young man. You have no idea how proud I feel today!” He continued his celebratory laughter, but soon he realized that he was the only one celebrating. Sudhir was calm, lost in his own world.

“What happened kid? What’s the matter?” Mr. Mehra looked at his son with grave concern and said, “Your father is proud of you, doesn’t that make you happy?” 

Moments passed but Sudhir said nothing. He was looking at the floor beneath. Mr. Mehra kept looking at him. Awaiting a response. Finally Sudhir looked up and said “You are saying this for the first time dad. Hence I don’t know how to react…”

They both kept looking at each other. Mr. Mehra was perplexed and Sudhir displayed nothing humane on his face. “You have never been happy with whatever I did till now dad and hence I guess, I too have forgotten to be happy with whatever I have achieved…”