Do not Quit

Mr Prem Shankar was a very down to earth and hardworking man in his late fifties. He had been a manager in an American company. He was living a happy life with his beloved wife and three children. He had recently taken voluntary retirement to spend more time with his family and to search suitable life partners for his daughters. He had two daughters followed by a son. The son was pursuing engineering degree in Pune and his daughters were graduates from the city college, both eligible for marriage.

In the course of searching for prospective bridegrooms, Mr Shankar and his wife realised that while they were getting responses pertaining to their eldest daughter Seema, there was practically no interest elicited for Riya,the younger of the two. Between the two, Riah was the more talented one but less endowed appearance-wise. The lack of suitors made Riah extremely conscious and created a persecution complex in her. She was often caught crying by her mother who tried her best to console and counsel her and keep her engaged in her talent pursuits. Mr Shankar, too, kept urging her not to turn hopeless, that there were other things in life which were worthwhile pursuits, marraige could always happen when the right person came to her life and that person would be right because he would value her talents more than her looks. He kept telling her "Do Not Quit Hope, my child." 

Little did their parents know what was going on in Riya's mind.

Then came the day when a suitable match for Seema, the eldest one, was finalised. The younger daughter joined in the general merriments in the family but kept suffering inside. Her suffering turned her mindless about her parents counselling. Instead of furthering her talents while waiting for a suitable match, she slowly moved away into isolation, generally brooding in her room and meeting the family only when unavoidable. 

The whole family soon became busy with the wedding preparations. Despite a huge dowry demand from the groom's family, Mr Shankar managed to arrange all the necessary requirements to organise a social wedding.

Unfortunately, his arrangements did not include or foresee the suicide plan of his younger daughter. On the day of the marraige, unnoticed by the generally busy household, Riya hung herself from the ceiling of her room. 

The unfortunate father came upon this gruesome sight while bustling into the room to search for his pagri. He was about to sit for the wedding rituals that were to begin at the dot of the hour announcing the onset of Shubh Mahurat.  

He couldn't stop the guttural cry that emanated from him upon sighting his lifeless daughter. Hearing this, the whole crowd of wedding invitees came running to the room. Riya's mother fainted after she saw her daughter thus. A devastated Seema sighted a folded paper on the bed and instantly opened it. Riya had left a message that no one was responsible for her death and that it was her decision to end life because she would never get a husband because of her unattractive appearance. The talented but immatured girl had evidently not understood her parents' counsellings and her elder sister's impending marraige had not been acceptable to her. In her own selfish way, Riah had plunged the entire family into darkness by 'Quiting the fight'.

This note gave an end to any type of police case, but still the body was sent for postmortem.

Meanwhile, shocked by such an unholy happening on an auspicious day, the superstitious family of the bridegroom refused to proceed with the wedding, citing possibilities of bad luck or curse befalling their family. After all, Riah's note made it clear to all present that she was extremely unhappy. Who would want to invite the wrath of an unhappy soul by making merry at that time!?!

Mr.Shankar tried his utmost to dissuade the bridegroom's family; even fell at their feet begging for their considerations. His daughter's future and his entire savings were at stake. However, the adamant father of the groom refused to relent and dragged the groom away from the Mandap and an entirely shattered family in their wake.

Life seemed to move on auto -pilot for the Shankar family for the next few days. Riah's last rites were performed and the associated rituals took place in the same platform that was built for Seema's wedding. Seema lost all her radiance and moved about doing house chores mechanically. Her mother was yet to recover from the devastation and was prescribed anti-depresants and sleeping pills to keep her sedated till her fainting spells subsided. She used to wake up only to call out for Riah and collapse. Mr.Shankar was predictably bankrupt after meeting wedding, funeral and medical expenses. His son, Praveen, refused to return to Pune to complete his studies, being aware of the financial crisis. He wanted to remain with his parents and help them in whatever ways he could, but his father refused. 'Do not Quit, my son.' He urged Praveen to complete his studies and get a job so that their family conditions could improve.

Praveen went back to his college and pursued the remaining few semesters with an intense determination to excel and thereby bring back happiness in his family. Time passed and Praveen’s final year results were out. Indeed, he had passed with distinction marks and qualified for a leading Indian IT company with a handsome package. Relieved that he would be able to soon take care of his sister's marraige and family's finances, Praveen decided to visit his family and take their blessings before assuming his office in New Delhi.

The visit was to be a surprise to his family, but unfortunately the train got delayed by more than six hours owing to torrential rains. By the time Praveen deboarded the train, it was close to midnight. On his way to home from the station, the three wheeler auto-rickshaw was speeding over the limit. Both Praveen and the driver were in a hurry to reach their respective homes. Unfortunately the speeding rickshaw failed to see the dim tail lights of a static truck through the rain-blurred windscreen. The driver noticed it too late and tried to swerve on the right side at the last moment. This resulted in swinging the rear end of the rickshaw and banging it into the truck. The travel-weary Praveen probably died in his sleep only.

Next morning Mr. Shankar received a call from the police station asking him to identify an accident victim from whom an ID card had been retrieved bearing the telephone number and address of his home.

Mr. Shankar was not expecting his son, hence this summon came as a bolt out of the blue. He immediately started calling his son's mobile number but it couldn't get connected. With immense trepidation, he reached the police station with a neighbour. His worst fears came true at the sight of the familiar red-checkered shirt and the brown leather strapped wristwatch, both gifts from father to son. 

Mr Shanker, as if re-enacting the scenes from the day of Riah's death, mechanically, went through the legalities of getting the body released from police and hospital custody. His companion had already rung his own wife to inform her about the tragedy and break the news to Mr. Shankar's family and other close neighbours. Mr. Shankar decided to head straight for the cremation rather than show the gruesome state of his son to his family. 

He returned to a house full of mourning neighbours and relatives. His wife and daughter were in a numbed state. The happy family of five desirous of increasing their members were left with only three within a short span of twelve months. The sympathetic onlookers were mumbling amongst themselves about how they did not expect the twice bereaved parents to survive anymore and how difficult it would become for the unmarried daughter to survive alone, if their predictions were to materialise.

However, the pain of trying to stay alive kept the Shankar family afloat. Financially devastated, the trio could not spend much time in mourning. Mr. Shankar realised that he would have to start earning in whatever way he could. His pension from his job had been commuted along with all other savings to garner funds for his daughter's marraige arrangements. Although the wedding did not happen, the cancelling of the arrangements at the last moment had forfeited all the payments made. In the hope that his worthy son would look after the future savings, Mr Shankar had not worried about the same and had managed the monthly grocery and household expenses from his meagre income from some earlier investments. Despite his age and long absence from the professional scenario, his 'Do not Quit'  mantra of life once again galvanised him into a full scale job hunt. 

His 'never -die' attitude and positive energy slowly influenced his daughter and wife as well. His daughter began approaching schools and offices for jobs as well. Having been schooled to get married after graduation, Seema had never considered pursuing professional courses or higher studies. The tragedies of the past year had made her realise her folly. Her 'just graduate' and 'no experiance' status were big hurdles to getting jobs. However, fortunately, for her, a neighbouring aunty had referred Seema for the post of a receptionist at some relative's paediatric clinic. The pay was not much but the hours spent in a new environment helped her gain mental peace and build rapport with various people frequenting the chamber.

Mrs. Shankar took to sewing assignments at home. She got a regular flow of young girls, would- be brides, whose parents wanted their daughters to acquire homely skills. She used to train them in stitching and knitting. Gradually, she expanded the 'course' to include basic cooking and home decor. After all, she had taught her own two daughters.

Thus, the least expected members of the household began earning and contributing to the family kitty. And they became the ones to motivate Mr. Shankar daily evenings when he used to return empty-handed from his job hunts with 'Do not Quit'!

After all, that was what counted the most.