To DAD

Its almost 12 years that I lost him, but still his memories are so fresh in my mind, especially his last day when he tells his Doctor, Do something I dont want to die, he sinking while i held his hand, I still talk to him when i am upset and wonder what he would have adviced me, Would I have been where I am had he been around?, Would he be proud of us(me and my bro) as his children, how much he would have spoilt his grandson. There are so many things that I dont know about him yet. I wish he were around. Today I am gathering courage and writing some memories I have of him.
- He never called me with my full name, I was always Reshu :) for him.

- We both fought a lot, I back answered a lot, but we both shared secrets from Mom :)

- I would get 2 dresses on my birthday every year, one that he would like a lot and one that I would like a lot :-) We both would not give up on our choices (me more coz i knew I would get 2 of them)

- When I sat behind him on the kinetic, I would really get annoyed and tell him to speed a little coz men riding the bicycle would overtake us ,he would go that slow

- He was both liberal and strict with us, despite of his very orthodox background, he would let me wear jeans and skirts but I had to be home before dark.

- He would always shate meetha panipuri with and my mom and bro had teekha :), we both could just not eat that spicy food, and I was glad I had company, coz after him, mom and bro had spicy stuff and i would end up drinking loads of water, untill my s-i-l came in who does not eat spicy too.

- He was a foodie, loved to travel and spend and I think I inherit that from him apart from his looks. My mom is glad that we dont look like her coz my dad had sharp features. He loved baked food, and everytime I visit bakery in India or out of India, I think about him. He would have loved Dunkin Dounuts than the naaz donuts in Pune :)

- He believed in living life to the fullest and would never save money(that was my moms department)

- He used to dance in the house when he used to drink whiskey at home and we could get anything from him.

- He never smoked regularly, he smoked only when he drank, his cigarette pack would last for a year i think :)

- He was the first to wake up at home and he would wake my mom up he he he(which my mom still denies)

- When he would take us around on his bicycle to amuse us he would say pic picky pic picky pick pick and we would keep repeating it alternately till the time we reached home :)

- Every Sunday (till my 2nd year college i.e till the time he was alive)when I used to go for my NCC parade early mornings, he used to wake up early and give me keys to his kinetic and money to eat vada pav during the break.

- He loved pakodas and samosas and would get them everyday(almost) for snacks.

- He would give us money whenever we asked for but would never give mom ( he would say she spends it at the wrong places)

- He used to trouble my bro a lot (thats what i thought when i was younger) since my bro was kinda silent and shy, to make him talk he would make my bro go to shops and stores and tell him to ask the price of this, the price of that to the shopkeeper and look at my bro now he is into international sales and marketing and talks all the time(Thanks to him)

- He had a good taste for things, I realized that after he went and my mom shopped for us, also what he used to say is true, mom is the stingy types :p)

- He was very social, we would have people coming for dinner lunch atleast once or twice a month. I miss that now.

- He taught us the basic manners, he taught me how to iron and he never let us wear clothes that were not-ironed and shoes not polished, in case we dint do it, he would do it for us and then out of guilt we would do it. I wonder where did he learn all that, coz his childhood was very poor and different.

- He dint know to tie shoe laces :) he never wore laced shoes and if he wore he would never untie them, and in case it was untied and he was out, he would go to a shoe polisher on the street, get them polished and tell him to tie the laces :)

- He would not let us out of his sight, he was more possessive of us than our mom, For ncc we had to stay away from home for just 10 days but he would drive all way to the camp place and meet me atleast once or twice in those 10 days and get me nankhatai :)

- He was pretty short tempered I would say, but at home when he would burst out, my mom would wink at him once and he would just blush and start smiling and laughing. ha ha ha I still laugh whenever I remember this. Mom very well knew how to cool him down.

Dad I really miss you infact we all still do and yes you were right, I did understand your value after you went. I just wish you were alive when I matured as a girl, am sure we would have had lots of fun and mom and bro would be jealous of us and Krishanu would have been your fan.