The Legacy

Rajeev looked out of the window towards the setting sun and wondered why his
life didn't set down as the sun did. It was painful to live a life of guilt. Five years, five years of guilt to be precise. His life had changed and there was nothing he could do about it. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked out of the window. If only it had not happened, life would have been different.

He was jolted out of his thoughts with the loud arguments between his nephews. He looked at them. The thoughts back in his mind. He was the one who had turned them into orphans. If only the accident had not taken place...

It had been a day to celebrate when she told him that they were expecting their first child. His happiness knew no bounds. A dinner followed by a drive was what they had planned. His sister and her husband also joined them. They had decided to leave the kids at home. It was not very often that they got the chance to spend time on their own. They went to the ghat road for a drive.

"One wrong turn and down you go!" Rajeev had always said. He had been a safe
driver, but not that day. The music in the car had been too loud for them to hear the honk of the oncoming truck. By the time he realised...it was too late. He swerved the car and it hit against the railings.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital.

It had been a head on collision. No one had survived. The doctors had given up hope on him too. They said he would not survive, but survive he did. Survived to live the life of guilt. The accident had left him paralysed. If only he had been a little more careful, the accident would not have taken place. His survival always haunted him. The guilt was unbearable. He always wished that he had died along with the others, but fate had not decided that for him. If only he had not survived, he would not be living in his world of guilt.

If only no body had died in the accident. Why did it happen to him?

Why did he have to live a life of guilt? If only he could do something. If
only.... That was all that he thought all the while...If only...

He was jolted out of his thoughts by his nephews who were arguing in the corridor. It was their daily routine to play cricket in the long corridor.He looked at them with tears in his eyes. He blamed himself for turning them into orphans.

"Uncle, here is your food". He looked at him, the feeling of guilt engulfing him. It was he who made him an orphan.
"Uncle here is your dinner," said Mohit, his nephew.
Rajeev looked at him and smiled. "No, I shall join you at the dining table tonight. Can you wheel me there"?
His nephew shot an amazed glance. Was he hearing right? He was delighted. Rajeev's parents looked at each other when they saw Mohit wheeling Rajeev to the dining table. At last he was coming out of his cocoon. They were glad that he was making an attempt to get out of his shell.

It was during one of the cricket games his nephews were playing that the thought crossed his mind. It was one of the usual arguments when he intervened- "Why don't you let me be the umpire, and I know the game well, and of course, you will not argue either," he said. His nephews were game for it. And then he joined them every evening to play with them.

"Why don't I also play with you all? " he asked. "One of you could wheel me and we can really have a good time. His nephews readily agreed. It was nice to see their uncle participate in their game. It was during one of the games that it happened....

Mohit was wheeling his uncle to take the run, and it happened in a matter of seconds. Mohit stopped, but his uncle on the wheel chair didn't. Mohit watched in horror as he saw Rajeev fall down the long winding staircase. He saw him cringe in pain for a few seconds. When he reached down, he was shocked to see his uncle dead....

Two years later....

Mohit looked out of the window towards the setting sun. Tears in his eyes he wondered why did it happen. If only he had run slowly, Rajeev would not have fallen down and died. Perhaps he was running too fast. He blamed himself for Rajeev's death. He looked at the wheelchair at the corner of the room.

Why did it have to happen to him? Why did he have to live a life of guilt?

If only he could have stopped him in time. If only....

He walked out of the room tears in his eyes. The feeling of guilt haunted him.

No one had ever noticed the cleverly cut brake cable of the wheelchair.