Finding His Mother

story & narration by Sameer Raote

It is evening time in a police station, around 4’O clock, when an officer is in conversation with his wife.

“You know what today is, right?” she asks in a serious tone.

“Yes. Of course… Obviously.” says he.

Right now, Inspector Aradh Seth is talking while flipping through a bunch of files. He is preparing a report. A file which he has to close before leaving from work. He gives answers in one word while going through it. Once he is done, he stands up to hand it to his subordinate. Meanwhile the phone conversation continues. Just before he is to step out of the cabin he hears his mother’s voice and replies.

“Yes Maa. I know. I’ll be there within an hour. I’ll be there. I promise.”

“You promise!” says his wife Avantika taking the phone off from speaker away from his mother. “Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

He is about to step out of his cabin but then he stops. He knows what is going to follow still there is nothing he can to do stop it.

“I promise we’ll go for shopping today. I promise I’ll take you for a movie this weekend. It’s our anniversary, obviously we’ll go for dinner…” she speaks in a mocking tone.

“Is this the right time to talk about that?”

“Yes…” she pauses, “…because there is never a good time to talk with you. Whenever our conversations becomes difficult there is a ping on your phone and all you have to say is ‘Duty calls’. So… now you have to listen.” says she.

For some reason Aradh’s wife seems very stressed. This is quite common with her. It isn’t hard for her to start an argument but today seems like a special day.

“Avantika! please don’t create a scene around Maa!”

“Don’t worry, I’m in a different room right now. Also she has taken her hearing aid out… You have to come on time!” she says.

“I will.”

“No… I want you here, now!”

“I am coming.”

“Not good enough. You should have been here, already!”

“Hey! She’s my mother, not yours. I love her. I care about her well being more than you do. So… don’t tell me where I should or shouldn’t be. I told you I’ll be there within an hour so I will.”

Out of aggression Aradh hangs up the phone. He is almost at the door but then he walks in again to take a sip of water. Taking a few quick gulps calms him down. Avantika is acting like a crazy person, but not without a reason.

Aradh’s mother is an old woman troubled by a long list of diseases. Bad sight, poor hearing, heart condition, occasional swollen feet and many more. Still she has managed to live through it till now. She keeps on saying, “I won’t die until I see my grandson.”

This is a problem considering a resent development. There is a lot of medical jargon in explaining this disease but the gist of it is this, there is a growing infection at the back of her eyes. If kept unchecked then it can prove fatal. On the other hand if an operation is conducted to remove it, she will be safe it is very much likely that she will lose her eyes sight.

This was a difficult decision. After a lot of effort Aradh managed to convince his mother to proceed with the operation. Pulling a few contacts here and there he arranged an international surgeon to operate on her in a local hospital. Today is the day of operation, more specifically tonight, seven hours from now.

Aradh’s mother agreed but with one condition that she wants her son to be the last person she sees before she closes her eyes forever. Aradh took permission for an early off so as to be with his mother in an hour. This is what he has planned.

Aradh relaxes himself and then steps outside to give the finished file to be kept in record room. There he sees a middle aged man named Jaggad Nath sitting in front of his subordinate. He is crying. Aradh doesn’t say anything but with eye contact asks his situation.

“Nothing serious sir. His old mother ran away from home and he wants us to find her.” says his subordinate Radhe.

“Nothing serious… nothing serious!” he cries. “Sir. My mother is missing since morning time. She is very old and doesn’t remember much. Also she has started seeing my father… who died ten years…”

“Hallucinations.” whispers Radhe.

“…She says ‘your father is calling me’ and simply walks off. It’s third time this week…”

“That’s what I’m saying. This is normal. She will return tomorrow. Don’t worry.” interrupts Radhe.

“…No. What if she tries crossing a busy road. What if a car hits her. What if she is critically injured. What if she needs my help. Even if that happens I wouldn’t know. That’s the worst part…” he says while crying.

When all the subordinates refuse to help Jaggad, the guy begs their superior. He falls on his knees and begs for immediate assistance. “Sir, please help. I know you love your mother. I love my mother too. She needs me right now.” Aradh has somewhere to go but now he is unsure. He speaks nothing while the other guy cries. Meanwhile Radhe makes hand gestures to tell Aradh to get rid of him.

“Okay.” says Aradh. “There’s still time.” he says to himself referring to the fact that his mother’s operation is scheduled for 11 p.m. “Radhe, we’ll go look for her.” he says hinting to two more police officers.

“But sir, we have a job later tonight, to block the road for the arriving minister’s security.”

“When is that?”

“10:30.”

“Still time. Let’s go.”

Although reluctant Radhe gets up and walks out with Aradh and two other officers. They commence the search, starting from her residence. The old woman’s son, Jaggad, has given her photo still he insists on staying with them. She is missing for over eight hours now. She could be anywhere. Still they continue to look.

Meanwhile Aradh is dodging calls of his wife. In response he simply sends short texts saying,

‘Busy’ ‘Urgent matter’ ‘Sorry’.

Following that his wife vents her frustration in form of long ‘ALL CAPS’ messages. It’s surprising for him to know how fast she can type. Fortunately he can simply skip through the argument part. Aradh keeps on checking from time to time to know if they have left for hospital, arrived at the hospital, got settled in a room, status of doctor’s arrival, etc.

Avantika is right to act the way she is acting. Aradh knows that. Most of the times she is a strong woman taking quick calculated decisions and finding innovative solutions to all family problems. Sadly she becomes weak when it comes to making hospital related decision. Which is why she is terrified to be alone at the hospital while Aradh’s mother undergoes an eyes surgery. Unfortunately she has to.

Aradh is helpless. He wants to be with his mother. Let her see him before they take her for the surgery. Sadly the situation right now such is that he can’t go without finding that old woman. There is still time but with every passing minute he gets more and more impatient.

“What’s the update?” asks Aradh.

“No good news, sir. We checked all the possible locations she could be. Contacted all the her relatives. Distributed her photo on all check posts including info of what she is wearing today. Now all we can do is wait.”

“Wait…? we can’t wait… We have to keep looking.” cries her son.

“Sir we have done our job. There’s nothing more to do.” says Radhe. “I think you should go to the hospital.”

“Doing our job”, thinks Aradh. “Obviously, I have promised my mother so I have to be there. She needs me. But going there I will be helpless. My hands will be tied. The doctors will do their job. I have to do mine… I can’t go before finding your mother. I made a promise and I intend to keep it.” This last part he says out loud.

Now the issue is, what will they do ? You see, problem with searching someone in a city like Vanchi is the traffic. You can’t go from one place to the other without needing to wait for the other moving cars to go with you. Luckily it’s close to ten in the night. Meaning the traffic has reduced. Further a path is entirely blocked for a senior minister to go from airport to ministry office and back.

“We can use that road.” Says Aradh.

“Sir. We are not allowed to do that.” objects Radhe.

“When has than stopped us from doing what we want.” says Aradh with a smile.

They do exactly that. Quickly travelling with a police vehicle they look for the old woman. Fortunately the minister’s flight is delayed so they can used the blocked path without any interruptions. They keep on looking.

“If I want I can go to the hospital right now.” Aradh argues with himself, “…but how will I face her. If I don’t do my job and instead go see her. Maybe a loving mother will accept me but a not a martyr’s wife.” he thinks remembering that fact that his father sacrificed his life while on duty. She would expect nothing less from her son.

“It’s okay if my mother doesn’t get to see me. I have to do this job.” Aradh says out loud. Fortunately his words are lost in the noise of loud siren. As they enter a residential area Radhe turns off the loud siren.

“Sir. I don’t think we will be able to find her. It’s not like she will be just sitting on the roadside waiting for-.”

“There she is!” shouts Jaggad.

The instant vehicle stops Jaggad runs towards his mother. He hugs her, wipes his tears and ask, “Where did you go? Do you know how much I was worried for you?”

“Jaggu… is that you… I lost my way… I knew you would come…” she replies.

They rejoice. Aradh is happy. “The job is done and there’s still time. I can go-“

That very instant an announcement is made on the radio informing the minister has left the airport. “All officers are to block the roads to let the minister have an un-interrupted safe passage.” So Aradh waits along with other officers, the civilian Jaggad Nair and his old mother.

Jaggad is so happy that he thanks every police officer there. Including those who didn’t participate in the search for his mother. He shakes hands with Aradh, hugs him and then falls on his knees. He cries again but these are tears of joy. A top politician is to pass through along with the police commissioner and yet for him the most important official right now is Inspector Aradh Seth.

“Jaggu, look your father is calling me.” he hears his mother saying.

What happens next happens so fast that they get no opportunity to react until after it has happened. The old woman sees her husband on the road and walks towards him. That very instant the politician’s car is to pass at a very high speed. Seeing the old woman in the middle they slow down but before the car comes to a halt it hits her and she goes flying 4-5 meters before landing hard on the road.

Everyone is shocked to see what just happened. For Jaggu, her son, everything is a blur. The minister is very angry for the interruption. Still he steps out. He orders the police officials to take the injured old woman to the nearest but reputed hospital for treatment.

“Send the bill to me.” he says.

Immediately she is carried to police vehicle. Her son goes with her along with a couple of police officers. Aradh wants to go too since his mother is in the same hospital for her surgery. But he is not allowed to go.

“What happened just now was very careless.” says the commissioner. “Aradh, you were not even supposed to be here.”

The minister is angry since his meeting is now delayed and as a consequence the commissioner is angry too. Aradh was supposed to be tasked for minister’s security and yet commissioner let him go because he asked to be with his mother. But now, what happened, although out of hand, is unforgivable.

The minister whispers in the commissioner’s ear and then commissioner speaks, “Inspector Seth. You are to take charge of sir’s security right now and you will not be relieved of your duty until you safely return him to the airport.”

This situation is tough. The situation is bad. But Aradh understands. To some extent it is his carelessness led to this accident. He has to make a difficult call to his wife saying he can’t come. After that he switches off his personal phone.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Aradh’s mother resists the surgery before seeing her son but then Avantika takes a tough decision to let the doctors sedate her mother-in-law and carry out the procedure as planned.

After a seemingly very long night Aradh is relieved of his duties and he finally finds time to go see his mother. There he meets with Avantika and the doctor on duty. He is told that the surgery was successful but they couldn’t save her eyes. The damage was irreparable.

This news hits Aradh hard. Fortunately just before he has a complete breakdown he is told that they got a last minute donor during the surgery. So they are pretty confident that after standard recovery period she will be able to see again. For a moment Aradh does not understand how to react. To this doctor says, “Just breath.”

When time comes for Aradh’s mother to see again, on her request, the first thing she sees is her son and her daughter-in-law standing in front of her. Aradh cries when his mother recognizes him and holding her hand he apologize for not being by her side when she needed him. To this she simply says to both of them,

“You did the right thing.”

END

written by Sameer Raote

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