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| (We three) |
Home is always where happiness is. Even if we are wallowing
in darkness due to our personal problems or work tensions, the moment one
reaches home and sees the smiling faces of our loved ones, we attain peace. Days filled with tension becomes cheerful and happy.
Two
years ago, I had my MA literature exams. I had joined a correspondence course
to fulfil my long cherished dream of learning literature. I was a Civil Engineering
graduate and hence studying for literature was as different as chalk is from
cheese, for me.
All that helped me was my reading habit. I had read half of
the novels prescribed in the syllabus. But poetry, drama, early English, criticism and linguistics
were strange fields for me. I had begun studying for it earnestly months before
the exams was to begin, but I had a toddler to look after and a house to
manage. It was tough. Free hours were rare. But I squeezed in a few hours of
studies every day after my husband and son slept.
With hardly a month to go before the exams, I panicked one afternoon and
broke down in tears. I had applied to write for both years of MA simultaneously
and that meant ten days of continuous examinations. Naturally, I felt I would
never be able to complete studying the portions or pass.
When my husband returned from office that evening, he understood
something was wrong from my moody silence. He made me sit with him and I wept
uncontrollably. I told him I was a fool to have applied for it, as it was so
different from what I had studied. My ardent love for literature was probably not
enough.
Initially he let me blabber all the things that I wanted to
let out. Then he began to talk. He told me how passion was all I needed for anything. It didn’t
matter if I scored well. All that mattered was that I wanted to learn
literature as it was close to my heart.
“If you can’t manage to attend all the examinations at a
stretch, skip a few. You can attend it next time. Concentrate on what you find
easy and leave the rest. And yes, there is no compulsion. Don’t worry about the
money you paid. It is all for your happiness. If it is making you miserable, leave
it. You don’t need an MA to prove that you love literature or to pursue your
writing dreams,” he said.
It was as though a burden had been offloaded. I began to see
the exams pragmatically and not with dread. With my tension gone, I was able to
concentrate on my studies better. He started to come home early and would take
care of our son and help me with cooking.
He took fifteen days leave during exams from office and arranged
a taxi to drop me and pick me back as the exam centre was at a distance of one-hour
travel by car. My toddler who would not leave me alone for a minute spent hours
in company of my husband alone. When he missed me, he would come into the room
where I was studying behind closed doors to hug me and say he loved me.
With all this love, I looked up with optimism and I attended all the exams and the ten days changed me in more ways than one.
A supportive family is the best thing we could ask for. :)
ReplyDeleteYes Sid, absolutely.
ReplyDelete