A student, Dhyan, was in his last year of college. He was about to graduate. However, his journey was not easy. Dhyan's parents worked tirelessly to pay for his college expenses. His parents cooked him food, folded his laundry, and ran his errands. As Dhyan was the first in his family to go to college, his parents solely wanted their only child to achieve great things.
At his graduation, Dhyan's parents came to congratulate him after the ceremony. The parents were overjoyed and proud of what their son had accomplished. However, Dhyan barely acknowledged his parents.
"All my hard work finally paid off! Without my friends, I couldn't have graduated!" After Dhyan proudly said this, his parents were surprised that he did not thank them. They were the ones who made it possible for him to go to college in the first place.
His father replied, "We helped you as well. Be thankful for your parents. Together, we achieved this goal."
Dhyan simply walked towards his friends and barely acknowledged his parents. He believed that he alone achieved this goal, because he, not his parents, worked for the grade.
Dhyan felt pressured going to college in the first place. As he was the child of Indian parents and a first generation student, his dreams and goals reflected his parents'. Sometimes he wondered if the career he chose is something he truly loves or something he chose to please his parents. Besides college, Dhyan was also helping his parents with "adult problems" such as insurance, health care, paying bills, and many other tasks. A part of him wished to be free from their problems and stress. He already had his own issues and stress.
As life went on, Dhyan barely spoke with his parents and lived a separate life from them. He did not share his fortunes with his parents because he wanted his own life. While they worked multiple jobs, Dhyan was carefree and enjoying life.
His carefree personality affected his work later on in his career. He made rash decisions as time went on, and, ultimately, he was in financial trouble.
Dhyan had put much thought into everything he did, so for once in his life, he wanted to be spontaneous. He went on expensive trips, gambled his money, and used his money without thinking about the consequences. There were many days he didn't go to work just to sleep in. He did not want to think or worry about how his decisions now would affect him in the future.
He asked his friends for help, but his friends could not and chose not to interfere with his personal matters. Having no other option, he turned to his parents. His parents were initially surprised at his unexpected visit. Dhyan never came home anymore. After Dhyan explained what trouble he was in, his parents were not shocked by the decisions he made. His parents figured karma would catch up with him. Dhyan was hoping for his parents to be compassionate and eager to help, but they were not.
Dhyan's father then faced him and said, "Your mother and I named you to be wise and aware of yourself and others, but you are not. Hopefully, you can change this in the future."
The mother replied, "As you are the one who graduated college by yourself, you can figure out your own problems. It is no longer 'we', but only 'you'."
Dhyan was surprised. He helped his parents with their problems too, but he realized something. His parents did not complain when they helped him in college. Even though he was the one who translated English for them, made phone calls to the bank, and set up the Internet, he was constantly complaining and distant from his parents. Dhyan's parents were still willing to help him even after he graduated, but he wanted to be free from them.
He realized that one should always keep family close despite how hard the journey together may be.
Author's Note:
This week's story is based on the fable The Travelers and the Purse, which is from The Aesop for Children. In the original story, there are two travelers who found a purse. One of the travelers claimed that he found the purse by himself. Hearing this, the other traveler explained that "they" found the purse together; however, the first traveler disagreed. Later on, a mob chases after one of the travelers. Since the greedy traveler did not share the good fortune with the other traveler, the other traveler did not want to be a part of his misfortune.
With this theme in mind, I chose to apply it in a real-life scenario and pulled aspects of my life into the story (first generation student). I named the main character Dhyan to insert some irony. Since Dhyan means reflection and knowledge, I wanted the character to be the opposite of those traits. In fact, Dhyan is where the word "Zen" roots from in Zen Buddhism! Dhyan in the future is not wise, but rather naive. I also added fast-moving scenes and realistic details to make it more illustrative. In addition, I attempted to explore the relationship between the parents and the son. At first it was a loving, caring relationship, but became tense and disconnected at the end. Readers can see how one decision - being ungrateful towards your family- can affect their future. This further enforced the theme: if we do not share our good fortunes with others, one cannot expect them to share your misfortunes. A good fortune can simply be a thank you.
Bibliography:
The Fate of the Travelers from The Aesop for Children illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)
Image Information:
Family of Three from Pexels