'Beyond the Horizon': There's more to it...

Chapter - 27

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"Sidharth!!! Sidharth!!!" The loud callings interrupted his deep slumber. His mother was almost banging the door to his room for fifteen long minutes now after trying the gentle way for some time. She hated doing it, disturbing him this early when she knew he must be fatigued with the intense toiling at his work front, but had no other choice as she was getting late for a prayer meet.

It was 05:30 AM, much early for Sidharth, who even being a hostler for the longest of his adolescence, could never come into terms with being a morning person. They would all get up early at the boarding, it was a rule, a routine. Yet, it was as if an imposed pursuit for him which he never accepted wholeheartedly, rather detested to the core and so detached it the moment he was out of the boarding. Very much sincere towards his workout regime, which usually is a 09:00 AM talk, he would utilize the ample morning hours to fulfill his siesta. So that he gets his much-needed handsome sleep which again is of high importance for the face-valuing industry he is a part of now.

"Mom...!!What happened!?? Are you...you all right?" Was all he could managed to utter, opening the door petrified. The urgency of her calls had him in fret.

"Sidharth kab se utha rahi hun beta...And I am perfectly fine...Sorry disturb kiya itni subah...Kuch hua nahi hai...I am going for Papa's prayer meet...wanted to inform you before I leave...Kal tu late aya baat nahi ho paayi..." She informed making it sound as casual as it can get. It was his father's birth anniversary today and hence the pre organized meet on his name.

For Sidharth, it was the least spoken, barely discussed subject of his life, his father. He was at a very tender age when he had lost his father, watching his mother handling it all alone was definitely stressful for a young child, but he had zero choice then. The admiration still at par for all she had to go through to brought them up, imparting the best of values with traits like ambition, responsibility, and courage. She was a role model for the kid in him, maintaining her best place till date. She is one strong individual who had taught them to smile through hardships, in the process, learning and leading by example on how to protect the integrity of the family.

For most of his childhood they stayed in a joint family and credits mostly to his mother for the harmonious stay all through those years. If it wasn't for her tuition classes, they would have kept the living arrangements as is, but his 'Chachi' was not very fond of kids joining them at home to take classes, so they chose to shift to a different floor first and now to a different surrounding entirely. Nonetheless, they were all still very much connected with the invisible thread of kinship.

"Hmm...Okay...I...Uh...vo..." He stuttered, unable to comprehend what to reply. He did remember the date till yesterday, the morning chaos had it let slip. Moreover, he didn't want to directly ask to join her at the same time couldn't guess if she wanted him to, hence the awkwardness.

Staying in hostel spending all his school life there, he couldn't accompany his mother and sisters for the prayer meets at Brahma Kumaris, hence losing a connect altogether. Later, when he came back home for his graduation, he had tried tagging along but it got even more difficult to traverse back to those memory lanes where he had missed the slightest of his father's presence as a kid. It also got tough on a mother's part, to untie the knots and talk it out, when her son had almost reached adulthood by then, the very phase of an individual's life where it gets more difficult to penetrate and manipulate their thought processes. And now remains only those noteworthy pictures on their family album with her talking and reminiscing the good old days from time to time.

The feelings, nothing unpleasant at all, rather a peaceful remembrance with highest of regards wrapped around those 'now in picture' precious happy times of his presence. The dwelling deep kind of Sidharth's attitude making it difficult for him to ever speak freely of his father. The matter, always very personal to him, and he intended to keep it that way.