Every year on his Birthday on 16th September, we revisit thoughts that remind us of our Dad. Nothing new, everybody does it in their own way but for us, it’s that time when we remember not just a ‘Loving Father’ but the fine human being he was. He possessed the old-world charming qualities that are cornerstone of character with innate sincerity and unconditional compassion for others, enabling genuine affinity and admiration from all.
I was reading one of the quotes of ‘Bapu’, ‘Mahatma Gandhi’, where he says : “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”. Great words from an extraordinary person who is our greatest national icon but what is remarkable is how close this was to what Dad felt about himself. In his many sentimental moments of pride whenever any one of us brought home excellent marks or got the first rank, he’d say self-deprecatingly ‘How on earth did I have such brilliant children ?’
We realized early on that Dad had the ‘Christian’ spirit of humility with no claims to any ‘greatness’ yet he was the most well-read, eloquent & articulate person we knew- maybe it was from his voracious reading habits since school days & love for English Literature. His fascination with Sarat Chandra novels made him learn Bengali with our Ma’s help. If he never boasted of his wisdom & knowledge, he never hid pride for the Gold Medalists in the family, my Mom and my sister, Sumita Di and the other achievers among us.
As it happens in stories & films, one suddenly finds an invaluable document excavating through family archives. Very recently I chanced upon a ‘Bio-Data’ neatly written in our Dad’s own hand-writing. Among other things, it stated that he had topped the Entrance Exams for the Service he had applied. Throughout his career, he remained a sought after Officer in UP Secretariat, retiring as Joint Secretary having worked in almost all Depts.
A famous quote from C S Lewis about humility is “True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less”. These words seem to have been written for Dad. No tribute is complete without stating the wondrous effect the voice of his lifelong idol, KL Saigal had on Dad. I’ve tried the impossible here- to croon Saigal’s ‘Karoon Kya Aas’..Pardon me Dad !
