Thanks Dad………For everything!

My dad was my own superman just like all other dads. Dad was the one who knew everything about the big people from the grown up world. He was in my eyes the chosen one; the one who could do anything. I don’t remember the exact day but like all good things that come to an end, I realized my dad was not superman. There were people who knew more, people who made more, people who had much more power and people capable of doing deeds beyond my dad’s comprehension. He had transformed into a simple, bread winning, tax payer working at a hospital run by the state government’s health department.

If I speak decent English, its because of all the efforts he had taken. From teaching me stuff beyond the scope of a two year old, to introducing a protege like Dr. Pasupathy into my life, to sending me to good schools, to forcing me to attend the Toast Masters, to spending a fortune for a fine education, to encouraging me to speak my mind out and discuss issues fearlessly, to buying expensive books.

If one is wondering on why there is so much fuss about learning a language like English, the answer to it is very simple. What I am today is because I can speak this language a little better. End of the day I am what one calls an English Teacher.

I thank him for everything that he has ever done. I enjoyed all the designer clothes from the Pilaka Taylor, the endless math games on the way to school, the word associations and memory techniques, all the field trips, endless supply of money (No clue on how he manages it!), DB Spectrum Plus (my first comp in 87), the attitude, the reading habit, crosswords on newspapers, weekend chess games and more recently sudoku. Yes I truly enjoyed them all.

Sometimes I wish I can thank him for all things that he had not done too. He always gave me what I needed, I have never had a situation to ask him for what I wanted. He has definitely done more than what an average dad does. How supportive he was when I had a crisis, the cool authority he displayed when I crawled back home drunk, the long chat we had about the girlfriend, the space and liberty he has extended. That way he will still be my superman! I am not sure if I can provide half of this to my kids.

Sometimes everything looks very funny and more like a sitcom. His take on all my friends being worthless and bad company, his view that I am wasting my life, probably his unhappiness that I did not end up as a medical professional or probably that disappointment of me not getting that cent um in high school maths are all justified. Probably his priorities were not mine. Probably my priorities are not his too. So its OK if he sells my first car. The happy days in that Omni is something that no can ever take away from me. Also, there is something else that no one can take from me. Its the person that I am. The real me.

Now, more than while studying Genetics, I believe in genes and traits. I realise I am everything that I did not want in my father. It is not that we have a misunderstanding, the fact of the matter is the we understand each other well, only too well.