A Father`s Heart

Starving for space, I was sitting towards the edge of the seat of the auto rickshaw we were in. From my position, I had clear view of the streets of Jodhpur city, which I was visiting for the purpose of travel. Jodhpur seemed to be a small town in contrast to the cities I have spent my life in, but nonetheless, it was lively and rich in its heritage.

In an attempt to avoid a long detour, the rickshaw driver drove down in a direction opposite to the normal traffic flow. With all his attention focussed at the traffic coming from his left hand side, he did not notice that a father was trying to cross the road with his infantile daughter.

Sensing the opportunity to get to the U-turn, he accelerated. The father, who was not expecting traffic from the opposite direction, stepped forward to make the crossing. In moment, all I saw was the face of the child come real close to the body of the vehicle. Impulsively, I pushed the father away with my hand, causing him to loose balance and fall away from the rickshaw.

Realizing what just happened, the driver stopped and apologized to the father. He helped him get his chappals which had slipped off his feet due to the fall. Ignoring his own injury, the father immediately checked up on his daughter. Realizing she was unhurt, he told the driver "You are lucky only I was injured. Had anything happened to my daughter, you would have had it."

My first reaction was that of shock. Had I not pushed them away, the daughter may have been severely injured due to the impact of the vehicle on her forehead. However, after sometime, what remained on my mind was only the father`s response. And then I wondered how I do not know what exactly I am taking for granted today.