This is my blog page. This is my website. This is my life. Yes, this place is about I, I and only I. But there are these days, when one should stop talking about oneself and talk about someone else. This is such a day.
Today, 19th July 2011, is my beloved Father-In-Law’s fourth death anniversary.
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John Paul M Rocked our world; now rocking in heaven. |
During my initial days in Dubai, I was staying at my In-laws and learnt most of the complex and 'difficult to master' life lessons just merely by observing him. To me, he was not just my wife’s father, but much more than that. To me, he was and will always be my greatest teacher ever, my Guru who taught me what no one teaches - ‘How to live life?’
He taught me that the only way to raise a winning family was the positive way; by encouraging, supporting and giving endlessly and not by bickering and rebuking on frivolous issues like ‘why the floor is not mopped?’ or ‘why the TV is not dusted?’ or ‘why the dishes are not yet washed?’
He taught me how to give time to one’s family. While at home, I’d never seen him tense or worked up with office issues. The moment he entered home, his work mobile would be turned off and he would have actually shut off his office. Everyday he would take time out to talk to each person in the family and even play with the little kid.
He taught me how to make ones kids responsible and guide them to stand firm on their own feet, and then, when they are ready, how to stop whining and just let them go.
He taught me, that one should not live his life to please or impress others or to just gain accolades and (false) praise, and that one should live his life within his own means and comfort zone without bothering of what others would think. Money and ‘lifestyle’ is least important.
He taught me, how to value and keep those good old friends; how to party with buddies all night long and simultaneously make that event into a great family gathering. His best friends, till his last days, were the ones from his initial bachelor days. He graduated in 1971(a year before I was born!), and we share the same alma mater and am informed that he was a key player in reviving the RECCA alumni at Sharjah, UAE.
He taught me that one should plan things in advance and plan it well. It helps.
He taught me something that most dads don’t know and something that’d be very useful for me in the future; that ‘when a boy grows up, you got to treat him like a man, not a boy’.
He taught me that a true master gets work done through compassion and respect and not coercion and fear. In his household, be it a driver, or a housemaid, or a coconut picker, they are all treated like one in the family.
He also taught me, where to draw the line and how to be assertive when you have to assertive. ‘Just because I am drunk and smoking, and let you smoke in front of me doesn’t mean that you can …….’
Above all, he is the one who taught me the biggest lesson of my life ‘How to kick my inhibitions on its butt and live life without any restraint’
Dear papa,
How I wish that I could beat my chest and wail out loud to the world, "how much I miss you"; but I know, I shouldn't, ‘cause something tells me that it is you, who has come back into our family as little Yohan.
Thank you for coming back. Love you forever.
Sweety
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