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Heena served two plates of dinner as every day. She had made Palak Paneer with all her heart. After all it was Rishav’s favourite dish. She went into the dining and called out for Rishav. After few minutes when Rishav did not turn up, she started eating alone. After few bites, she could not continue.

Suddenly she got up and ran to see the family album. There was her favourite picture in which Rishav was crying holding Heena’s sari not wanting to got to school for the first day. She smiled at it and ran across her fingers over Rishav’s face.

Rishav meant the world to her, after escaping her abusive marriage. She raised him as a single mother. Being devoid of having her own share of happiness, she made it a point to make Rishav happy. His every single urge was satisfied by Heena. Seeing her only son happy as if gave solace to her soul.

By the time Rishav was a grown up man , his happiness was clearly his priority. He knew that to get his task done, all he had to do was say that the perticular thing/task would give him happiness and voila! He would get it for sure. Heena made it sure.

With fulfillment of every demand, a part of Heena was sacrificed and she thought that she was being the best mother possible. After all, this was the only relationship that she had to take care of!

Years passed by and Rishav claimed to have found the love of his life. Even though, Heena knew that her daughter in law was a very different version of what an ideal daughter in law would be, she never objected to their relationship. She was happy because Rishav was happy.

One day Rishav mentioned that he would like to marry in front of his mother . But there was one condition that he had to stay with his in laws and his mother had to stay alone. He would visit every month to ask her well being. Heena laughed it out thinking that Rishav would have surely denied the condition. He would work a middle path and can never leave his mother alone. When she looked back at Rishav’s eyes for an affirmation, she knew that she had lost. Rishav just plainly said, “she makes me feel happy” . That’s all and within few days left the house after getting married .

The house suddenly felt so empty for Heena. Without Rishav, there was no world! But she had no choice. Heena, for a few years didn’t believe the change that had come in her life.

That day seeing the photographs of Rishav’s Childhood, she murmured to herself. May be she did wrong all her life.. “I did not teach him the right thing”, she screamed out. Humanity should have been prioritised over happiness all these years is what she declared with tears rolling down her cheeks and looked out of the window. The sun had just set over the horizon.

As we sow, so shall we reap. May be the only child trend that is so common these days is apt for the current socio economic situation. However what perspective should be prioritiesed in the younger generation to come is a duty that needs attention from all of us!