My Confidante? Mum’s the word! Woman's Era (Part 3)

 This article of mine, was published in the October (First) 2012 issue of Woman's Era.

                                            My Confidante? Mum’s the word!

               Vikram was a flamboyant young lad who was addicted to smoking, drinking and consuming drugs. His parents were frustrated at their attempts at reforming him. They wondered about why he appeared so distracted and withdrawn all the time. Though they had given him the best of education and all the material comforts of life, he never seemed to be genuinely happy. He was not at all interested in turning over a new leaf. Hence he resisted all attempts to get him to meet a counselor or go in for a detoxification treatment. When his health deteriorated, the counselor advised Vikram’s mother to coax her son into confiding his problems and worries to her.

              “Beta, please can you confide in me, about where we are going wrong in dealing with you?” she asked him one night. He appeared anxious and distraught. When he saw her look of genuine concern, he broke down and said plaintively, “Oh, why couldn’t you have asked me this question earlier, Mama? I was waiting patiently for you to do so, all these years. But both you and Papa were so involved with your careers that you just didn’t have time to spare for your only son! Now, I fear that it is too late. I just cannot give up all my vices. They bring me in my comfort zone.”

                A shiver went up his mother’s spine as she realized that she and her hubby were the real culprits who were responsible for their only son’s sad plight. She immediately resolved to set matters right by assuring him that she’d give up her handsomely paid job and pay more attention to his wants and desires. She had neglected him in his growing years and he had been unwittingly pushed into that morass of vices. She had shunned her motherly duties; a fact that she deeply regretted now. Both mother and son spent a long time that night, trying to understand each other and consoling each other. She persuaded him to promise to confide in her whenever he felt the need to do so. She promised to keep all his confidences to herself.

               Within six months, Vikram was a changed person, having gone in for rehab and of course, having purged his soul of all the negativity that had shackled him all those years. He had his mother’s backing and unstinted support. His life was saved and transformed.

  To be continued...

Amma - Always heard me out!
And just let me be!