A boy and his father
By: Mr. Shrestha
Tags: Storytelling, Heartbreak

The day of Mha: Puja, 4th day of Yamapanchak. This day also marks the New Year of Newar ethnics, Nepal Sambat. The country was celebrating one of the biggest festivals, Tihar. The Newar people were celebrating their New Year and preparing for the Mha:Puja in the evening. Mha:puja is an act of worshiping your own body. Where the whole country was celebrating the festival in their own styles, a tragic event was about to strike a boy who lived in the city of Kathmandu.

Krishna, a boy born in a middle-class, just about to turn 7 years old in 2 months’ time. But the boy had neither any idea of his birthday nor the tragedy that would strike him on that very day. As usual, the family and the boy had a normal morning. Although it wasn’t normal for the rest of the family, for a 6-year-old boy, it was a normal morning for him. After all the morning routines, done with the lunch and everything, the little boy went for a nap, as every other kid’s mother and aunts would like them to do during the afternoon.

That afternoon when the boy was taking the nap, the phone rang and suddenly his aunties started crying. It was the phone call to inform them that the boy’s father is no more. The boy woke up when he heard his aunties crying and from distance, he heard the news. However, the boy pretended to not hear anything and just sat in surprise, why his aunties were crying. Upon one of his auntie’s insisting, he had to go to the hospital where his father had taken his last breath.

Upon arriving at the TU Teaching Hospital, there he saw all his family members outside the hospital’s emergency unit. As far as he remembers he saw his aunties from his father’s side, his maternal uncle, a grandfather from his mother’s side, uncles from his father’s side, and a couple of his uncle’s friends. Each and every one of them was in shock when they saw the boy on the hospital premises. The boy’s other aunties were sad and upset and were asking why they brought the boy to the hospital.

No one told the boy what was happening, but because he overheard his aunties earlier and with some hints, the boy clearly knew that his father has died. But surprising the boy held his emotions and without showing them to anyone he just kept wandering around as if he does not know anything. The other family members didn’t allow the boy to look at his father’s body and the boy returned home with his uncle and a few of the family members.

Back at home, there were other relatives who had arrived as soon as they received the news. His mother was laid unconscious in one of the rooms and there also the boy was kept away from the scene. Soon, the boy let all the things go and went on to play with his cousins. The cousins, who were elder to the boy knew everything about the situation but also aware that they don’t mention anything that was going around in front of the boy. They were also trying their best to keep the situation secret from the boy. They kept the boy busy with few games and played with their bicycle in their backyard.

The sky was clear and there was no trace of clouds in the sky. On this beautiful day, who knew it would be a tragic day for an innocent boy. The boy and one of his cousins went up the terrace and were enjoying the clear sky and flock of birds passing by. At that moment, the cousin sister might have been devasted from inside that one of her uncles have passed away, but she might have held her emotions in front of the boy and kept distracting the boy with random talks. Soon on the ground floor, the family was preparing to go for the funeral. The dead body was taken straight to Pashupati from the hospital for the funeral. The crying of some of the family members started and when the boy tried to look down the terrace, his sister pulled him back and didn’t allow him to see downstairs. She didn’t want the boy to watch his mother in misery.

A few hours later, all the family members returned from the funeral, and soon after the boy was taken back to his maternal uncle’s house. The boy couldn’t meet his mother on that day. He just saw his mother for a brief moment from a distance when they were returning back from the funeral down the footpath. The family continued to grief on the loss of their family members, but the boy was kept unaware of all those things going around, however, the boy was fully aware of what had happened on that day.

From that day, the little boy of 6 years old decided not to mention and discuss that day with anyone and kept all those things and feelings locked deep down inside his heart. Maybe because of that incident, the boy slowly turned to be an introverted person and started keeping his emotions and feelings to himself.