Father's love

Agnel · 06:09 AM

It was 8 AM in the morning when I got the first phone call. I was fighting to get up from the bed. My old friend gave me a call to check on me. I had scared her the previous night with the kind of mood I was in. I spoke with her for sometime. She tried to help me by saying some good words still the harsh way, because that way people think it might just sink in. She closed the call after 10 mins of pep talk.

I was looking at my face in the mirror, reluctant to go to office, I took my toothbrush and carelessly brushed my teeth for the sake of it. Sitting idle and with a blank mind, without any control over my thoughts I was wondering how much better life would be, if things had gone the way I wanted it to. Still trying to accept reality I kept fighting every second, every minute, every hour, every single day.

9AM
My dad called me for breakfast, a rarity these days with heavy work load we both have to cope up with. I gulped down the food I saw on my plate, I didn't even bother to notice what I ate. It was 9:20 AM when we both left home.

My office was in shols and I had to catch the MTC bus to reach office that day since I missed my early morning route shuttle. Daddy dropped me at the railway station from where I had to catch a train and then the ultimate journey would take place. I ended up boarding a crowded bus at saidapet. Construction workers, school children, electricians, plumbers, lazy (rather I should say tired) software engineers who missed their regular route buses cos they came home late and slept (I can empathize better cos I am one of them), market shopkeepers and regular workers were part of the crowd. I felt really uncomfortable standing with those people who lack basic manners of how to behave in such crowded situations. You get to see the selfish attitude of men and women who jump from one place to the other in search of a seat not bothered about how they get there stamping and pushing others.

Someone pushed me from the back and I turned back to see the face of that unruly man. To my surprise I saw a beautiful young girl hugging her father with a scared look on her face. I started observing the kid and her father. She happened to be a 3-4 year old kid, who had just joined school, new pairs of shinning black shoes, new uniform , new hairband, a dummy watch to match the style and an amazingly cute bag with sir mickey mouse on top. Her father on the other hand was wearing an old shirt which he would have bought 4 to 5 years ago, an old pair of slippers, no watch... okay let me not get too much into details here. He looked like a man fighting for survival everyday with a meager amount of salary he got and that salary would be enough for the present living. His daughter on the other hand looked like a girl from a well educated family with her dress and appearance to add to her class.

A contrast! I couldn't believe that man would be her dad.

I saw love and nothing but real love. There was absolutely no place to stand in that bus, but still that man got into the bus to make sure his daughter gets to reach her school on time. The girl couldn't stand on the bus floor, fearing the large crowd inside the bus, she clung on to her papa's throat and closed her eyes. One hand holding the girl. The other hand holding her school bag and her lunch bag, this man did the act of balancing to perfection. His aim was to get his daughter on time to school no matter what. He did just that. He struggled for nearly 15 mins in the bus to stand steady when the driver was occasionally pressing the brakes. Their stop arrived and he got down with his kid still clutching his throat and her eyes closed. Her father made sure she felt none of the discomfort he felt. The school was a few yards away from the busstop. He slowly and carefully let his daughter down. She opened her eyes, realised she had reached her school, took her bag, gave daddy a kiss, bid goodbye with her cute little hands and went in. As she was waving her hand, my bus had to take a right turn and I missed what happened next.

Now you guys might be wondering whats the big deal about this little episode.

It talks a great deal about father's love. We often hear articles which speaks about mother's love, not very often we hear about father's love. So I thought I'll pen down one after this incident. This man, who doesn't happen to have a hefty salary, sacrificed all that he had to make sure his daughter lives a happy life. She goes to school where she would meet 100 other gals and boys dressed up equally good, worse or better. At her age, she might not be able to find the difference of all this. But her dad made sure she feels equal with all other kids at school.

He is great. That's father's love!