Thursday, 21 June 2018

MY THUMBS UP DAD!


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!
 Empathetic:
Went out of the way to help fellow beings,
He was the happiest when on such missions!

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.


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