Prakash- Light in my Life

Prakash- Light in my Life

Prakash was my wife's maiden name, when born in 1940, her birth was celebrated like a long-desired son by her father, whose business started flourishing right from her year of birth. Her Muslim mid-wife was awarded ornaments and money, never heard of on a girl child's birthday in that era, when people regarded the daughter as a burden and not an asset to be proud of. Despite her parents already having sons, Prakash was the most loved child of the family. Her birth was celebrated with much more enthusiasm than that of her brothers, even on her first Lohri celebrations, all the near and dear ones were invited.

Her elder brother was my batch-mate, when we were pursuing an engineering course in Bombay. Midway between our Marine Engineering course, with the consent of both of our parents, Prakash was betrothed to me though none of us had ever seen each other. But after our engagement and with her brother, and now brother-in-law's efforts, I was allowed to meet her and also write letters to each other. First, this was opposed by Prakash's father, but my own father supported me and gave me his favourite fountain pen to write my first letter to Prakash when I came home to Amritsar on my brief 2 weeks vacation. This was luckily delivered to her by her brother himself, who had also come on his vacation to his home in Batala. During my annual vacations, Parkash used to come to Golden Temple with her mother in-tow, after informing me, and there we could see and talk for a few hours before her return to Batala.

This continued for about two years, but when her three years younger sister's marriage, was arranged on the demand of her in-laws, there was second thinking on the situation. As a result of some misunderstanding between my and her parents, our engagement got adversely affected and broken. Later when I joined Merchant Navy, and after an intense introspection, I realised, in all this mess of break-up, only Prakash will suffer the most, because of the taboo of her meeting me before our marriage. I left my job and convinced my parents and again contacted my batch mate, Parkash's brother, who too managed to make his and Prakash's parents agree to a patch-up. This was all due to Parkash's having firmly told her parents after the break-up, that she won't marry with their any other choice. After our marriage, Parkash brought another source of light when she gave birth to our first son, whom I saw for the first time when he was around 6 months old, after Prakash conceived, I had joined another shipping company. When Prakash gave birth to my second son, I again was away for my higher exams, which qualified me for First Engineer's rank, next to the ship's top post of Chief Engineer.

Parkash brought even more light to my life, when she dedicated herself in the service of my aged parents, and more so in the bringing-up of my sons in the best way she could, during my months-long separation from her, my being at sea for long periods. Today our both sons owe their successful careers to Prakash, their mother, who in spite of many domestic issues, never spared any efforts to look after my sons affectionately and even discipline them if necessary. After losing her long fight with her old-age morbidities, Prakash has left me in darkness as if the light from my life has been extinguished.

Read My Other WriteUps-

-My First Letter to My Wife-to-be

-Home Coming on Leave

-Patience Pays

Lal Singh,

Retd Chief Engineer(IMS)