Rich Mother's Poor Son

Representative image of the story from Google

I was just out of the bus at City Bus Parking today when I saw a mother (middle aged) and her son walking ahead of me towards Taxi Parking. Had I not heard the boy calling the lady 'Ama' I would not have made out they were mother and son. And no one would have ever believed that a rich mother had a poor son (at least for God's sake). The mother was neatly dressed and carried a standard handbag. She wore an expensive Kira (bura) and probably she was heading towards her office. It was 8:30 then, time for every office goers to get on the road.

To her right was her son who was in almost-faded school uniform carrying a huge bag that hung below his waist. He wore black, patched-up socks and torn shoes. He was walking uncomfortably stopping time and again to fasten his shoe by the lace. I stood wonder-struck for some time. The mother seemed to be an aristocratic elite and the son proletarian pauper.  His mother, who was on the phone, dragged him for some time and left him behind when they encountered a crowd of people at the clock tower. She walked ahead with her callipygian never to turn back to see if her son was following. Her son who was too small for a huge bag was struggling to catch her. He ran for a while and stooped to mend his shoes and ran again.

I followed the him expecting his mother to turn back and do something for him. Why doesn’t she carry his bag? I wanted to help him and nearly reached my hand on his bag from behind but I thought that would be an insult to his mother. So I refrained from helping him but kept a close watch to see what the so called ‘modern mothers’, who are consciously carried off by ‘statuses’ do.

I followed them discerning to draw the relationship between ‘rich mother’ and the ‘poor son’. If mother had all the luxuries of the world, why not her son who is her blood and bone? I could hardly imagine. Are there any parents who does not care their children?

My mother never did this to me. In fact she wanted me to have the 'entire world' as her loving son. Even if she doesn’t get more than a slab of biscuit in her extreme hunger, she would starve and bring the biscuit for me. She always wanted me to wear best and eat good. She would put me in front of her and never let me fall out of her sight. She would bear all insults that I (a stupid son) brought to her. She would not be embarrassed to hold me by her hand and walk past the crowd (and across the world if she had seen one for herself). She would walk barefoot when I had a slipper. She would feed me first and eat herself if there is a leftover. I was a King for her and she was my Kingdom. I grew in the Kingdom of her love and care. She scolded me when I was wrong and praised me when right. As a result I grew up to be a 'just' person - a person who values values and morals. 

Today’s mothers (especially in the town) are different. The world has brought in hasty changes. They are becoming more ‘beauty and status’ conscious. Most parents are enveloped by their never-ending works and they hardly have time to advise their children. Time has changed now. As far as there is an expensive bag for mothers, it doesn’t matter what their sons and daughters carry. If there is lipstick for mothers, it doesn’t matter whether their kids have face cream.

If our sons and daughters are neglected like this, how can we expect best from them? This is the reason we see many hang-outs today. The irresponsibility of our parents has ruined our society. I have seen many parents who just scold their children but never have time to sit and talk about their dreams. I cannot expect a good son from a careless mother as I do not expect a good seed from a frozen flower.

The mother finally turned back when she reached the end of the city. When the boy reached her, she slapped (probably for not walking fast) and took him by his ears. Thank God! She at least instilled a value of ‘walking fast to meet the time’ in his life.