Class 12 English Short Story A Devoted Son

Mr. Varma, being a low-wage worker in a Kerosene Dealer Depot, and Mrs. Varma, being a dedicated housewife doing household chores, made an incredible amount of sacrifices for their son’s higher education. Mr. Varma had never even seen how a school looked from the inside, as he had never gone to study.

Therefore, he intensely wanted to fulfill his own unfulfilled dream through his son, and he sent Rakesh to school for a quality education. Rakesh was the first son in the entire family history to receive a formal education. Thus, the Varma couple worked tirelessly and sacrificed their life, time, comfort, money, and everything they possessed for the higher education and medical college of their son for the ultimate betterment of his future.

I think yes, he would have undoubtedly enjoyed better health if she had not died before him. He fell ill almost as soon as his wife died. Before the tragic death of his wife, he was enjoying his life with no significant mental harassment or depression, but after the death of his wife, he started spiraling into depression and developed many other psychosomatic mental conditions.

He was broken mentally as well as physically. It is a usual human reaction because when a person with whom you have spent decades—who has become an integral part of your life—leaves permanently, it is obvious to suffer a massive psychological shock. Thus, if she had not died before him, providing him with companionship and emotional stability, he would have enjoyed much better overall health.

With no doubt, Rakesh is a good son and a highly inspiring doctor. He did remain fundamentally devoted to his father. However, he is deeply divided between the clinical role of a doctor and the emotional role of a son. In my view, to navigate this better, Rakesh could have been more emotionally polite and respectful in his daily behavior with his father in his final years.

He could have let his old father gently take the lead sometimes and give him a sense of independence and freedom, because old age is a time where parents acutely feel like they are losing control and being left behind. Rakesh could have also given his father some personal psychological space and let him dictate how and when his son helped him, rather than treating him strictly like a hospital patient. His loud, authoritative speaking made his father feel very troublesome, controlled, and miserable. So, if he had spoken to his father softly and in a more yielding, respectful way, he could have made his father’s final years significantly more comfortable.

Anita Desai’s story Class 12 English Short Story A Devoted Son shows a complex but loving companionship between the grandfather and his grandchildren. There is a playful, unbreakable bond between them. Having a close relation, the grandfather once tried to secretly bribe his grandchildren to bring prohibited Jalebis for him.

He used the natural innocence and slightly mean, impressionable nature of a small kid for his own benefit. Though he genuinely loved his grandchildren very much, due to his desperate “meanness” for sweets, he tried to show his grandson the wrong, deceitful path. For that reason, the relationship between the grandfather and grandchildren was found to be highly innocent, uniquely tricky, trusty, and deeply bonding in the story.

Yes, I definitively call Rakesh a devoted son. He consistently did whatever his parents advised or wanted him to do: he maintained stellar academic performance, accepted an arranged marriage (a crucial part of a boy’s life according to their tradition) without complaint, and also consciously chose to return to his own nation to live with his family, even though he could have easily earned far more money and prestige living in the USA.

Though Rakesh structurally stumbled at some parts of giving his father a “happy” life by being overly strict medically, he always tried his best according to his own knowledge. He always used to carefully separate time for his old father despite being incredibly busy in his successful professional life. He never wanted his father to suffer medically. Hence, I think that Rakesh is a truly devoted son in the absolute sense that he is able to put his own selfish wishes aside for his family’s ultimate betterment.

(Here is an essay on parental ambition, written by Diwakar:)

The Parents’ Ambition for their Children in Nepali Society

One of the primary roles of parents is to be a guiding leader for their children. Dedicated, highly motivated parents are usually one of two kinds of leaders: ambitious, forceful leaders or led, guiding leaders. While strict ambition seems like a powerful quality in a leader, it is often flawed because ambition can be unknowingly self-serving. On the other hand, a leader who is a good follower of truth, principles, and a higher moral authority—even if it is inconvenient to themselves or lacks showiness—is a powerful influence for genuine good in the lives of their children.

Parents have immense, sometimes overwhelming ambition for their children in Nepali society. Most parents desperately want their children to be the most successful person in society. For example, they push them to become the best doctor, the wealthiest engineer, a high-ranking government official, a reputed teacher, or an international IT expert. Due to parents’ intense ambition for their children, some children work incredibly hard to achieve this preset destination and succeed at the end.

However, due to this immense pressure, children are often forced to do things totally separate from their own natural interests and blindly follow the paths dictated by their parents to maintain family pride. Because of this, many creative and differently-talented children are severely lagging behind in Nepalese society, suffering from depression and burnout. Thus, while ambition is good, parents should critically listen to the inner voice and personal aims of their children as well for their true betterment in the future.

As we get older, the human body inevitably becomes less efficient and much weaker. It cannot fully function the way it used to at a young age, and hence many viruses or systemic diseases easily enter our bodies. At an old age, our immunity system also becomes severely compromised and our body cannot naturally fight or prevent severe diseases. So, to prevent this, heavy medication is often prescribed. Hence, as seen in the story, medicines tragically replace natural diets in old age.

To make the elderly less painfully dependent on medicine, they should consciously do the following things starting from earlier in life:

(Here is a short essay on elderly care, written by Diwakar:)

Care of Elderly Citizens

The term “elderly” refers to old people who have comfortably crossed middle age. Old age is the inevitable final period of human life. During this sensitive time, a person desperately needs love, emotional affection, and proper physical elderly care. It is deeply said that caring for the elderly is the highest moral duty of every human being. Generally, an old person faces many different, compounding health issues, and thus he or she needs proper, attentive care. The length and quality of an old person’s life depend massively on how much genuine care they get.

Taking proper care of the elderly is not a naive or simple task, but the core needs for the elderly are actually very straightforward. An old man or woman doesn’t have many extravagant material requirements. He or she only needs a little affection, active listening, gentle care, and a warm, homely environment to peacefully spend the final stage of life.

We all should intuitively know how to take care of old people with respect. But in today’s highly busy, modernized schedule, some people coldly consider the elderly a severe burden. They don’t even want to spare a few hours for their parents. Thus, they selfishly prefer to put their old parents in isolated old age homes rather than taking care of them personally. This is nothing but a socially shameful act that destroys the fabric of families. Being human, we all should deeply understand the absolute importance of elderly care. In every country, there are different state laws to protect the elderly, but the elderly care laws can’t truly do anything meaningful if we don’t fundamentally change our own moral mindset and learn to honor the generations that raised us.