Father's Day Special: An Ode to my Father

Time and again I have written about my mother on this blog.
And I wonder why did I not feel the need to write anything about my father.
I guess because Fathers are not as expressive as Mothers and so somewhere we forget to acknowledge their love, sacrifice and presence as much as we do for our mothers.
But today is not that day.
So today I have put together a list of my Dad's qualities that I totally look up to and appreciate.


Punctuality: If there's one thing I could really learn from him, is his punctuality. Come rain or shine, he will never be late. If we want anything done on time, my dad is the man to go.

Freedom: Growing up he used to be a bit strict with us with regards to limited TV time, sleeping and waking up on time, etc. but as we grew older, he was the one who pampered us silly. Whenever me and my sister went overboard with our shopping escapades and mom was upset, it was he, who would take our side. Even with our mom, he never forced her to do or not do anything. Whether she wanted to work, take a voluntary retirement, go on a solo holiday or discipline us, my Dad never interfered with our mom's choices.


Made Us Feel Important: Whether it is picking up his clothes, finalizing the wall paint or picking up the restaurant for family dinners, he would always leave the decision on us.
Even today whenever we are home, he will walk up to us with his trousers and shirts and ask us which ones he should wear, and will always wear the one we pick.

Dedication: It is that one quality I would really like to inherit/steal. Whether it is his morning Puja routine, morning yoga session or evening walks, he never misses them. He has dedicated time for reading books, watching TV, his naps and helping mom. And never says no, when we ask for help.

Learning: He never stops learning. He completed his post graduate diplomas after we were born. He took his last professional exam when he was 55. And even today, he will try to figure out the whole social media and online banking and trading thing on his own.

He always set high standards for us, but made sure he appreciated and celebrated every small victory of ours. These are just a few that I can think of, but there's so much more to him than these. He takes immense pride in his two daughters, cherishes his grand children and is a devoted husband.


And this is my small way of saying thank you to him for everything he has done for us.
Whether it was taking us to fancy restaurants, bi-annual vacations, getting us the latest but only the essential gadgets, but more importantly always believing in us and giving us the freedom to make our choices. The fact that we can fight and argue with him even today and the fact that he will be always be the first one to say sorry whenever anyone is upset and angry, even though it might not be his fault.
For always making us a priority and for just being there.
Thank You Baba.
No one could have done it better.