All the pics taken from: www.pexels.com
Kirin was the only child of his parents. Being working parents, both Ramesh and Lata were mostly busy from morning to evening with their office work and it was only in the evening that they returned to their house to find their 8 year old son eagerly waiting for them at the door of their apartment. Kirin used to reach home much earlier and it was the maid-servant who used to look after him in the absence of his parents.
Kirin's father worked as an accountant in a private bank on the outskirts of the city and his mother worked as a teacher in a private school located at a distance of about 40 km from house. Both the parents were fond of their loving son but couldn't afford to spend enough time with him due to their tight working schedule at their respective workplaces.
That day also both the parents i.e. Ramesh and Lata reached home long after it was dark. Lata had arrived about half an hour before Ramesh. By the time she reached Home, Kirin had already finished school work and was busy playing with a ball by himself. The moment he saw his mother at the door, the child left the ball and ran towards his mother with a big smile on his sweet little face.
Lata too held out her arms towards her son and lifted him when he came closer.
"Hey Son! How are you? I hope you didn't create any problem for aunt Meera." - Lata spoke as she lifted Kirin in her lap.
Kirin replied excitedly, "No mother, I didn't trouble Meera aunty. I have already done my home work. Now as you have come, I want you to play with me."
Lata retorted, "Son! I too want to play with you. But you know I have so much work to do here now. Dinner is to be prepared. Clothes need to be ironed for tomorrow."
Kirin retorted at once, "Mother ! You had promised in the morning that today you'd play with me."
Lata said while trying to placate her son, "Son! Your father is about to arrive soon. He will play with you while I do the household work. Wait for a while. He can be here any time".
Disappointment was clearly visible on Kirin's face but he didn't persist and again picked up the ball to keep himself engaged.
Lata went into the kitchen and saw Meera cooking food. She heaved a sign of relief to see that the food was almost ready tonight.
Having changed her dress, she sat down to relax for a while. Lost in her thoughts, she mechanically opened her handbag and took out her smartphone to see what her friends had updated on facebook and whatsapp.
She couldn't keep track of time and when she moved her eyes off the smartphone, she saw her husband Ramesh at the door. Infact, it was the knock at the door that had brought her back to the present from the virtual world where she had got transported through her smartphone.
Seeing her sitting on the sofa, Ramesh first smiled and spoke while taking off his shoes, "It seems you have just reached. It was a hectic day at the office. There is too much work for me to handle."
Without realizing that she was sitting there for over half an hour, Lata replied, "Yes! I have just reached. Must be 10 to 15 minutes."
Having listened to the conversation of his parents, Kirin came running from the room where he had so far kept himself busy with his ball and other toys.
"Daddy !!! You are back. My daddy." Kirin went running to Ramesh and held his father by the legs.
Ramesh too responded lovingly and lifted his son in his lap and asked him, "So how was your day son? Have you finished the homework?"
"Yes daddy. I have already finished. I told the mother too, but she was too busy to play with me. Now as you have come back, I will play with you." - Kirin threw a spree of sentences out of excitement after seeing his father back home.
Ramesh said, "Yes son ! We'll play but after five minutes. Let me take rest for a while."
"No dady No ! Right now. There is no one here to play with me. You 'd promised in the morning that when you'd come back, we'd play", Kirin said firmly as if he didn't want any excuses.
As Ramesh was quite tired, he sat down before he spoke, "We'll surely play son. Just give me five minutes. Let me change clothes and take tea. Then I'll do what you say."
Kirin paused for sometime and then uttered, "OK Daddy!! Only five minutes. Not more than that. "
" I promise son." Ramesh said to pacify his son knowing that the child wouldn't accept any excuses.
With downcast eyes, Kirin again went to the adjacent room where he had kept himself busy all this while.
By this time, Lata had got up and brought the clothes that she had to iron. Having placed them on the bed, she again sat down and asked Ramesh, "You look quite tired today. You know Kirin was waiting for you to play with him."
"Yea, I know that. I just need a five minutes break", Having uttered these words, Ramesh picked up his smartphone and started chatting with one of his colleagues who wanted to discuss something seemingly important with him.
While Ramesh was sitting on the sofa with the mobile in his hands, Lata started to iron the clothes.
While Ramesh was busy chatting with his friend, he was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Kirin whom he found standing by his side.
"Daddy !! Get up now please. You have had enough of rest."
"Son !! Only one minute. I'm discussing something really very important with an uncle of yours."
"Daddy ! You are breaking your promise. No one plays with me. You are always busy with something or other over your phone."
While Kirin was saying all this, Meera came from the kitchen and announced, "Dinner is re̵ady. Please eat food before it gets cold."
Ramesh got up and carrying his son in his lap he said, "First Kirin and I will eat something. Thereafter we have a lot of time to play. Isn't it a great idea?"
Kirin almost cried while saying, "Daddy !! You promised."
"Why are you weeping Kirin ? Let's first have dinner and then we'll do nothing but play." - Ramesh went straight to the dining table holding Kirin in his arms.
Kirin almost broke down and said while sobbing, "Daddy !! You lied to me. You are always busy with your mobile."
Ramesh didn't pay any heed to what his son had said and keeping Kirin on the chair, he said, "See how delicious the food looks. Look what we have here. Kidney beans ...... Your favorite dish."
Kirin's attention got diverted for a while and seeing his favorite dish before him, a smile seemed to have appeared on his cute face.
While Ramesh had the dinner, he kept his eyes fixed on the screen of the smartphone. Kirin looked at his father and mother while having food. Both husband and wife talked to each other as they ate food and seemed to be completely unaware of what was going on in the mind of their son.
Having finished dinner, Ramesh said, "Now Kirin !! Let us move now. Tell me which game you want to play."
Seeing that his father was now ready to play, Kirin's excitement was far from visible. He almost jumped down from the chair and said, "We'll play with the ball first and then 'Hide and Seek'.
Having listened to the demands of his son, Ramesh got a bit anxious but as he couldn't do otherwise, he replied, "Alright, let's start, but only one game."
"No father, both"- Kirin persisted and as Ramesh couldn't say 'No' to his son, he got up reluctantly and went with his son to the other room to which Kirin almost dragged him.
Hardly had they been there for two minutes, when Ramesh heard the ringing of his smartphone. He at once went to take his phone while Kirin followed his father to grab his attention.
The call was from an old friend of Ramesh and while Ramesh talked over the phone, Kirin kept holding his father's leg so that his father doesn't go away again. But despite all his efforts, Kirin couldn't stop his father from getting lost in the conversation with his friend over the smartphone.
Lata came to Kirin while Ramesh was busy talking over the phone and lifted the kid in her lap. She took him to his bed while Kirin screamed to show his refusal to sleep.
Kirin was not in a mood to sleep now as he wanted to play with his father or mother but both seemed to be too busy to spare some time for their only child, though they have sufficient time for keeping themselves engaged over their smartphones.
Kirin wept for some time while his mother tried to send him to sleep by singing a song. While she sang, she made sure to send a few text messages to one of her friends who was online at that time. Using her left hand, Lata typed the message, whereas her right hand was over the head of her only son who had suddenly closed his eyes and about to fall sleep after hours of playing all alone by himself.
While Lata hummed the song, Ramesh guffaowed with laugthter over some joke that his friend might have cracked. The resonance of his laughter subdued the sobbings of his son who had fallen asleep now.