Tuesday, June 26, 2012

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

 


32 comments:

  1. Having known virtually in the Cyberspace, later met twice for a short time, I imagined him as such a "good" guy. With the text i just read, Yeah I was right then..
    Wish him a Happy birth day !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks very much, Weni. Awesome wordings! :)

      Delete
  2. We too wish him good health happiness and a long life on this special day !

    ReplyDelete
  3. ඔබ තුමා ලංකාවේ කොයි පලාතෙද ගම්පහ ද....?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. අන්න හරි රාජ්! නිකමට හිතුනද, නැතිනම් මගෙ කට වැරදුනාද? :)

      Delete
    2. නැනැ මම හිතන්නේ මම ඔබ තුමගේ ඉංග්‍රිසි පංතියේ ගොලයෙක්...ගම දොXX නේද...

      Delete
  4. Happy birthday DuDe…….!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy B'day Dude! Have a good one :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am having a good time, Dude! Thank you very much!

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Chami4u!
      The comments I made for your blog post are spammed I think. They are missing. Will you please check?

      Delete
  7. Hi My Dude,

    I wish you a very happy,prosperous,healthy,joyful,peaceful long life and also for this day to be a memorable Birthday......!!!

    May all your dreams come true.

    Most of all I thank you very very much for being a beloved,caring, thoughtful and joyful son,a husband,father,a brother,a nephew,an uncle,a grandson and also a friend to all.

    Puthu(Hiruni,our loving daughter),

    I know how much you were anxious to publish a post about your Dad(thatha)on this special day and thanks you a lot as you have given him a very special, valuable gift that most of us never could imagine of.I am very much glad that we have two nice, loving, thoughtful and caring kids.Be like that for ever....!!!

    So Henryblogwalker the Dude,

    WISH YOU MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY !!!!!!!

    DeeJay

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My special thanks to you Deejay, You made my day!

      Delete
  8. You have a special dad and I can imagine that love... bcoz I also had the same dad who he was the hero of my life.... :))

    and

    hey dude happy birthday.... !!!!

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  9. Wish You a very Happy B'day Dude.. I wish you Many more happy returns of the day with having all da happiness & Good health throughout the year as well as coming years. Usually i read ur blog. But this is the first time i gonna comment it. :)

    Ur da second dad who is lucky to have a loving daughter.. First luckiest dad is mine , I am sure my dad will agree with this ;).

    @Hiruni- You made me to go to my past. My Dad also same as your dad..Very coolest & loving person I ever met in 25 years of my life time. He makes us to read through unforcefuly. Actually he never ask us to read. (both of my parents are reading books and we have a huge library with more than 1000 books.) :) He gave us books as presents when we pass exams and for our B'days,& special events etc. And also he carrying us to all the BMICH book exhibitions & never hesitate to pay money to books that me my sister take in. (but always he check that book & give us a comment before buying.
    Still we are love to read books and it becomes a passion.
    (we have the same habit as your father carrying books when go to toilet)
    Most of my friends are loving to talk with my dad always saying me & my sister are so lucky to have a kind of coolest dad ever.

    Dear Hiruni, I am sure one day u r dad also will say very proudly "Thats my girl"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous Dude, Thank you very much for the birthday wishes and all the nice things you've said.

      I was very much moved to hear the way you appreciate your Cool Dad! He's a lucky one no doubt. And I was also thrilled to hear about your reading habits! So I'm not alone.

      Please keep visiting HeyDude. Happy reading. And Thanks again.

      Delete
  10. All the very best Dude, on your birthday...A wonderful tribute by your daughter ... best wishes to her too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks very much Kandyan. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wish U a Very Happy Birthday,Dude...! (Even though this seems to be a belated birthday wish).. Just arrived to your blog today by following a comment in my තොටුපොළ..

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks very much and Welcome to my blog තොටියා!
    Better late than never... :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a nice way to express their gratitude and love towards you... Its such a sensitive write up... hats off to the greatest dad !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that's perhaps the best gift I got for a birthday! Thanks very much.

      Delete
  15. Hey dude, after coming here only, i realized that I have missed a lot in a cool blog. I was roaming in the cyber space for a quite a long time, but some how or other, I didn't notice this.
    however, now I know, I will not miss anything you write in times to come.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks Sindhu, Welcome to my Blog. I write a Sinhala blog too. That's මට හිතෙන හැටි .
    And both my wife and I found your blog to be an awesome one, too.
    And yours is one of the blogs I recommended for my daughter who wrote this post.

    ReplyDelete
  17. father's love hidden but strong.
    Happy B'day !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they aren't known to show emotions as much as mothers.
      Thanks Avatar, and welcome to HeyDude.

      Delete
  18. Belated B'day wishes Dude! :)
    When I am well enough, I will visit back to put long comments!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucky, Thanks very much.
      "When I'm well enough" means you are sick?
      Wish you fast recovery, Dude.

      Delete

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