Letter to Dad; A leader with no title

 

To,

My Dad on his Birthday.  

Dear Dad,       

I know you never got the love,

That you truly deserved.

Today when I live far from you I understand,

That fatherless son’s agony,

Oh! that kid’s pain,

Who never got his father’s love.

I feel Grandpa shouldn’t have left you in such a haste,

Oh! That child’s worry…      

 

Perhaps it was fate that he was supposed to meet his untimely death.

 It’s in teens that a boy needs his dad the most,

I wonder how you lived through that situation worst

Yet, turned out to be my Dad best.

 

While other kids liked to walk,

Your small idiot preferred to talk,

While to the office you would have to walk,

You first carried me to my crèche*,

Oh, I wonder how much your legs would ache,

But you never let his three-year old’s feet to the ground touch.

I remember how in the evenings at those cuts you would stare,

And give out those small gasps of pain,

I an idiot would laugh as that’s no big deal to care,

And then you would smile behind that thick mustache,

As if my joy was your biggest gain.

I wish I was better then L

 

When I grew,

You were with whom my fears and pain I confide,

I gave you so many reasons to be wild,

I felt your voice becoming gruff,

But never were your actions tough,

An occasional hit or some sessions of scolding,

Was what I escaped with.

Coz I guess for you, I was always that child,

Whom you carried to the crèche*.

 

Then one fine day mom got sick,

And you kept that marital promise, “Through thin and thick”,

That sudden change in schedule,

That sudden change in lifestyle,

That sudden duty of being another mom,

So that this Mama’s boy would not bother his mom.

 I wish I was better then L

 

 

If you have met a man this humble,

Who under the pressure would not crumble?

Who would forgive your every sin?

And would always your heart win.

Who for his family,

Would put on line his dignity?

And face all the consequences with humility.

Then definitely you have met my Dad.

 

A man of words few,

But who holds an ocean of feelings,

Which he refuses to spill,

Yet fulfill my every fanciful will.

My silence comes from him,

My faith comes from him.

 

He taught me:

There is nothing wrong to feel, but never let your words ever an emotion of other kill,

If your pain is someone’s joy, give them that joy,

There is nothing wrong in love but never break your chaste vow.

 

I hope as I become a man,

I become a man like him:

A sacrificing father, a loving husband,

A humble person,

And most importantly;

A leader with no title J               

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

Your loving son,

Prajval Albuquerque

 

* Crèche: a nursery where babies and young children are cared for during the working day.

One of the most important lessons I ever learnt summarised in a poem.