Dad

So now that I am four posts old, I feel like a veteran already. Before going onto the next phase of my life, I feel compelled to write a few words on some of the people who have impacted me in some way or other.

Starting off with my dad...Well he somehow scares people. I dont know how he does that, but there is a great aura about him. All my cousins are terrified of him and keep on empathizing with me about how I manage to survive in the same house. But to tell you the truth, I was always more afraid of mom than him. With dad, you could work things out. I mean if he is angry, he will show it. When I was a kid, I did stuff that forced dad to beat the crap out of me. And everytime he used to say the same thing,"Babu! Aaj toh mein tere ko hospitalize karke hi rahunga..aur tera ilaaj sirf tera baap hi kar payega!!" I think he sometimes forgot that not only was he my "Baap", but he was also a doctor, so in case of any injuries, he would be the only to actually treat me!I also remember one of his favourite dialogues,before he commenced operation Babu, "Open your specs!! If it breaks, tera baap khareedke dega tere ko naya??"
But I actually looked forwards to the beatings. For one,I never felt that physically hurt, and secondly, by evening he would be guilt ridden and would come home loaded with chocolates, ice creams and chicken. Ahh..who wouldn't want a beating then!!

But he is always some one I look for approval.Whatever I did, I kept him in mind whether he would be proud of me or not. When I failed to crack IIT the first time, I was more sorry for him than me. The one year break that I took for preps, the only thought that kept coming in my mind was how he would be coping with the whole thing.People will keep on asking him how is your son doing and where is he studying, and I always dreaded to imagine his face then.One of the most striking memories, I have of him, was when he came to drop me off at Kota. After a few days, when I had settled in, he decided to leave and return home. The day he went back, he got up very early in the morning and left without awaking me. I was actually awake the whole time, but I had tears in my eyes, I didn't want him to see me that way, so I didn't dare to get up. Once he was ready, he came to me once,patted my hair, looked up at the blank vacant space and just left. I actually wanted to run after him and hug him, but I was a "man" now and I didn't dare show my vulnerability.

An year later, when he dropped me off at my campus at Kharagpur, I could see pride in his eyes. We hardly speak to each other,but we do connect a lot. And mom says that he is very proud of me. When I went abroad for the first time, she said he couldn't stop bragging about me to everyone. That was the only incentive I needed.
Come 2009, when the whole world was in recession, getting a job was pretty difficult. I was among the unlucky ones who actually had to find one, and my major concern was what will dad think if I end up jobless. But all the time, he kept telling me it was alright and itsn't my fault and if nothing works out, then both of us will go to Jaunpur and look after our cows together. Thank God, that didn't happen!

Still, I sometimes wonder if he is really satisfied with me or not...

He is also a very funny man. When I was small, I remember him shaving in front of the wash basin, singing to himself,"Meine toh nahin, haaan...meine to nahin.."For the life of me, I couldnt fathom how that song ended. Also now that he holds an important profile in his company , he has to attend a lot of official parties. So many in fact that it's a surprise to me if someday he doesn't have a party to attend. And he loves his non veg food. So everytime he comes back, I ask him what he had, and everytime, he would answer with the straightest of faces,"Oh, I had nothing, just a little daal and some rice and 1 piece of chicken." And he would conveniently forget to tell us that infact he had already gorged to his heart's content on all the kebabs and tandoors served during snacks.Confront him with that and he will say,"But you asked only about dinner, how am I supposed to know you meant snacks too!!"

He is also a bit absent minded. Once he met an aunty and her daughter in front of the gynecology ward. Aunty's husband was actually having a major operation, and she was on her way to meet him when she met dad. Seeing dad, she wept her case to him, searching for some sympathies. My dad, who was too busy to hear, assumed that since she is with her daughter(who was actually a bit fat), and near the gynae area, assumed that the daughter was pregnant and congratulated her with all his heart."Khub bhalo! Khub bhalo..keep it up!"

I can only imagine the lady's shocked face..

Dad you are a real dude!