GROWING UP WITH DADDY.. the years of masti & magic!

 Happy birthday Daddy!

As Alison Lohman expresses it so beautifully, “There will always be a few people who have the courage to love what is untamed inside us. One of those men was my father.”

Mr. Dalal in the corporate world.. Sir to so many.. Narendrabhai to friends.. Nanakaka to family.. but simply.. Daddy to me.. You would have been 94 today.. and honestly.. seeing your health towards the end, today I am grateful to God for taking you into His fold gently when he did!

Always a high achiever and academically very bright, he ensured that attention to learning was a top priority and created opportunities wherever they were to be found! I have vivid childhood memories of being taken to little wayside cafes and modest Udipi restaurants.. being presented with the menu and a sheet of paper and pencil and being told to READ the menu properly, CORRECT all the mistakes and sit down quietly once I finished until he had time to check it!

Being a parent was something he took very seriously and although I was his princess, no laxity in discipline was ever tolerated.. witness that EVERY Saturday morning there was room.. cupboard and writing table inspection.. If everything wasn’t spotless and immaculate.. no scolding.. just a gentle admonishment.. and.. NO pocket money for the week!

Daddy loved driving and travelling by road so very often, my brother and I would wake up tousle headed and rubbing our eyes to find ourselves in the car and off to a new adventure somewhere! It was usually Poona.. Lonavala.. Khandala.. Mahabaleshwar.. we’d go early morning and return at night or sometimes after a few days! He would sing popular Gujarati English and Bengali songs and Mummy, Sunil and I would enthusiastically join in for the chorus! Later on, travelling was a huge learning opportunity and he taught me how to check a hotel room and bathroom for hygiene and neatness.. AND how to negotiate for a good price!

He believed that children should grow up and be able to adapt adjust and manage with anything, everything and nothing! Thanks to this intensely practical (??) principle, I was taken to and made to stay in the entire gamut of accommodation available to the public in those times! It ranged from dharamshalas with smelly mattresses to nicely maintained circuit houses.. from basic wooden huts to fancy hotels with ensuite bathrooms.. No complaints were listened to or entertained.. we just had to "put up.. shut up.. and learn to deal with it!!" And we DID..

He was a flamboyant foodie so I grew up eating Jain food.. Surti food.. American cheeseburgers.. tuna fish sandwiches.. all kinds of chaat.. chilled Gazpacho soup.. hot French Onion soup.. American Chop Suey.. with detailed explanations to me on HOW they were to be made in order to be perfect! In hindsight (which is invariably  20/20) I genuinely feel “my poor mother”! Another strict rule was that either he or Mummy would serve us and we couldn’t leave the table unless we had finished everything on our plates!

He was a hardworking man who nonetheless was very clued in and part of my life.. he used to leave the office at 5:30 sharp every evening (come what may) and once when his boss said, “Mr. Dalal you’re going home already? It’s only 5:30 pm and there’s a lot of work to do.” To which he replied, “Work is a 4 letter word and on their deathbeds, no one ever wishes they had spent more time in the office! I come in at 9:30 everyday and I leave at 5:30 because now it’s my time with my wife and children!” Hats off to the man!

He taught me to work hard.. play harder.. spend wisely.. save even more wisely.. to value good people.. treat people with respect.. to try and lead by example.. and try to be a GOOD human being.. I could go on and on, but will just say it is a privilege and a joy to be born as his daughter.. and will always try and live up to the legacy of justice kindness impartiality and sincerity that is his legacy to me!

I love you Daddy.. so very much!

My Daddy bestest!!