Having only one parent is hard. Harder if he is an ex-army man. No I do not want you to have visions of a mustached colonel( though Dad has a beautifully pointy handlebar mustache) with a well-oiled rifle hanging on the wall( that is kept in the coat rack)- threatening to shoot anyone who steps on his property( he did once, but those were genuine thieves). But it is hardest being the only daughter- indeed the only child of one such parent.
It is rather funny being an adult and living in the same house with your parent. Funny because no matter how hard you try, you cannot actually get out of drinking that mandatory glass of milk and having four peeled almonds- also the all-important apple a day( to keep the doctor away- which in itself is ironic). Sometimes it is rather hard when one HAS to eat the Thursday porridge whish Ramprasad makes with such punctual regularity. But apart from breakfast- Dad does not really control my diet or life much.
The problem was Dhiraj. No Actually it is Kartik. Alright let us begin at the very beginning. I grew up in the regular army kids way. You move- from depressingly similar house to house from Central School to Central School. Till I was 13 and Mum passed away. Dad realized the difficulty of maintaining an active army schedule- with exercise and postings in the back of beyond- and a growing teenager. So Ramprasad was recruited and I was packed off to boarding school- St Mary’s NainiTal. On the recommendation of Colonel Negi, Dhiraj’s dad. Now Dhiraj and I have grown up together. It is hard doing so when you are shuttling from town to town, but he belonged to that genre of people who always seemed to be in the same places, or around the ones where Dad was posted. Best buddy, mango –thieving accomplice, classmate….and more that was Dhiraj.
Kartik was my St Joseph’s social dance partner and then colleague - a long journey. On that would end on the altar- to the start of a common journey. Or so I hoped. Till I realized we were better off as friends. But in the rush of work and things, I did not tell Daddy about it.
Till Dhiraj(a doctor) , my confidante in all this and more, and I realized that we had feelings for each other. Yeah, not the regular, how are you doing feelings. But the “this is the one” feelings.
All wonderful.
Only one leetle problem.
Telling Daddy. Though he IS a sweety usually, he does have THAT rifle, that background.. and those eyebrows…
“Will do it tomorrow” I promised Dhiraj. Because I did not want him doing the, “I want your daughter’s hand in marriage” talk.
I should be the one telling Dad this. Not an “outsider”
On Thursday morning, I daughterfully started. Over breakfast. For all his “porridge once a week is good for you”( which is only because Ramprasad likes making it) Dad does not really like it.
And today, Ramprasad had burnt it.
“Dad”
The beetling eyebrows drew together. “Hmm.”The newspaper rustled menacingly.
I plowed on. Love makes you conquer great barriers.
“I wanted to say”
“I know dear.”
“Its rather difficult to tell you…I mean how does one go about telling this” in a squeak.( I am a communications major)
“Beta you don’t need to tell me. I have eyes too. I can see things” Oh God!
“So then you understand my feelings on this”
“Absolutely”
“In fact it could not be more right”
“Really . You know dad I am so relieved”
“Well it actually has been high time”
The burnt porridge turned to caviar in my mouth. I took another spoonful.
“ I know it has been a difficult decision”
“ Well maybe you can put it this way…”
“But we cannot always think of other’s feelings all the time, our own feelings matter”
I was so relieved, I had wondered about the whole, not Kartik, but Dhiraj thing.. and he understood. Yes, he did…
“In fact we should never compromise on those”
“Yes dad, I am so glad you understand”
“Of course beta.. it has been quite a while that I have noticed, but now I will not keep quiet at all. Today is the last straw”.. the .. the …last straw.. for….
“Ramprasad, your cooking has become more and more appalling. I think we are going to have Sukhiya managing the kitchen now on”
1 comment:
That was delightful. As a father who has a daughter who has no difficulty (or so it seems to me) telling me what is what and how she feels, its amusing to read this.
Very well written. I'm enjoying reading your blog. Since you say one of the 8 things important to you is to live green, maybe you'll like my blog too www.badlani.com/blog. It is unabashedly commercial in intent but you might still like it.
Otherwise look for Beach Bum on Sulekha.
This was a really nice story. Is there a sequel, where Dhiraj actually became part of the story and the family?
Rajiv
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