Award And Other Stories

Author(s): Pratap J Tolia
Publisher: Vardhaman Bharati International Foundation

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buy one from India and they will pay him soon on his arrival in U.S.A at the very first program of convention along with his usual honoring.
Paresh reluctantly pleaded that he had no resource to buy the costly ticket, nor the need too. But a couple of calls from other recommending friends poured in unto him suggesting him to borrow the money for a very short term of a week or so and to please come down to oblige them at the convention where he is eagerly awaited.
Again, here too against his call of conscience, paresh borrowed some money, purchased the Air Ticket soon his visa being ready since his last trip and flew down to Ameraic leaving all his engagements and attachments and in fact betreaying his dear writing table...
As soon as he landed at New york's JFK Airport, he was warmly received and soon driven to a friend's place to get ready for the first convention program. The performance went off very nicely and successfully and paresh was showered with garlands of flowers and constant clapping from the audience, the highly appreciating audience indeed.
But it was a great surprise that as soon as the program was over, the promising organizer, the big gun of a big organization had disappeared from the scene--- More serious fun was this that no one else of his organizing colleagues who has pressingly called up in India took responsibility, the holy moral responsibility to pay at-least the Air Ticket expenses to Paresh. It was a greatly shocking, heart-breaking, betraying experience for paresh all entirely unexpected, unthought of something not happened in the past with broken heart, he tried to trace the whereabouts of the big gun, but all in vain. After a long long trail, he could at least catch him on phone. The clever most organizers on the earth sweetly apologized and told him that his contributing colleagues had not co-operated with him and betrayed and deserted him and as such only he could not complete his formalities and obligations of honoring and paying him.
"What are you telling---? Such a gruesome betrayal of you all after bringing me here at my own cost and leaving my precious engagements in India ? Shocked paresh most angrily shouted on phone and continued further,
"At least manage to pay me from the remaining performances and"------
But before paresh completed his say, the betraying Big Boss cut down the phone and was never available thereafter at his far off city residence since he went underground at some unknown place.
Paresh was heavily betrayed. He felt and realsied that his Himalayan Betrayal of these overseas Organisers was in fact due to his own betraying of his writing table and betraying of his beloved family members and daughters who needed his care and love. In fact he had acted against his own conscience, not once but twice, first while accepting the