Pride

He was a guy who was least interested in his praises. Any words remotely related to his boasting discomforted him. His mother as every mother in this world was very proud of him. And in this pride they tend to hurt someone's ego. He had encountered one instance before. His mother in law in the excitement of praising her daughter had unintentionally made indications that his life would be very smooth because of her daughter and he need not care much. But this directly hit his ego as if he was not capable of making his life comfortable on his own. He and his mother were on a long journey on train. In conversation to the fellow passengers his mother was telling about him, "He usually travels by air but this time he couldn't get ticket on time so he is having to travel by train." She was telling a mere fact but she didn't notice that the fellow passengers were hurt. He noticed it. First he indicated through his eyes. Then he told her, "How many time have I told you that I don't like you to brag about me." And some more sentences in the same league. She was not emotionally that strong and tears trickled down her face. He noticed the tears. He was noticing her face closely after a long gap. His mother was not as young as she used to be. Wrinkles had started to appear. All these years when he was busy shaping up his career, she had aged. His emotional strength also had become fragile because of a recent heart break. He couldn't face his mother's tear and he also broke down. On the return journey, he was with his mom. There were different set of fellow passengers but categorically the same species. This time they were bragging about one thing or the other, the recent land that they have purchased, the recent flat that they were able to buy, the huge expenses that they made in their children's wedding, their sons and daughters living abroad. His mother was listening all these patiently. She didn't utter a single word of his praise. He smiled seeing his mother. He loved her so much.