‘How can girls be so eccentric in remembering dates,’ my brother once proclaimed. My dad smiled, ‘You’re right son. How can the date of some event be remembered? I mean it’s another thing to remember the importance of why the war happened, but dates; now that’s lunatic,’ he grinned baring his myopic smile. I was a bit crushed but did little to show it. ‘But seriously dad, when was the last time Dravid actually scored in triple digits?’ he asked. ‘I think Vikram, from the way he has been playing each run since the past 3 test matches, I seriously doubt if he’ll head for the upcoming matches,’ blurted Dad all at once. ‘Dad, what is meant by a Yorker,’ I asked.
‘Since when has cricket been featuring in your list of writing.
I thought you were hooked to Sydney Sheldon,’ he smirked feeling a tad smarter in my presence.
‘To tell you the truth the question has been on my mind since the past 2 weeks. The game kept me so hooked that I almost forgot to ask,’ I stated almost immediately.
‘You and Cricket? Now that’s strange! I thought I heard from your mom that you were addicted to books. I never knew you even knew what a Yorker is,’ said he.
‘I was never addicted to anything really Dad, it was just something I heard the commentators mention time and again, so I thought I’d ask you,’ I tried to plead my new found wisdom.
‘You won’t understand. It’s a boy thing, so forget it,’ said Dad. ‘There are far too many things that can be understood for a 20 something. If Vikram had asked me it would have been different, its just something that boys and men do; take an interest in sports.’ He left it at that and went on to discuss some finer ‘nuances’ of the way the game had changed over time.
Suddenly amidst the din of scores and heart aching shots, the decibels dipped and I entered the room. Some female cricket expert donning a raunchy attire was discussing the disastrous tour. ‘See what I mean Dad. Women aren’t playthings that need to be dressed and coloured to show off for familial or social matters. Pity amongst your limited knowledge of things in life you forget that we are all in world to live.
You merely exist. For once you forgot that you are a father. You forgot that girls are probably vying for your attention in being meek and ignorant. You love being fathers restricted to your young male company that you so dutifully show off to the world. The God-forsaken male heir, who eccentrically necessitates unwanted attention. The ones that you smile at for grades lower than your daughters. The ones you know you will endlessly support because they’ll be with you in your house for the rest of your life. Its very melancholic that you truly don’t know our worth.
My heart goes out to you Dad, for the limited knowledge of the things that only boys do. After all we’re not going to stay with you forever. That’s why our scriptures define us as Goddess Lakshmi. The Goddess is known for her nimble feet, she never stays too long anywhere….And we don’t stay with you forever either. So treasure us. Be warm towards us, because we’ll carry on the warmth wherever we go, even when we have sons of our own. Don’t let this barrier of son versus daughters march on for generations… it ain’t gonna help you!
Ooops, Did I brag too much….Ah yes…. Obviously you can’t understand emotions like I do; not your fault really, its just a girl thing, pity you won’t understand,’ I stopped at that leaving behind a gaping man I call my Dad! God Almighty, just a sincere request….please increase your doses of estrogen the next time you create an XY combination, most of us in this world need that today!
