Remembering Bapujee…
5.2.2013, Mumbai
Today is my father’s death anniversary.
30 years ago father left for his heavenly abode in 1983.
I grew up in a large joint family filled
with siblings, nephews and nieces. It was a small apartment packed with adults
and children where meals were always a three tier affair- first the children,
then men folk and finally the women. Father was the patriarch, the final
authority on all matters but he was no dictator. On the contrary all of us
looked forward to his daily training and lessons of life.
It was father who taught us how to brush
our teeth, how to rinse our mouth and scrub our faces. We were trained to save
energy and water as children, tutored to always drink water before tea and
never leave home with an empty stomach. He watched our posture when we walked
and sat and if he found any of us stooping he would hit us hard on our back
until we walked straight. We were made to value money, time and relationships.
He set ground rules for everything…Our
table manners and most important how we behaved, we were never allowed to back
talk our elders. Father instilled in us courage and confidence, made us self
reliant. We were pulled up when we were careless and disorderly. He emphasized
on concentration and added that change of work is recreation and he practiced
everything he preached…
(Excerpted from My Father, My Hero page
213 in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Indian Fathers)
No comments:
Post a Comment