Praveen Paul

In the past 3 years, I lost both of my parents. Today, I’m 26 and I’m already the man of our house, taking care of two younger sisters. Over the couple of years, I worked on furnishing and renovating our house, especially for my mom, but with her being gone, the rooms seems like vacuum…

To recall, it was in September 2017, I was residing in Hyderabad for work. I left the office at 9:30pm. I was already informed that my father was not well and was taken to the hospital. I was anxious about what was going to happen. It was around 11pm when I had finished my dinner and was about to sleep, I received the news of his demise. I never imagined there would come a time where I will have to bid him goodbye forever. I hardly completed an year in my job. When everything seemed to work out smoothly and fall into places, this one was dreadful. I immediately booked a flight to Odisha. The very next morning I reached Bhubaneshwar. Some of my friends accompanied me to my village in Berhampur. It wasn’t easy, even more difficult to see my mom and sisters in emotional turmoil. The following 15 days were too much for me. Admist this, I’m grateful for my seniors and colleagues for taking care of my tasks while I was away.

For a long time, I worked from home. Officially they allowed me to work from home for three months but it was extended for another 3 months. After I reported to the branch near my home, I got a transfer to Wipro Bhubaneswar towards the end of 2018.

I have heard stories that when I was born, I was not crying or making any sound or movement. Hence, my grandfather had prayed that if God bestows his blessing, he would dedicate me to him and his services. My father was a service pastor in Guntur. He took up the training in Chennai and became a priest in church. He was so keen to serve the society,  that when he expressed his wish to open a church in the village, my grandmother provided a land to him on which he established a church.

We lived adjacent to that church. There was a roof of asbestos but it got destroyed during the time of cyclone Phailin in 2013. My father took care of renovating the house until the responsibility came to me.

After my father’s demise, I should have been handed over the responsibilities of the church, but as my mother had also taken pastor training, she presided over the prayers. This is one of the reasons why my father had married my mother, so that both of them could dedicate themselves to the service of God and humanity.

A few months back, in the month of August, 2020, my mother passed away. That moment still stays in my heart. The prayer was going on in the church. My mother was sitting in a chair. All of a sudden, she fell down unconscious. By the time, we reached the hospital, she was no more.

I had wished to give a good life to my mother. When she got married, our living conditions were not that good. For her sake, I had taken care of a lot of things while building the house, so that she didn’t have to work or walk around a lot. I wanted to give her a taste of urban life. But before any of that could become a reality, she passed away.

But now, my parents being gone, I am adjusting my time to look after the church and my office tasks simultaneously. My sisters have been very supportive. Even during the time when I was the highest earner in the family, they never asked me for a penny. I had to take care of the major expenses while they helped in maintaining the house.

I had a lot of plans for my family. But I think God had his own plans for us. There is still a lot to achieve. I owe my life to parents. I was the kind of guy who had no plans for the future. But given the situation, I am in, my priorities have changed.

Total Work Experience : 4 Years(Wipro)