My great grandfather Late Shri Rajaiah, a poor agriculturist, built a mud house with country made tiles as roof in the middle of agricultural fields and in a place called nowhere. It was much beyond his economic means to build that house. In that mud house he made a provision for a cattle shed / barn too! His only thought, and I am sure of it, was that his children, grand-children and great grandchildren will stay happily in that house forever!
My grandfather Late Shri Balaiah thought that the house built by his father was too small, too old and does not serve the needs of his loving children. Hence, he demolished the mud house built his father built, constructed at the same place a bigger house with a lot more ‘modern’ facilities of that time – for instance he got a well dug in the back yard! His only thought was his loving children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will stay in the new mud house constructed by him forever!
After the demise of my grandfather, my father Late Shri Muthiam Reddy got a cement house made with a concrete cement roof over it. It had stone flooring and electricity too! His singular thought, while making the house which was much beyond his economic means, was that his children, grandchildren and great children will stay there forever and happily! His was in mad love with his children. He loved his children more than himself. Let me explain by stating a true instance: the dining table he got it made with teakwood could accommodate 14 people to dine at a time!
Since the death of my father, we i.e., the children of Late Shri Muthiam Reddy began repeating the same… we began thinking that our children, grandchildren & great grandchildren, will stay in the new houses being constructed happily…old house needs to be demolished…!
When will this stupidity end? Or rather is this a perpetual stupidity? How can our love to our children be greater than our parent’s love to us? The very thought is stupid. Here, I must say no child has understood his parents and probably will never understand. As for me, I shall never make a new house. Let my father’s dream for his children live on! Let me live in the dream of my father and enjoy its warmth!
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional. What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
