A Noble Legacy

A Noble Legacy

"Alright Govind Uncle, I'm coming in ten minutes", I dashed the receiver and rushed towards the door. Staggering through parquet floor, I got into my car. It took me around ten minutes to drive through inimical traffic, and reach Thakkar Villa at the end of a by-lane. Govind Uncle stood by the gate of Thakkar Villa. "Thank God! You came in time. Rohit has locked himself in his room since last couple of hours", Govind Uncle said in sullen voice. I rushed to the corner room of the house and knocked at the door, "Rohit! Open the door. It's me. Rohit, please open the door…" There wasn't a hint of a sound from his room. I got extremely worried. I knew it was me alone, who had to take care of Rohit, as even Suman, Rohit's wife was away, at her parent's place.
Rohit and I were good pals right from school days. We shared almost everything. But, before a couple of weeks, a mishap happened. Rohit's parents met with an accident. Their car dashed with a truck on a freeway. Both couldn't survive in an accident and after spending their last few days in a hospital, they passed away. Since that day, Rohit, flummoxed his life. He was certainly caught in an impasse situation. I tried my best to wash off his nostalgia and edify his spirit by visiting him daily.
"Rohit, Please open the door. I need to talk to you", I continued to knock at door with hope that he might open it. It was a testing time for my friendship, but I was certainly unwonted to that exacerbate situation. Suddenly, the door opened wide. Rohit walked back and sat on his bed.
"What is this Rohit? You have been in your room since last couple of hours. What were you doing o'er here?" He seemed lousy and was certainly wincing with pain. Finally he spoke, "I'm sorry to have troubled you. But I didn't felt like talking to anyone."
"You can never trouble me. Don't embarrass me so much. You forgot last fifteen years, where I have been troubling you, for my girl-friends?" I said with a hope that he might smile. But no luck. I further asked, "What were you doing in your room from such a long time." He starred at me, "I was reading dad's letter", he spoke while his eyes shed tears. I somehow controlled my tears and kept my hand on his shoulder. "Look dear, life is the name of living. And you now have a great responsibility of Thakkar Textiles, on your shoulder. You alone have to take care of it", I tried to console him but finally, a tear dripped from my eye. I thought that my recent words might worry Rohit, but suddenly he sat straight with a shine in his eyes. Suddenly every tear from his eyes disappeared. I had never seen him so firm and stubborn, at least in past fifteen days. "There is one more thing that I need to do, besides managing Thakkar Textiles." I looked at him in a surprise, "What is that?" He stood up and said, "Come with me, we'll talk on the way."
Rohit and I got into his car. He once again took a glimpse of a letter written by his dad. I felt something strange about the letter. As the car was cruising on the vacant road, a sheer thought of that letter infested me. Rohit didn't spoke a word. Suddenly, with the shrieking sound of brakes, Rohit brought the car to rest. Then we got down from car, I was stunned at the sight. We were standing outside Ashadeep Children's Home. "What are we doing outside Orphans' Home?" I asked Rohit.
Once again, tears fell out from Rohit's eyes. He slowly said, "Twenty-six years ago, my dad adopted a boy from this Children's Home. This was a secret which my dad reveals in his last letter." I could not believe my ears. I felt as if the situation was exacerbating. I somehow managed to speak, "So, you have a brother from last twenty-six years, whom you haven't yet met?" Rohit didn't respond to my question but quietly walked inside the gate flanked by a barricade. I followed him. We looked for the caretaker of the place. But the ground adjoining the mansion looked vacant.
Rohit and I stood by the shade of an oak tree after strolling through the ground. I once again fired the same question. But this time, Rohit looked at me and smiled. "You didn't understand what I meant to say", he slowly said.
He continued in his feeble voice, "My dad was a man of God and so was my grandfather. He always contributed a lot for the betterment of the society. Our city recognizes him as Suresh Thakkar, the son of business tycoon Mr. Duleep Thakkar. But, this isn't true!"
I suddenly felt a surge of my rising heartbeats. But I was surprisingly listening to him. He continued, "My father, Suresh Thakkar, was adopted by my grandfather from this Children's Home." "This is unbelievable." I thought "Top business tycoon of the city, Suresh Thakkar, was adopted from an Orphan's Home?"
Rohit further said, "And so, my dad also continued the legacy. And he adopted one child, for the betterment of that child. Do you know who that child is?" I was eager to know the answer, and suddenly Rohit said, "That child is me, Rohit Thakkar."
I merely stood in fused state. Then, Rohit took out a letter that he was reading at his home. He said, "While my dad was wincing with pain in the hospital, he asked our advocate to write this letter for me. He said that he is sorry for keeping this matter secret. He thought he might hurt me revealing this secret. But he doesn't know that he is a saviour, a God, for me. He turned an orphan into a business-man."
Suddenly a woman appeared at the office of the mansion. She introduced herself as Mrs. Sharma, the caretaker of the Children's Home. Rohit rushed towards the office. I understood what he was going to do. I stared at him and asked, "Did you talk to Suman, about this?" He smiled back at me and said, "Yes, I called her up this morning and she said that she supports my every decision."
Upon entering the office he said, "Hello. I am Rohit Thakkar, the son of Suresh Thakkar. I want to adopt a child from this Children's Home." I smiled at him and said, "You are certainly doing a noble deed." He playfully replied, "It's not a noble deed. It's just a legacy." I smiled and replied, "Yes, but this is a noble legacy…"



- Himanshu Pancholi