49. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU COOL DUDE!

Some decades ago on a day like this a little boy was born.  

Then some years later this is what happened in our house…

“Wait Deepa, those new shoes I bought would match this shirt, let me bring them”. With that, Thaththa left the living room and headed towards the master bed room. We heard him opening the cupboard and then fumbling around. But as the seconds ticked by we were waiting anxiously for him to come as we were already late. But he took his own time and  finally  he came back looking amused.

“What happened?”  we all asked.

He just handed over the shoes trying to suppress a laugh and then we saw it. Both shoes were of the right foot!!!!

A few months ago, he and amma had visited a shoe sale and got this particular pair and more and we were forever hearing about what a bargain it was. And on this day when he tried to wear one of the pairs, believe it or not, he had bought the same foot twice. We all had a good laugh and had to keep two right legs as the sale was long since finished……

 In our house if we pile up all our goods, books will occupy more than 75% of all our belongings.  It is something both my parents taught us when we were very, very small. They both read quite a lot and we took it as an example. The passion for reading. Well, anyhow, thaththa decided to take this  a step further. Whenever he uses the toilet, he takes a book with him and sometimes we have to scream our heads off to get him out in order to save our bladders from bursting.  And one might think that this problem would be avoided in a black out. Oh no, then he takes a candle with him…..

And he is a great chef.  Well, whenever he decides to cook like once a year. His food tastes delicious and has a lot of nutritional value despite the fact that we hear Amma screaming from the kitchen that she has no food stuff remaining to cook with because Thaththa used all for his special recipe…..

Ever heard of a master in all trades? Well, that is thaththa. Whenever something breaks he manages to assemble it back the way it was or make something better out of it. My very first cupboard and blue potty were both made with his very own hands and for me they were better than any fancy furniture. Most of the times he mends things. Most of the time because sometimes he breaks things while trying to mend other things. Like burning Amma’s hair dryer trying to dry the flooded car starter motor with it…

Then there was this time we used to have a lot of snails in our yard. So we used to collect them into bags and take them far and throw them away. But this was of no avail. The numbers didn’t decrease. Then Thaththa had this brilliant idea and he and my little brother took a correction fliud and marked all snails on the shells, by putting a tick on their shell with it. They wanted to check if it is the same fellows who keep coming back. I don’t remember the result. Maybe he will mention it in a comment….

This is thaththa in a nut shell. He is the coolest father you can have. He is strict [ believe me I know], orderly [ a trait I inherited only partially], patient [ this I seemed to have missed altogether], and most of all he is the one we all turn to whenever we have a problem. It is like he has all the right words to tell and all the solutions. However dire the situation may seem, after talking to him it seems not as big a problem as it was. He always says the right things.

And on this special day I want to thank him for the following things and much more:

For being there when we need you…

For making home a haven for us…

For helping me realize my dreams …

For all the road trips we went on, even now when I think about home I never picture being with you three at home, I see us being on the road drinking tea with the back door of our van wide open….

For all those evenings you had to pick me up from after school practice and stand all the way home because I sat in the only seat available…

For fighting for malli and me and taking us with you two to that foreign land when all said that we can't be taken...

For holding me up and even when I fall for pulling me back right up onto my feet...

For the great lessons you taught me about life...

For not crying in front of me the day I left you three and came to be on my own [ I knew why you left me and went away for five minutes before returning and saying good bye]

For loving Amma so much that you are the standard I measure all men with…

For never giving up on us even in the hardest times of life …

I want to thank you for these and much more but I don’t think there will be enough room in the blog once I finish so I will just say that these are just a few things of what you mean to us.

And also thank you for being our Thaththa. 

I read somewhere that any man can be a father but it takes a lot to be a Dad. And you are the definition of that. Someday I might put your picture up in front of the word Dad in the dictionary….

Happy birthday Thaththa! We love you