Happy B'day Son.. A Father's Greeting!

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“It’s not about being hero; it’s about doing right thing”... Super Hero Character, “Flash”.

Dear Rohan,

Chota, this has been taken from your whats-ap DP only & you know my affection for super hero’s very well! I always keep checking yours as well dada’s DP’s & status you keep as they give me idea of what’s going in your minds or at least I think so! And out of your DP’s only I chose this quote to write you on your nineteenth bday. I don’t know since when I have been writing to you on bday’s or any occasions as for me words are my best colors to make a greeting of my own! And then my father has never wrote anything to me though he is a good dad I must admit. And then in our genre talking or sharing something with dad is a rare thing & even I also failed to share your things especially when you were kids. Now you are grown up by years as tomorrow you will be celebrating your 19^th bday; I don’t even remember my 19^th bday as I was already at job at that age with dsk group. As we do use to celebrate our bday’s with friends but budget was limited & yet fun was unlimited. Frankly I wonder about what your genre call as celebration as what’s fun when you have got everything you wish; real fun is not having what you wish & then you achieve it with your efforts, I think that’s what your genre lack. Have you ever realized that your one shopping session at Phoenix under the name of bday is nearly equal to budget of an average family’s entire month’s expense! No harm in spending for personal pleasure, just we should also try to do something for those who haven’t got anything, this is what I say growing up is & not just celebrating bdays! You have to earn your spending too is what I feel & to earn means right to spend, not just having bank balance which comes to most by luck!

Chota I have never compared what I was at your age with you or dada neither expected you to do same things I did as the way we grew up there is sea difference in the background. By grace of god we also were lucky to get what we want but then our needs were very less & our surroundings was with less exposure to what outer world has. In your genre biggest challenge is keeping away from comparison & comparison is good but when it’s about performing better & not just possessing some pair of shoes or branded goods. I am yet to understand whether you are luckier than me or not, especially on this front; as you have everything at the age of which I was envious with my college fiends for having such possessions especially after coming to Pune! Today you will be getting your own SUV & sure there will be many having their own SUV at your age but then there are far more numbers of those who don’t even owns good pair of shoes at your age leaves apart an SUV, this you should understand! And it’s this not having something which I never took as some lacuna of my life but created a burning desire of creating my own world & having what I wanted to have! FYI, I bought my Priya scooter at exactly age of yours for which I got loan from Kedar kaka’s parents for it which I repaid from my salary & some part aaji repaid from hers.

That’s why I will like to understand what your desire is, as you have everything on platter, but then your challenge is bigger than mine as it’s easy to perform on empty stomach but equally difficult to do so with stomach full. On you bday I wish always an empty stomach for you; one will wonder what kind of father I am who wish empty stomach for his son but what I meant is let the hunger be in you to perform more better way, as excellence has no limit! As if you read biography of all so called successful people, they might have been businessmen or sportsmen or even artist, one thing is common in all of them & that is the hunger to achieve better than what they done on yesterday! Each day they start as new challenge & that’s real fun to live the life. Agreed all these things at your age won’t come naturally unless you are a born genius, which very few of us are; but then growing up is knowing our own self too!

These are tough times for you & for everybody around as we often mix relations with ego. I may not be a good father up to your mark but whatever I have includes you, dada & aai & all I want is you making proud to yourself by doing right as your DP say. At the same time I am a good son this I can say with confidence & pride as I see it in eyes of aaji & aabba! They have never expected me to earn just money (which is important, no doubt) but more than that they expected me to walk on right path, right in their definition & which they tried to teach me when I was young. Today if whatever I have earned is important, then more important is what I am doing with it, may it be money or knowledge or even respect too! And for doing proud to yourself you need to understand what is right as then only you can decide your rightful path & the way for the same goes through good reading, good watching (movies, nature etc) & good company of friends only. Chota growing up is choosing good friends as many people will come in your life in different contexts, that’s not in your control but whom you continue to live with is what will decide what you become! That’s what growing up is!

Lastly growing up also mean to learn to make your own definition of life, as this is era of cut & paste & people do it right from words to pictures everything & in the process forgets the value of originality. Remember one thing there is difference between being similar & copying as your thoughts can be similar or matching with someone but up to until you have not copied them from someone, then no harm! And respect your originality as well respect others & for that you have to know the difference between copy & original & it can only be done by being original by yourself! These again come with thinking & like you learn or master any game with practice, thinking also needs practice, mind it always!

So go on my son, no more you are a kid or even a teen as you are leaving teen age today, do grow-up as a responsible man but keeping the teen always within, jumping, freaking & smiling! One last thing never face-off from your responsibilities may it be at work or at home or in friends, whatever may come as you may not need someone but someone needs you, mind that always! As your father I will always tell you, that it’s fine if you are not a loving or caring person but be a responsible man as eventually it teaches you everything, even to love!

Baba