Page 34 - First cut

From the time I can remember, I have admired
my father, cant remember why, but I have been
his biggest fan always. He has been strict to all
of us, never showered us with affection, doesn’t
believe in public display of affection, was very
conventional in his way and thoughts. He is a
self made man, born to a very poor family in
a remote village in Tamilnadu with hardwork
and preservation, he had slowly climbed up
the social ladder and I believe his journey was
anything but easy.
One of my earliest childhood memories. I
must have been 3 or 4 then my father used to
work at a different place then and was staying
about two hours away from us. He used to take
a train every weekend to come and visit us.
On each day that he was supposed to visit,
I used to climb the stairs and sit by the side
of our tallest window, from where I could see
each person passing by. And as soon as I saw
his familiar figure coming down the road,
carrying his suitcase and walking briskly, I
would run down shouting “Appa Varunnu”
and gleefully go and greet him by the gate. I
can still remember with clarity these episodes
which used to repeat almost every weekend.
Invariably, I could be seen hugging his legs and
crying as he got ready to leave.
Slowly I outgrew these tantrums. But I have
been my fathers girl at heart, and I guess I still
am my father and I we share a peculiar bond,
we are never vocal about our love. We don’t
even speak to each other daily or regularly. But
I know he is there for me and will be there for
me always and forever.
Another memory etched in my mind. I was 16
or 17 then, studying predegree at SN Womens
college. We divided to go for a flower festival
in Kollam that day. Being a holiday, the ground
was crowded that day. I have always had this
tendency to day dream and wonder around
thinking random thoughts. That day too, I was
walking around, admiring the flowers and lose
in my own world, and hadn’t noticed that in
the process I had separated myself from my
family.
I was shocked out of my reverie when someone
roughly grabbled me from behind. Twisting
around I saw a grown man, giant like in
proportions, and I couldn’t free myself from
2K1 MBBS, Trivandrum Medical College
his grip. None of the teeming crowd around me
found anything amiss and I was too shocked to
even raise my voice.
What happened next was beyond my wildest
of imaginations. My father who always been a
gentle man, and who never raises his voice even
at any one, who was not even in the best of his
health, and was small and trail when compared
to this man, he caught this man giant by his
collar, pushed him down and brought him to
his knees. I saw fury in my father’s eyes like
never before and it looks could kill probably
the man couldn’t have escaped alive.
In the class that ensured, the man escaped into
the crowd, we somehow pacified my father
and all of us were bundled back to the safety
of our home.
Even now, recollecting this incident gives me
goose thumps of sort. I believe A father is
almost even little girls first superhero once
again, on that eventful day by belief was re
confirmed. No matter what, my father would
have my back and he would defend me against
the demons of this world. That belief was
important to me than and later on too, as it has
helped me overcome man trial & tribulation.
I think I could go on & on trilling out random
memories from my mind library. But due to
lack of space of time, I will stop here. Any one
of you who has reached till here reading this
first attempt of mine, I would like to really
thank you for your patience with lots of love.
35