My day began by reading awesome heartfelt messages from dutiful daughters to their fathers on FB. I enjoyed reading those messages fromJyothe Rao, Tripti Dwivedi, Zsofia Prakrriti, Anuraag Misraraj, Deepti Pantand many others fellow travelers.
My day ended with the message below:
"Happy Fathers day Dad. Thanks for being with me when I needed you. I love you Dad!"
I can explain...
The writer of that message is 24 years old now. She is a convent educated graduate in Psychology and a practicing professional in that field. The period she is referring to by saying " standing with me " happened some 20 years ago.
I vividly remember, when a friend of mine had mentioned this family that needed my help in a certain way. I was not ready for it. I was FOB from USA ( Fresh of the boat that is..LOL) and my moral compass had no margin of errors. I refused to give that help on the grounds of ethics and morality. Also there was an untimely death in the family. We were devastated.
The night we recited Quran ( Quran Khwaani), this friend informed me about the favor, which I had refused. This time he said that "family is here, why don't you meet them? I was like "NO WAY...its wrong and un-ethical and I won't do it"....My friend pointing his finger behind me said " oh they are here".
I turned to see a man and a woman with this 4 year old girl. They said salaam and as a courtesy I went towards them. The cute girl was standing between mom and dad. I bent down to touch her chin and asked her name.....she responded with a big smile.....and that innocent cute smile blew away all the principals of ethics and morality in a hurry. When I stood up, I told them " Okay, I will do it!"
That night she called me "Dad" for the first time....Next morning, I did whatever was expected of me ....all went well. Everyone was happy and there was celebration!!
I went back to the US and lost touch with them except for an occasional calls here n there. Wahtsapp connected us again....and this message showed up on my whatsapp!
Still enjoying it.....
ps: When kids grow up they become best friends, so I promoted her to a friend and asked her to join me on FB. She calls me dad on FB....you will recognize her!
She is my daughter!!
My day ended with the message below:
"Happy Fathers day Dad. Thanks for being with me when I needed you. I love you Dad!"
I can explain...
The writer of that message is 24 years old now. She is a convent educated graduate in Psychology and a practicing professional in that field. The period she is referring to by saying " standing with me " happened some 20 years ago.
I vividly remember, when a friend of mine had mentioned this family that needed my help in a certain way. I was not ready for it. I was FOB from USA ( Fresh of the boat that is..LOL) and my moral compass had no margin of errors. I refused to give that help on the grounds of ethics and morality. Also there was an untimely death in the family. We were devastated.
The night we recited Quran ( Quran Khwaani), this friend informed me about the favor, which I had refused. This time he said that "family is here, why don't you meet them? I was like "NO WAY...its wrong and un-ethical and I won't do it"....My friend pointing his finger behind me said " oh they are here".
I turned to see a man and a woman with this 4 year old girl. They said salaam and as a courtesy I went towards them. The cute girl was standing between mom and dad. I bent down to touch her chin and asked her name.....she responded with a big smile.....and that innocent cute smile blew away all the principals of ethics and morality in a hurry. When I stood up, I told them " Okay, I will do it!"
That night she called me "Dad" for the first time....Next morning, I did whatever was expected of me ....all went well. Everyone was happy and there was celebration!!
I went back to the US and lost touch with them except for an occasional calls here n there. Wahtsapp connected us again....and this message showed up on my whatsapp!
Still enjoying it.....
ps: When kids grow up they become best friends, so I promoted her to a friend and asked her to join me on FB. She calls me dad on FB....you will recognize her!
She is my daughter!!