My Thumbs up
Dad!
“O Good
Lord”
Death of my
Dad
The grief turned me
mad
Felt so bad
And still I am extremely
sad.
Our welfare at heart
The Patriarch
Ruled us firmly with
love and care.
Fiery and Fearless:
No fears!
Called a spade a spade
Much to the discomfort of the brigade.
Full of wit and humor with
a giant sized ego
No one dare cross
boundaries
Lest he got cross
Yes, quick to take
offence.
Patriot:
Unmindful of all,
Stood to attention,
Whenever he heard the National Anthem.
Reluctantly all
followed suit-
Or sat very uncomfortably through it.
Joined the Indian army
under the Emergency Commission.
Stationed in the thick
of war,
In the strife torn
Kashmir.
A family man to the
core,
Set aside all
apprehensions of his kith and kin,
He risked our stay,
And shared the
heavenly beauty of the place with us,
He made it seem one
great picnic,
Educating us it's socio-eco fabric,
The biotic and the abiotic.
Gregarious and
empathetic:
His was an open house
for anyone who came around meal times,
A true cancerian,
His culinary delights,
Kept the kitchen fires
on,
He never had dearth of
men, of helping hands…
Was lorded upon
Lived like a lord!
Zoologist: adored
nature’s flora-fauna,
Imbibed natures’
discipline.
That kept him
streamlined!
Believed in the
dictum,
“One’s life matters little to anyone but
oneself”
Hence one must take
good care of oneself.
A careful foodie, a Yoga
expert,
Loved long walks along
with chanting of prayers,
Loved cycling,
swimming, driving.
A sports man who
played squash, hockey, football, tennis
Chess, badminton cricket to perfection .
Later he keenly kept a
tab on these,
Cheering! With the
crowd on T.V.
Kept the child in him
alive!
Child like curiosity
to know:
He was an amazing
storehouse of ‘know it all’
Always curious for
information,
Chewed and masticated
it,
News from radio, T.V,
newspaper, magazines, books constantly fed his curiosity,
He enthralled his
drawing-room audience,
With crystal clear
analysis of national/international affairs, geography Humour,theology and what have we?
Palmistry:
Numerology: part of his favorite leisure
People swore by his
prowess-
80 or 88 and I’ll be
gone,
He prophesied
Horrified I quickly
brushed it aside, to me he seemed of an immortal hide
At one stroke at 81
In his words he became
“Half A Man”
“Make Me Whole Again”,
he poignantly prayed to The Maker”
Plaintively he
declared, “I want to meet The Maker”
“No you can’t leave us
alone”
He took in our love n
concern.
Gradually he accepted
his plight.
He gave up his all…
His arrogance, his
brilliance, his rule.
“My Minds A Blank” he
opined,
“Live in the moment”
we advised,
“As of now it is the
only thing I can do” ,
“Believe me living in
the moment is a misery ,
my mind’s a vacuum ”
"You all are lucky,"
“I don’t have the
pleasure, meandering down the memory lane and enjoying my time”
“It seems someone has
stolen my memoirs”
“Old memories come to
me in flashes, and before I realize they are gone”
He was extremely
pained because it was difficult to recall/recollect moments just gone by’
“It’s such a torture,
Trying to figure out,
To be left
High and dry,
Without a clue
As to what to do…”
“Tell me what to do ,”
To his credit, he followed without ado.
He pointed to a soft
toy monkey in his room and oft reiterated “Madari
Bandar Nachao”
Painstakingly,
positively, the Captain worked on instructions of his family members.
With a thumbs up sign and
a right on top of the world stance,
To please us
Once again he hauled
himself up
With his bootstraps
His will power
His fitness regimen…
His discipline…
His positive
perspective…
His impish wit of
yesteryears resurfaced.
Despite the doctors
verdict
He actually started
walking!
Yes, my dad looked so
normal’
Noble distinguished
gentleman et’ all,
Growing up I had so
many misgivings about his ways
Suddenly, silently but
surely he kick started imparting lessons of life
Like no other,
The wisdom, his entire
being,
Has infused is
unfathomable,
Blessed to be fathered
by the great marvel,
Full of wit and humor,
With wisecracks and
puns-
the more I think of
him the more I learn from his ways.
What did I know that fateful
day of March 19,
He simply asked “Aaj
Ooni Hai?”,
A pun on today’s the 19th
?
Translated in Punjabi
meaning ‘Eternity’
To my query, “How are
you?”,
He signaled his
characteristic thumbs up!
Little did I imagine
that it would be my last Face-Time with him,
He went away in a
jiffy ,
As I watched him in
helpless agony,
Yes, not before,
The brave heart,
Assured us that all
was well,
Assured us of his
love,
Assured that we'd be together.
And that was Theend.
A Salute to the Great Captain
Tirath Singh Grover.
