It was give or take in the wee
hours of the night and it was typical of my daughter being busy preparing for
her exams. She is in the habit of studying and walking in the narrow passage interconnected
to my room. Had I hardly stood up to switch off the light, as I had already got
late to sleep, she breezed in my room talking to someone on her cellphone,
convincing that it wouldn’t be an issue as such if my advice on the subject I
hadn’t guessed yet was sought. She then handed me the cellphone, gesturing by
raising her eye brow to help me remember the person whom she had already told
me about. As soon as I said, hello, I heard the greeting and then a few things came
giving an impression of some scripted account. I now had realized who I was in
conversation with; it was one of the girls my daughter takes classes with from one of
my best friends with a vast experience of teaching the science subjects for over
two decades.
I clearly remember being somewhere in the
middle of my first sentence when she interrupted saying she would call again
after a little while; something important must have come up. About five minutes
went by and the cellphone rang. I knew that it can’t have been anyone else, so
I picked it and began talking. I kept disentangling the knotty knots of
quizzical questions in her mind about her career and the rigid stance of her
father — with a fat chance of reconsideration.
She wasn’t happy about the
idea of sticking to premedical field even if it means repeating all the papers
of IX to get the desired percentage for the admission in a medical college possible.
I not only heard what she spoke of but what she couldn’t wait to say; it was
about her innate passion she had explored long before to win writing competitions
as well as speech competitions which got her several shields and certificates,
but funnily enough, these credentials couldn’t get around her father.
Upon my suggestions
regarding the fields for which she already had what is required not only to be
there but excel as well, she was momentarily relieved. But I could feel the
quick switch to despair again with a request to ask questions if need be.
