A true story

Once upon a time there lived a man who had two grown up sons. The elder son had an argument with his father on some minor issue which might have seemed really huge at that time and the son stopped communicating with his father and the rest of his family.

Years passed by and the man grew old. And with old age came ailments. The old man had a series of strokes and lost first his motor functions, then his speech and ultimately became bed-ridden. The younger son stood by his side during this traumatic period, helping as much as he could, while the elder son did not care enough to even inquire about his father's health. Perhaps because he had become stuck in that moment in time, when he had that raging argument with his father. That was the picture of his father that he carried in his mind and his anger had perhaps still not subsided.

One day, the old man died. As everyone does, sooner or later. At the funeral, what was surprising was that the elder son was weeping uncontrollably, while the younger son had not even a tear in his eyes. Later, when someone inquired why this was so, he said 'I have watched my father die a little everyday for the past few years and have already grieved for him, while for my elder brother, his death came as a shock.'

Relationships are an evolving phenomenon because you need people for a relationship and people keep evolving. If you had a falling out with someone today, are you doing the right thing by putting the relationship on hold and by going katti with him or her? Especially when it is family? Because you can't choose your family. You are stuck with them for the rest of your life. Because there will be a lot of pain and heartache that you will have caused in the meantime, by your being incommunicado. And because no amount of remorse can turn back the clocks. Does it really matter who was right and who was wrong, in the long run?