Oh- I am feeling so bad. I am feeling extremely bad. I am feeling very, very bad. It is my daughter’s birthday today. I had planned so much to make my daughter happy on this day. Instead she is sitting outside in freezing cold and crying. I can never forgive myself for this. I am just so bad. I am a very bad father.

I had decided to take an off today and spend the day with my family. My kids and wife had also taken the day off. We were all so happy yesterday night planning everything. It was ‘our’ day. We had planned to go for a movie and then have lunch outside. Oh how happy we all were. My daughter was bubbling with joy. Me and my wife had decided to take her shopping and get a dress of her choice for her.

My wife had seen a nice dress at the mall and she was thinking we will take our daughter along and get the dress. But everything has ruined. It is all because of me. I got a call from office in the morning about an urgent meeting. It was too important and the office people told me it will get over in two hours. I rushed to the office promising everyone that I will be soon back. But the meeting kept on stretching and I couldn’t even inform them. I was receiving missed calls on my phone but there was no way i could attend them.

The meeting ended only an hour before. I returned home and found my daughter crying. My wife told me that my kids refused to go out with her alone. They have all been home whole day. Everything is so sad. When I tried to pacify my daughter, she looked in my eyes and asked me if I couldn’t come out of the meeting even for one day. I just don’t know what to tell her.

How should I tell her that I am too small a cog in the wheel to do so? When all my seniors are there attending the meeting, I can’t say that I can’not attend it because it is my daughter’s birthday. I feel very bad. I feel so helpless. What I have achieved till today? Nothing-absolutely nothing. I am good for nothing. I am just so common. I am very bad.

I am feeling very, very sad today. Let me take your leave. Please take care. Bye.

The ‘common man’ sat silently on his bed when he found a hand tenderly placed on his shoulder. He looked up and found his daughter smiling. The common man didn’t know what to say to her. But he didn’t get a chance because the birthday cake was waiting for him in the living room. The daughter cut the cake and everyone along with common man ate it with delight. They all kept on talking till late in the night. Everything was back. The common man was happy.