Thank You
Dear Appupa
Well I’ll be honest
from the start, its 4.17 am in the morning; I’ve been thinking about what to
get you, and I’m stumped. Picking out Ammuma’s Sari was by no means an easy
task. Khadi, Tusser, Kanchivaram, handmade, machine made, I must have browsed
through at least 50 of them before settling for one that I actually liked.
Right now as I write this I’m not even sure how my choice will be received by
you all but hopefully everyone will like it, especially Ammuma. In her case I’ve
always known from the beginning what I needed to get her, it was just the
selection that was the tough part. But you Sir, have proven to be an
exceptionally difficult person to shop for.
You see the reason
behind this is that I believe a gift should not be given just because the
occasion demands that one be given. It
should hold some value in the hearts of both the receiving and gifting parties.
In Ammuma’s case, this Sari is actually the fulfillment of the promise I made
to her when I was god knows how many years old. So it naturally means a lot to
both her and me. No such pact exists between us. You’ve never asked, and
neither have I ever offered to buy you anything from my first salary. But I
really want to get you something too, so I have given this a lot of thought,
trying to come up with some suitable options. But I soon realized that whatever
I could come up with, be it a watch, t-shirts, walking sticks or pens, was something you already possessed and that
too in surplus amount. So it wouldn’t really be useful. Actually no, as I’m
writing this I realize that you would indeed happily accept any of the above,
just because it’s a gift from your grandson. The actual reason behind me not
going for something like a Titan is something far more selfish; I want to give
you something that’s special and I wouldn’t personally derive the same pleasure
giving a simple watch to you as I would giving that Sari to Ammuma.
Finally I’ve come to
the conclusion that I really can’t buy
you anything. Simply because unlike Ammuma’s sari, whatever stuff I buy you
would only be materially significant. It’d seem like merely going through the
motions; like a formality. No, I want my
gift to be more. To mean more. So I’ve decided that if I can’t buy anything for
you, I’ll create something for you.
Now if I was a painter I’d paint you a picture, or if I was a singer I’d have
composed a song and sung it to you, but since writing’s the medium I’m the most
comfortable with, I’ll try to do this with words.
Your principles have
always acted as a lighthouse for the family, guiding us to safe waters during
troubled times. I’ve always regarded you as the only role model of my life, and
hell, if I’m able to conduct my life even half as honorably as you have I’d be
an extremely happy man. I’ve always believed that the worth of one’s existence
shouldn’t be judged by the success achieved by him, but by the difference he’s
made in the life of others. And I’m sure each and every one of us in this room
would be very different people hadn’t you been a part of our lives. Be it about
cricket, politics, religion, science, mythology or just life in general, I
treasure each and every conversation I’ve had with you. They’ve played a major
role in defining my value system and how I perceive things. Even more though, I treasure the time I got
to spend with you while having those conversations. It’s only after staying in
Bangalore for such a long time, that I realized how much I valued those morning
and evening walks with you. And not just the walks, sitting with you and
verifying if all the medicines had been properly derived, listening to you
explain the finer points of the Gita to Ammau, you getting that tad bit
irritated when Ammuma’s nagging got a bit too much to handle, your frustration
with those never ending Malayalam TV serials…..… I miss them all. In a
nutshell, all I’m trying to say is that today I’m working in a respectable
company and earning a respectable income, I’ve also had a moderately successful
academic career, and to a large extent it’s because of you and you’re presence
in my life. But most of all I owe you for my principles. They definitely
wouldn’t be what they are if I didn’t have you to observe and learn from.
So Appupa, this is it.
My gift to you. It may not be much, but these are 888 words straight from the
heart. I won’t call them the best 888 words I’ve ever written but they’re
definitely the 888 most honest ones. Of these 886 of them are also though, the
most unnecessary ones that I’ve ever put on paper. That’s because everything
I’ve said and everything I’ve wanted to say but somehow couldn’t, can all be
summed up by the first two words you read.
I love you.
Oh, and a happy belated
birthday!!
-Hari
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