"Mama! I want a new bag. All my friends have bought new bags with railings."
"Dear daughter! You know well that we can't afford that. Your father is hardly bearing the expenses of the family."
"Would we stay in the same condition forever?"
This is what I asked my mom as she was trying to explain the hardships of my father in response to my demand for a new bag. My father was the only provider of a family of 9 members. In my childhood, I was not used to thinking about his struggles, but gradually I realized the hurdles he faced to provide for our needs.
We are seven siblings and none of us is uneducated as my father did his best to provide us good education. Although his salary was not enough as he was a laborer who was trying hard to make ends meet, still he never let us know about the hardships he faced. But wrinkles on his face were the outcome of his hard and long time of work. Once my mom got seriously ill, we took her to the hospital and after examining her, doctors revealed some shocking news.
"She got Uterine Fibroids and we have no other option except surgery."
"But how much this surgery would cost us?" My father asked.
"Perhaps one lac, but medicines are not included in this."
This was truly shocking for us as at that time one lac was a very huge amount for us. My father got worried,
"I don't know, how I would manage that expense, but you all don't need to get worried. Your mom will be alright soon."
My dad said this to me and my siblings as we were worried about her. His steadfastness at that moment made us cry, as he was hiding his pain, just for us. All the money that my father earned was being spent on our household expenses. So my father couldn't pay this huge amount, so he asked his relatives to borrow some money. But this was the time when they showed their true colors and no one came ahead to help him.
Even his brothers refused to help him. At last, one of my father's friends helped him, but my father promised him that he would pay his debt as soon as possible. My mother got operated and she got well in a few days, but life after that became harder for us. Every week my father was used to paying some money to his friend which he borrowed from him. Despite all the things, he never complained even for once.
In a few days, I passed my matriculation examination and now it was time for me to get admission to the college. I submitted my documents to the college but I was too shy to ask my father for the admission fee, as he was already managing his expenses with great difficulty. But my mother told him about my fee and he said,
"Currently I don't have any money, but give me some days, and I will arrange it in some way."
"But how Dad?" I know it's hard for you."
"Don't be hopeless my dear! Just focus on your studies."
After a few days, my father came to me and gave me money to pay my fee. When I asked him about it, he told me that one of his friends has paid his debt which he took a long time ago. I got teary eye, as he could have paid his debt but still, he preferred to pay my fee. I studied hard, as I wanted to become a support for my father. So after my graduation, I applied to different institutions for a job, but it wasn't an easy task.
After many interviews, I got a job in a private school. But just then Corrona hit the world and everyone was stuck at home. So I also lost my job. It was a really difficult phase for me but I never lost hope and kept finding different means of earning money luckily my friend introduced me to different online platforms that were paying for writing articles. These platforms become my biggest support at that time.
After the Covid, I again found a job in a private institution. Although the salary was small in the beginning still it was enough to help my dad somehow with the expenses. My brother was also doing a job and things got better with time.
