Regret ( Heart touching short story)

I entered a small room of ten by ten in the middle of the slum. An old man was sitting there. The moment he saw me, his eyes sparkled and a smile spread across his face. He stood up and taking my hand in his, said “Please welcome, my child ...“. He started asking eagerly about how I am doing and all about me.



After I became a computer engineer, I went to meet him after quite a long time. He was very old by now. Few years ago, he had taken early retirement and thought about enjoying life. Unfortunately, he got sick and spent most of his money on medical expenses. As his son was not earning anything, he was forced to spend his remaining life in a slum.



He had spent his life very lavishly while he was young. After seeing him, I bowed and touched his feet for blessings. He was so happy while blessing me.



My mind went back fifteen years when I was in first year of college. At that time, my college decided to start graduation in Electronics announcing a fee of 1500/- rupees. As my father was very poor; he could not afford even this fee. I was very sad and as a final resort; had approached the same old man for help. Even he was in a financial crisis at that time; but he helped me because of which I got admission to Electronics. Years passed, I got nice marks and life moved further and finally got good job as a computer engineer.



He was utmost happy to see me. His expressions were enough to tell what was going inside his heart. He was proud of his investment of Rs 1500. After initial chatting, I got some clue that he is in a financial problem. I tried to offer him some money but he was not ready to accept. After lot of efforts, he accepted the small amount. He said that he doesn’t need money and he will manage somehow.



After half an hour, I bade him fare well. He suggested that I come again to meet him. I was so happy that I could help the person who had helped me.



A month passed. One day, a relative of the old man called on my mobile and informed me about the bad news. The old man had committed suicide by throwing himself in front of running train because he didn’t have money to purchase medicine.



I was speechless. My help to the old man was not enough. His money had turned my life but my money could not