The Agony of a Father

It was again the day, when the precious gift of love and eternal affection walked into his life, in the form of an little Angel. The princess of his heart, his daughter, the sweet essence without which life had no meaning for him.

It was past midnight, the teary eyes of the father kept looking at the phone with the hopes that his wife (who had applied for separation) would make a video call, so that he could see his daughter and wish her Happy Birthday !!

As the time progressed and the night engulfed into bitter darkness, his hopes kept fading away. But still the heart kept longing for a mere sight of his Angel and his heartbeats kept rising with every other notification on the phone. But none was what he was expecting.

It was 4:00 Am and At last the father lost the battle with his mind which forced him into unconscious dreams of his dear daughter. The heart couldn't understand whether it was his fate to be away from his daughter on her 5th Birthday, or it was mere the doing of his wife's ego to avenge her anger, by keeping him away from his heartthrob.

It was the day for which he had waited for months along with his wife, the day when his princess was born.

The Doctor cut the umbilical cord and asked the father to take the little one into his hands. With utmost happiness, as he took the sweet bundle of joy in his hands, he couldn't believe his eyes, as he never saw anything more prettier in his entire life. He turned towards his wife and showed her the bundle of joy and told her the same.

Each day was filled with joy as he saw his daughter grow, right from the day when she could feel his touch, sense his voice, to the day she started seeing images of her Mom and Dad.

Soon his princess started talking and the tale of cute, innocent questions started. He used to love when his daughter used to ask questions, listen observe and enact it back in such a way as if she was the one teaching her Dad. It filled him with a never ending wave of Pride, as he could sense the little one growing into a smart and beautiful princess.

As he drove back into the parking lot every day after winding up his work at office, and walked towards the door, he knew that as he opened the door, the bundle of joy would rush shouting "Daddy.. Daddy .. Daddy" towards him.

All his days tiredness used to melt away as the wave of those sweet words used to ring in his ears. And his arms unfolded to embrace his daughter and start playing with her. Those were the moments of Joy he used to always long for and listen keenly to what all his princess did over the period of day and learnt from school.

There was never anything else more fulfilling than those precious moments he used to share with his daughter. Be it playing soccer with her and loosing the game to see his daughter celebrating her win, be it using the blanket as tent and partying with her daughter and her toys. Or learning the Balley steps from his daughter, seeing her spin, as he would watch in wonder and let her know that she could do things that he couldn't.

The joy and sense of pride in her little one's eyes when she used to teach him balley steps, used to fill him with a inner pride. The way she used to narrate him stories that she heard from her teacher, her mom, overwhelmed him with never ending sense of joy.

His wife along with his daughter was in his birth country, they had gone to visit his ailing Father in law without him as he was bound by work and VISA issues.

Soon the dark day bestowed upon his family when his Father-in-Law passed away. The father was caught between a choice to leave his years of hardwork and move back to his birth country to pay his final condolences or to stay back to carry on with his financial responsibilities to take care of his family and shape the future towards betterment.

As he choose the later, the sense of anger and disappointment in his wife's heart daunted on him with a legal separation notice. His heart sank and he couldn't think of a life all alone after years of being married. The mere thought of a future where he was without his Princess and wife crumbled his heart.

The battered father started his efforts to convince his better half but all went in vain as the circumstances and the people surrounding his wife were all against him.

The world seemed to have stopped spinning for him as he was even denied the sight of his daughter and had to unwillingly fight a legal battle against his own dear one's.

Fights, conflicts, disappointments are part of almost every marital life. The couples who fight together against these and keep coming together, survive the relationship and build better world for their children.

But at times ego and anger blinds one's faith and he starts to believe that the person whom he/she loved the most would do more harm then good when staying together.

And soon the Father is left all alone to fight a uphill battle where he knows the law is inclined towards a Mother more than a Father when it comes to custody of a child.

As the court hearing date nears, He still wonders with a teary eye and a battered soul, Is this a Fathers Fate ? Not knowing when he would be able to again embrace his Angel, princess in his arms again...