Father.. Daddy.. Papa.. Abba.. Dad.. Bapaji.. Call him what you will.. but he’s still be the same.. your fiercest protector.. your biggest cheerleader.. your dearest friend.. your first philosopher and your bestest life coach.. He’s still the centre of your Universe.. and always your guiding star!
Fathers are the ones who pick us up when we “fall”..
physically morally emotionally and spiritually.. They are the ones who believe
in us so much that we start to believe in ourselves.. They set the bar high and
encourage us to strive harder and achieve.. they are also the taskmasters who
lead by example and are the proudest and most generous with rewards and praise
when we succeed..
As the Bournvita ad stated so emphatically.. “My Daddy
strongest!!” and I believe in that so completely! Everyone who knows me knows
that I’ve always been and always will be “Daddy’s little girl” (albeit all grown
up now)! Every girl’s father and “perfect man” is invariably her Dad and I am
no exception to the rule.. The perception may change as we grow up and form our
own opinions but for me at least.. it has remained quintessentially the same!
When my parents were expecting me, he was super keen
to have a little girl to pamper and when he read that the Queen of England had
Welsh Corgi dogs for her children, he placed an ad in the paper for one and
bought it for a considerable amount! When I arrived after a particularly trying
and difficult pregnancy and delivery.. it was love at first sight to say the
least! He made up special songs for me and would insist that Mummy bring me to
the phone and put it to my ear when he called.. often in the middle of a
working day!
I remember so clearly him being a very involved father
who actively participated in my upbringing.. from waking me up in my pyjamas to
long weekend drives (to Lonavala, Poona, Mahabaleshwar etc.. to singalong
sessions of old and new family favourites in English, Hindi, Gujarati and
Bengali in the car.. and playing a funny game called “Name Place Animal Thing”
verbally..
As a little girl I was taken out of town very often
(and hence am a true slave to the travel bug until the present day) and was
made to stay at a variety of places.. from dharamshalas to circuit houses to
small hotels and fancy ones.. no complaints were ever entertained and I was
told to learn to “be happy wherever I was and with whatever I had”.. a lesson I
am grateful for to this day!
Whenever we went to small nondescript restaurants and
bigger ones too, I was given pencil and paper and told to read the menu and
correct whatever spelling grammatical and punctuation mistakes there were (a
portent that I would become a teacher?!).. out of the question to think I would
be permitted to be a noisy brat who ran around shouting and disturbing anyone!
Daddy was a weirdly wonderful mixture of firm
disciplinarian and indulgent parent.. a funny clown to an intellectual
conversationalist.. He was the one who introduced me to his bar at the age of
17 and wanted to see my capacity for and tolerance of alcohol at home before I
overdid it and collapsed or made a spectacle of myself in public.. he
encouraged close friendships with boys and had a reputation for being the most “chilled
out and cool Dad”!
He was a martinet when it came to personal hygiene and
neatness and pocket money was judiciously dispensed on Saturday mornings after writing
table inspection.. cupboard inspection and bedroom inspection was carried out
and approved of! I remember when he took me on a 10 day “training holiday” to
New York and Los Angeles (I was 13 years old) and taught me how to check and
choose a hotel room.. place an order at a restaurant and book airline tickets! Another
blessing in disguise..
On my 10th birthday (getting into the
double digits so very exciting and special) I wanted the Barbie Town House.. he
bought it for me along with two big cartons containing abridged editions of all
the classics that he wanted me to read.. from Charles Dickens to Emily Bronte
to What Katy Did to Louisa May Alcott and a whole lot more besides! There was a
complaint about untidy handwriting from school so the daily task was two pages
of copywriting from ANY book along with a discussion about what I had written!
Daddy was everything in the world to me.. and I have
inherited some wonderful things from him.. my love for reading.. my vocabulary..
my willingness to experiment with food.. my passion for travel.. my borderline
OCD of constantly wanting to clean up and organize things properly.. AND some
bad things like a nasty temper (which I have learned to control now) and the
inability to suffer fools (gladly or otherwise)!
Any way I look at it, I feel truly blessed to have had
him for so many years (and most daughters would feel the same way) so Happy
Father’s Day to you and heartfelt thanks.. the biggest hugs and all my love to
you always Daddy!
This post would be incomplete without thanking a few very
special gentlemen who have “filled” some of the gaps that Daddy’s passing away
created in my life.. with their personal affection.. professional expertise..
invaluable advice and so much more.. Super blessed to have you in my life
Porus.. Pravin.. Rajeev.. Manish.. Senu.. Vishi.. Ashok.. Suhas.. Deepak.. and
of course my very special GKG!
Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed reading
this blog! Do please remember to include your name after writing your comment!
God bless always!!
