My father, My inspiration

My father had been a very simple man all his life. His life had been a living lesson for three of us-my two brothers and I. His greatest strength has always shown in times of crisis. He would stand as tall in the face of adversity and would fight till the end for just cause. There have been examples galore.

I vividly remember the days when we were growing up, how he would work day and night to ensure that our school fees was paid on time. Indeed, it was his record that our fees was deposited always a day prior to the due date. As kids, we had this phobia of being embarrassed in front of our school mates for not paying the fees on time. To my dad’s credit, we never stood on benches.

Life is full of ups and down. There was one phase in our lives which defined the phrase ‘difficult time’ for us. Our immediate neighbour Dr Kavita Sharma had a nursing home just above the flat where we stayed. She was an infamous person for driving away all the flat occupants for expanding her hospital. Her modus-operandi was to pick a fight with the family whose house she wanted to buy, and then instigate them by hurling abuses, targeting females of the family, and flaring the quarrel till it becomes a police case.

She would throw garbage at the target victim and would stand with a bunch of interns at the entrance of her hospital and would pass lewd comments at her targets. All that being in a noble profession! Having thrown out two neighbours, who had sold their houses to her in order to get rid of mess, she targeted us. The same modus-operandi was used. The matter when reached the police station, she used the clout of local politicans and lawyers to harass us. My father faced that critical time all alone. None of his family turned up to stand by his side. He had three school- going children and a wife to take care of. With a meagre income and unstable job, he had to stand up to save his hard earned home.

A home which was not just a place to stay but it was my dad’s financial partner. He had invested in home to build two commercial viable shops, the rent of which always helped him close his expenditures each month. To sell his living income, more importantly, his world of dreams to a deceit woman for the purpose of fanning out her greed was just not acceptable to him. His principle was ‘what is justifiably ours, is ours, no one can snatch that away from us’. No amount of threats, abuses, and political pressure, emotional damage -at a time when we were little kids- could break him sell his home. Our home! We fought till the end and in the process wonderfully came together as a family. The word family and its meaning is known truly at the time of crisis.

When I had to apply to Delhi University, I had no clue about the place. We had a two- wheeler back in early 90s, I was the pillion rider. I would name the college, and my father would drop me just outside that University or college. He would drive in blistering heat, without any halts. Such was the urge to get all three of us educated. He often said, “education is the only thing which grows with time and would never deceive you.” These words are etched in my mind till this date. As my life has come a full-circle. Indeed, when emergency strikes, education has always supported me like my father.

It is difficult to capture in words what you mean to me.