ThE ReMoRsE

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Kargil. He called his parents from Delhi.


"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend
I'd like to bring home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt
pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind & lost an arm
and a
leg. He has nowhere else to go, & I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to
live."

"No, Mom & Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone
with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We've our own
lives to live, & we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing
more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the
J&K police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were
told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents
flew to Sri Nagar and were taken to the city morgue to identify the
body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also
discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and
one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love
those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like
people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would
rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.