To each his own

Today I am preparing to attend interviews, yet again. This is the fourth company I will be attending and have asked my father to give me a lift to the venue campus. I expect to compete with almost 800 engineers who passed out in May 2010 along with me. I know I have to make it through to this company at least lest I lose respect amongst family and friends. I come from a middle class family in Chennai. I am the only son to my parents and I have been their meaning of life for the past 21 years.

My mom emerged from the puja room as I was about to leave and put a tilak with the sacred ash on my forehead. She said I will get this job for sure and that she was sure about it. I smiled to myself. She loved me more than anything in this world. I left my home with my dad. 

We have a Maruti 800, a car that is probably driven by most of the Indian households. I sat on the front with my dad. As we left home, I recalled the days when my dad had a Bajaj Chetak scooter. That used to be my family's only mode of transport and most often where we went, ate, shopped were all decided by me. Nothing was denied to me. My dad was more like my hero and I believe I was his. All three of us used to have fun like no one else could. 

Oh, talking of heroes, how can I forget the long list of people who had influenced me - Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa, Rajnikanth, Srinath (no, not Sachin!), then there were those poets who made me dream and the scientists who made me aspire... My list of heroes were long and the list of things I wanted to be were equally long. We reached the venue. I said good bye to my dad and went into the test hall. 

The test contained questions for which I doubted even if the person who made the question paper knew the answers. But then, 5 seats ahead, a geeky guy, with well oiled hair and glasses, sat filling up answers at lightning speed. The test got over and the shortlist was released. I didn't make the cut. Tears welled up. I thought I will never be able to face the world and had no where to go. I sat there as the hall emptied. I did not want to leave. But the maintenance guys came in and told me to leave and I had no option but to follow the crowd. As I got out of the hall, at a distance I saw someone familiar - Dad! Oh no! What do I tell him? Why is he here? Does he know the results already? I am going to be in a big mess.

I neared him and not a second later, he hugged me. He whispered in my ears, "No matter what happens, I am proud of you my son. For having tried. For having tried when many would have given up. Stand up and face  the world with pride, you have a reason to be proud and I shall walk by your side to see you conquer the world. Now, let's go home."

As we got into the car again, I realised one point, I have always had and will have only one hero - my first hero, Dad. The rest are just inspirations to me not heroes.