On this Father's Day

Let’s start off by wishing all the loving and caring dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day. It is not every day that us kids take the to time thank our dads for all that they have done for us and today I want to talk about how special dads are by telling you about mine.

Now as dads go, my dad was like most dads I know. Besotted with his kids, wishing he could spend more time with them but also pulled into long work hours and the business of life so that he could take care of those kids. When we were growing up my Dad worked with his brothers in the family business. So it was work, work and more work. He was often the last one to come home and then too with worry lines on his brow. But even then he found a way to be with us. In the chilling Delhi winters we (mum, dad and three of us) would sit in a razaai and he would cut fruit for us and feed all of us. If you ever meet my dad look at his hands. They are not delicate. They are small, pudgy, rough and they shiver. But they can still cut an apple as deftly as the best chefs on TV. He loved feeding us and listening to what we had done that day and make plans for the future. That one hour he spent with us made us feel like he was part of our lives.

He also made sure that he not only fed our bodies but also our souls. Education was always his first priority and its only now that I realize what a heroic effort it took on his part to give me the opportunities he did. Growing up in a conservative extended family with almost fifteen members in the same household, I had very little flexibility to exercise my own choices. When resources were limited, higher education for the kids was not at the top of the list. Sure it was important to get that college degree but only in as much as it improved your over all prospects to land a good match. But despite all this family pressure my dad never compromised on my education. He sent my sister and me to a progressive boarding school in the beautiful town of Dehra Doon, and when I said that eventually I wanted to work, pushed me fiercely to take an advanced computer-programming course and get a Post-Graduate Degree in Business.

Its only now that I have some sense of what it took for him and my mother to do this. In this rather stifling environment my father not only gave me these incredible opportunities, he also shielded me from all the objections that the family must have had. And may be that is why even today, he is my safe harbour in many ways. I am sure if I sat down to document them there will be an endless list of things my dad has done for me and what’s more I would still never know about all those things which he did quietly behind my back.

So for all the things I know and don’t know that you have done for me and for the strong, modern and independent woman you have allowed me to become, I want to thank you. And for all the years that are yet to come may I ask that you continue to be the loving, thoughtful and brilliant man that you are and let your kids take care of you if you should ever need that. Happy Father’s Day Papa.