With Father’s Day approaching, I have been wondering what to buy for my dad. Would he like an all-purpose toolbox for the innumerable repair jobs he finds at home – an interest he picked up during the one year he was unemployed. Or, would he like a new golf mallet?
Perhaps I shouldn’t. Isn’t this what had kept him away from us during the time we needed him most?
One can always go Home [Illustration by Anup Singh]
Since he spent most of his time away from home, I always felt he did not understand me. We never saw eye to eye. Throughout my turbulent teenage years, I always tested his patience and made sure that we did not agree on anything. My mother constantly played referee, but it never seemed to make a difference.
My father also realised that we needed to spend time together to sort things out. So, on a weekend, off we went to Nainital without my mom and my brother.
We went trekking and boating. And, by the end of the weekend, I had changed my opinion of him. He was not a dictator after all. He was a quite a great guy to be with!
Years went by and I left home for higher studies at the university. I did not do well in the first semester at the university. And, by my parents’ standards, it was a failure. I had scored 53 per cent marks and just managed to scrape through to the next semester. I always told dad that everything was fine and I was doing quite well in my studies.
Obviously, since I had just managed to pass the exams, I dreaded going back home. I did not want to face my father, since I felt I had let him down.
I decided to stay with a friend during the vacations because I thought Dad would never understand. Nonetheless, after a few moments of hesitation, I went to a phone booth to call home. As I dialed the number, my eyes began leaking copious tears and I told my dad about what had happened. The first thing he said was: “You are my girl and I will be right there to get you.”
As relief overwhelmed me, I realised an obvious truth of life – that one can always go home, come what may…
