“Happy Father’s Day…Miss you Papa”
Samira typed the message into her phone and sent it to her father’s mobile number. Some five minutes later the answer came:
“Thank you. Miss you too beta.”
Samira last met her father three years ago, when she was fourteen. The first year of that separation was unbearably painful for her. She stopped talking, started bunking her school, spent most of the time in her bedroom, switching off the lights; and at day time closing the doors tight, making sure not a single ray of sunlight enters her room. Her mother took her to a psychiatrist ( They called him a doctor then, and Samira got to know only a year ago that he was a psychiatrist ). He was of no use though. Because Samira’s recovery got ensured with a magical gift from her mother on her fifteenth birthday —- a mobile phone! A dazzling, super cute mobile phone.
“Now I can contact Papa! I know his number by heart ” —– the first thought came into her mind when she got it in her hand. But she must make sure that ” Mumma shouldn’t know anything of this intention “. It took twenty-four hours to activate the sim card. The day after her birthday, when her mother went out for her office, Samira dialed her father’s number. It rang, but her father didn’t pick the phone up. She dialed it for the second time and that time a harsh voiced woman was on the other side of the phone. Samira got confused at first and disconnected the phone instantly to check whether she dialed the correct number or not. It was indeed her father’s number. So she rang it again, and again that woman with a harsh voice picked up the phone. Samira started unhesitatingly, ” Hello, I am Samira. Can I speak to my father Mr. Anuvab Nag? I haven’t talked to him for a year. Tell him, I really need to talk to him right now. I miss him badly.” She said those words in a breath. The woman on the opposite side remained silent for a few seconds and then replied, ” He is not home beta. I will tell him that you have called.” Then the line was disconnected. Samira waited for her father’s call till afternoon. When she could wait no longer she started texting her father:
“I don’t know why you’re not calling me. How can you be so cruel to your doll, Papa! You left me a year ago and never came back. It’s so hard living without you. I can’t do anything without you. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I hate talking to anyone or going to school. Please come back.”
She sent it and a text reply came afterward: “Don’t feel alone. I am always with you. Take care of yourself.” She got overwhelmed with emotions and cried like a fanatic. Her father had responded! After a year’s silence, her father had communicated with her! She continued texting him emptying the accumulated burdens of her heart.
Thus all began. Samira and her father had been texting each other for the last two years. They never talked though. Samira didn’t complain about it. Everything she wanted was to get in touch with the man she loved most. On the other hand, texting was more secure than calling. Otherwise, it would not be possible for her to hide this from her mother. She could not even imagine her mother’s reaction if she got to know about all these things happening for the last two years. Her mother was an innocent soul. She suspected nothing and was happy for Samira’s gradual return to normality. Her eyes got fixed on Samira whenever she laughed aloud at a funny incident or a joke. She gave all her time and attention to Samira after her return home from the office.
“Mumma misses you too. But she never expressed it. I can feel her emotions now. She is trying hard to be strong, but something is gnawing her from within. She is so lonely Papa. She is terribly alone. And I am not gonna leave her ever.”
Her father replied:
“It’s a tough job, raising a child alone. I am a bit relieved now that you have become mature enough to feel her pain. Stay by her side emotionally. Try to be her friend.”
Samira typed: ” Can I really be her friend, Papa?”
—— “You have to try your best. She too is trying to be your father and mother at the same time.”
—— “Can’t we be together again?” Few drops of tears fell through her cheeks, her vision got blurred. She typed again——
“Today is father’s day. I am dying to get a glimpse of you.”
After typing those words she closed her eyes. Her father’s image flashed before her eyes. A slender, middle stature man with a thin mustache and ever-smiling face. Her heart broke into pieces. She typed again: ” I wish I could see you for the last time before you left. But they never let me do it. They said I will be scared. A child shouldn’t see such a thing. She can’t tolerate it. The accident was devastating, they said. Their words were going into my ears, but at that time I could not make sense of anything. They appeared to be some meaningless sounds to me. But now I am happy to get connected with you again. I must be happy with what I get. Even a text is far better than the long cruel silence.”
It took half an hour to get her father’s answer:
“Pain is not an eternal thing. It too will pass. It’s at 12: 45 a.m. Now go to sleep. Will text you tomorrow.”
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