My New Year resolution

Ramesh Luthra

Nostalgia! What a sweet word! Speaks of good old memories of the moments ticked by, the ones the sands of time have swallowed. It holds its sway upon the mind, memories of the days gone by or a particular moment flash upon the retina of your mind. Is there any greater pleasure, rather ecstasy, on the earth? Perhaps not! Sitting alone, eyes closed and revisiting the past. A particular event that brought a miraculous change in your life flashes before your eyes. Instantly you are transported to a world entirely different.
There is one such incident yours' truly can't forget and would like to share with you. My father being one of the top officials of the district had the luxury of a huge manpower at his disposal. Hence the family had the privilege of leading a very, very comfortable, rather luxurious life. Childhood was simply enjoyable with so many facilities, nothing to do to help mother in daily chores. Rather one servant was assigned the duty of polishing our shoes and ironing school uniform.
I being the monitor of the class had the privilege of maintaining discipline over there and check if the girls were in proper uniform and shoes properly polished. They stood in their seats when I checked their uniform and shoes. This generated in me a feeling of superiority and belonging to a class apart! I became a little conceited, maybe because of belonging to an affluent family too. My word had a say. Even the Principal of the school thought highly of me. Alas! A minor incident cost me my reputation and position in the school.
We were supposed to write ‘sulekh’ in Hindi on a wooden board called ‘takhti’. It had to be washed daily and then coated with a mixture of water plus ‘multani mitti’. As if it was destined to be, the servant who attended to children fell sick. Hence I went to the school sans 'takhti'. When the bell rang for the ‘Hindi’ class, the teacher asked us to write ‘sulekh’ but I sat idle. She noticed it and asked me the reason. I told her that the servant being sick ‘takhti’ couldn’t be cleaned. She not only made me stand for full one hour but also scolded me for not being self-dependent. I felt as if heavens had befallen me because all this happened in front of the girls I commanded like an army commander. My world of being the most influential girl in the class crashed like a house of cards. How shall I face them? Anon the teacher appointed another girl the monitor of the class. I stood with my head down and tear-washed face. At the spur of the moment I decided to do all my personal jobs myself. After a few days the sun was to set on the year. I took my decision as the New Year resolution.
The landmark incident led me to make my progeny not only self-dependent, but also lend me a helping hand in daily chores too. Vow! My New Year resolution!