As parents, we obviously want what is best for our children, but for some, owing to circumstances beyond their control, tragedy results. This is one of those cases…
I saw a news article that took place last month about a poor father in India committing suicide after unable to fulfill the his daughter’s wishes. In brief, the daughter wanted a smart phone for schoolwork but coming from a poor family, the father is hardpressed on fulfilling the family’s needs. His income wasn’t able to get him a new smartphone, so he instead resort to buying a normal mobile phone for her. The result was the daughter going into a fit because it’s not what she wanted, throwing the mobile phone and breaking it. Worse still, the mother joined in on the side of the daughter and hammered down on the father. Not long after, the father committed suicide, maybe out of disgrace, guilt or hopelessness (my opinion). How the daughter and the mother felt about it afterwards is not known.
For many of us, we live relatively stable lives – we have a shelter over our heads and we can still afford the things that our families want. Imagine, even if just for a second, how the father felt having been disgraced by his daughter and wife despite his best effort to provide. True, you can see that he shouldn’t have bought the normal mobile phone anyways since it is so vastly different to a smart phone, so he should have saved up or try leasing a phone instead. Maybe he didn’t understand the difference, but he was just trying to provide. How would you feel if your family hammered down on you despite your best efforts, as well as the helplessness to resolve it since their financial situation is not something they can decide in the first place?