SECOND WAVE OR SECOND CHANCE?

 

“Miracles were just second chances

if you really thought about it –

second chances when all hope was lost.”

Kaya McLaren, ‘How I Came to Sparkle Again’

 

Monsoons used to be harsh when I was a school boy in my native village. My dad, who worked as a mechanic, had to leave by 8 in the morning. The bus number 28, if he missed that, he would miss his day’s work, too… There was a frantic hurry at home. He and mom would be up very early. We had a small paddy field, to which, my dad had to attend before he would rush out of the house to catch the bus… Just those two hours of the morning… Outside rains lashed mercilessly… the roof leaked, and water choked the courtyard, backyard, the paddy field everywhere… The crop perennially remained at the mercy of the monsoon. Dad storming out of the house, leaving his tiffin box, specs and the wallet (barely anything inside, though!), was a familiar scene… Then, he would miss the bus… Going late to his workshop meant being ready to brace against his boss’ firing line… Skipping the work would mean more anxiety: no guarantee if his boss would give him the entry the next day. So, to escape from this anxiety, my dad would do the familiar thing: drink heavily!

Did I and by brothers, in our teens, understand what was going on in the house?

Mostly, No.

So, when we kids slept under our sheets, while the thandav was on full blast inside and outside, dad would, often, pull off the sheets from our bodies and blast: “Get out of the house and see!”

Why am I remembering this (unpleasant) drama, thirty-eight years after my dad’s death?

These days, I have been teaching, online, a small group of teens. They are supposed to join the session at 9 am, thrice a week. For mutual convenience, we have decided to hold the sessions with video off. I was very upset and angry, last morning. Only one girl, whose mother has been undergoing chemotherapy following the relapse of brain cancer, seemed committed. She neither skipped any session nor any homework. She was, always, the first one to connect and, often, solved additional sums on her own. Others, both boys and girls, despite my attempts to sensitize and motivate them, seemed casual… They gave lame excuses for not doing the homework… One boy repeatedly played hide-and-seek… Log in and disappear. Later, put it on the poor network…

Finally, I lost my head, last morning, and got into a thandav… I blasted, “You know the situation at home… Your parents are anxious… Some are losing jobs… Some have kept their shops closed… People at home are falling sick and worried about money, hospitalization and death… And, you guys are still immune, still insensitive? Need I remind you, that these are tough times, and you need to be working thrice harder? Need I remind you, that this second wave is taking away young kids like you? Come on guys, grow up, for God’s sake… Take it like a second chance!”

I don’t know, if the two episodes are connected or not; but, I know this: The helplessness and the frustration, which my late dad must’ve gone through – yes, I am able to understand fully, now!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: pixabay

 

Video: Sarah McLachlan/Josh Groban (Live 8)