aay.jpg “Daddy”….even as I write this most loving word….tears well up in my eyes with fond and loving memories of HIM.

My father left us for his Heavenly abode on 9th of July 2004 at the age of 80.Never ever did I imagine a day would come when he would be declared “no more”…these things happen to other people…not to us!!Oh…what a false notion we all live with !

Dad …..a man of principles….very organised in his ways…methodical in everything he did….particular about every little detail…. lived a very disciplined life.How could such a towering personality just be “no more”??? Our dearest Dad….whom we looked up to with great reverence…..and sometimes with awe….just simply left us one morning without the slightest warning….how could God be sooooooooo cruel???

So many questions…the “how,what,why,if only”……remain unanswered :-( and as time goes by we have come to terms with the fact that we shall never,never see him again :-( Death is so final…..the end of a chapter :-(

After the India,Pakistan partition….dad came to Shillong…..a small hill station in the North East of India. Mom ,along with three of my sisters accompanied him. They came here without a penny…..Dad started life from scratch……we never ever heard him complain……inspite of the fact that he belonged to the zamindar family in Sindh ,Pakistan….and they all fled from there….with absolutely nothing but their precious selves.

Dad was a very strong-willed person….he worked,worked and worked and from nothing he became one of the leading businessmen of Shillong :-) Such was his determination ! (My three brothers and I were born later in Shillong ). He gave us the best !We never experienced any want …..we asked and we received!!! Yet he took care not to spoil any one of us …..he was firm,but gentle. He never ever spoke ill of anyone….he never held any grudge against anyone…helped people in every way he could….. and never spoke about it …..he never complained….. was a spiritual person……he did selfless service to people in need..and was the most generous person I have ever seen!!! He never spoke about all the good he did……his left hand did not know what his right hand had donated …..so great was the man !!

He was a family man….we never heard him raise his voice ……mom and he have been the most doting couple I have ever seen. NOT ONCE did we witness any tiff between them :-) amazing….isn’t it??? They spent 65 years together !!! They doted on each other….mom loved to look after his personal needs….ironed his clothes,polished his shoes every morning , served him meals , watched television together…and discussed the various serials .Mom would always sit by his feet….and standard joke among us was that “Dad was Narayan and Mom was Lakshmi in the famous pose of narayan/lakshmi on the cobra”!!!!! ( Hindu Mythology ) How I miss all this :-(

Though, financially we were well off ,dad was very careful about spending ,especially on himself…..If he had to go anywhere,he would prefer to walk….he never used the car ! He kept the accounts…..and every paisa was accounted for!He hated using the calculator…..he did marvellous mental calculations :-) .

A person like him can never die….he lives through us…..he has surely merged with the Divine and He is taking care of us from somewhere above! I feel his presence very strongly in my life :-)

I could go on and on ….there is soooooooooo much to say …. for me he was and will always remain my GURU !!I have learnt a lot from him… I treasure all the values we have inherited from him …. and which…we have ,in turn,handed down to our children…and I feel proud that I am part of him and he is alive somewhere inside me!!! Thank you dearest dad for everything…..and thank you, most of all , for being MY dad :-P