My Hero

Biting into my veg burger, my thought process was interrupted by my mom. Sitting opposite to me, munching her fries, she started the conversation

"You should write the blooper your dad did today in the blog (More on that later). People who know my dad from here and here needs no introduction to the GUY no:1 of my life. But, there is more to this man than what meets the eye.

He may give you that rough and tough attitude....even brush you in the wrong way, but behind all that ruggedness is a man who knows only to love unconditionally. As a little girl, like all the girls of my age my dad was the first super hero I admired and looked upto. No superman or spiderman could match the super powers my dad possessed. He had answers to all my silly questions, he had the magic wand to make all my problems disappear and more importantly he was one person with whom I could ramble endlessly.

As years passed, during the growing up stages I got quite attached to my mom. Though we never get along she could read my mind. I had to share all my secrets, had to have her with me during my bad days and I couldn't sleep without fighting with her. Somewhere along the road, dad was sidelined. For me he was more of a father figure, unapproachable and I was sure: A GUY CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME!!

Sometimes dad did let me know about his feelings and the pain of missing out on my life was evident from his eyes as he watched me and my mom talking ear to ear. 

Dad's road to success was not smooth. As the 3rd child (eldest son) of a war veteran and housewife he didn't get his way around like we did. Having to travel 10 kms per day to reach the school or not being able to afford new school uniform each academic year, he had seen the worst .But, what separated him was his tryst to learn, to grow . I have heard his sister say that he was extremely talented in languages. After his 10th, when his father told him to quit school and join him in farming, my dad was aghast. He wanted to continue his studies but didn’t have the resources to follow his heart nor did his father’s small income allow him to dream big. That’s where my dad's sister came into picture, married to an army guy she took him under her wings. A change in scenery ensued from lush green Kerala to land of desserts: Rajasthan, it was a drastic change for this young man.

He made it into Narcotics department all the while continuing his education. After 10 years he moved back to Kerala and to Customs. He married his superior’s daughter (Mom) and happily lived ever after.

I have never seen my dad upset and angry not even in situation where an ordinary person like you or me would think of giving up. He always maintains his calm at home (Though in office it's complete different ball game). I respect him for his vast knowledge; he is one of the best in Customs laws. He is never afraid to speak his mind, even to his seniors. He is the best shopping buddy as he even nudges me to shop. He has never told me NEVER or NO!!!. The biggest shoker was this incident when I truly realized the depth of my ignorance. One day while on phone with my fiancé, my dad happened to hear our conversation. All through the conversation I kept calling name, instead of the customary "CHETTA" my dad came upto me and said "You are so unromantic". Mine!!! Something that I hadn’t expected. Nowadays I do make sure that I put forward everything in front of dad first because he is more open to ideas, more onto my side than the other peoples (My mom on the other hand makes up for it with the sentence "what will people think")

Ok!I could go on and on like this about the virtues my dad possesses. Enough of praising my dad, what comes to mind is this dialogue by Suriya from the film Varanam Ayirram" NEE THAAN ENUUDE HERO DADDY" (YOU ARE MY HERO DADDY)