Thank You Dad

by Sneha Bachani
(Mumbai, India)

I came from a conservative family with folks from a small town. We've migrated to Bombay from a couple of years ago. A family with good values and a well-reputed business. A family of few words, where communicating and sharing our views on life and emotions were a big effort.

In my early 20s, my parents’ only mission for my future was my marriage. Whereas for my younger brother with a 6-year age gap, his options were left to him. With me being born and brought up in schools and colleges of Bombay, I had a common girls’ dream – ‘To go out there and see the world’.

I started working right from my XII grade against my father’s wishes. Because having a working daughter from a business-oriented family was embarrassing. From then onwards, there was no looking back. Life only kept speeding up. Like any other family, we too spent our nights together laughing and having fun.

But I never really discussed work with dad. Though he wasn’t a strict father at all, but he came from a different background. My bond with him was as strong as with my mother, but we were just brought up in a traditional way, where expressing our love was uncomfortable. Mum was the balancing factor between me and dad. Any serious issues about me wanting to take up or do was communicated to him through my mother.

From making little pocket money, my focus slowly shifted to being less financially-dependant on my parents. Dad’s business was now facing speed bumps. But his drive of getting me married only kept rushing up. I knew rebelling against my tensed dad would only make things worse. So I continued with our family pattern of ‘NO COMMUNICATING OF FEELINGS & EMOTIONS’.

Deep down I knew, that even the little contribution from my small pay to the household was helping him somewhere. I hardly worried about my parents not appreciating my hard work because I knew that when your intention is right, God takes away all your time to worry. Life had just gotten too busy with my now demanding work.

With the business almost shut, my father went under major depression and this one day he broke the family pattern of ‘NO COMMNUICATING OF FEELINGS & EMOTIONS’. He suddenly came up to me and said ‘Thank you’. As tradition, we never showed any emotion to each other. So after nodding my head in acknowledgement, I quickly walked out of the room with tears rolling down like a waterfall. That day I knew what he meant. I had the most touching and the deepest communication with my father.

Though he didn’t know how to show it, I knew he was glad to see me happy in what I was doing. Today he’s not with us anymore, but I make sure that I reciprocate to him every day of my life in my prayers, and I know he’s listening.

Thank you Dad for letting me be ME...