Thursday, May 1, 2014

My role Model: My father

Dr. K. Kunhikannan


I still remember the warmth of his shoulders on those sleepless and feverish nights.
I still remember the cool breeze that came from his handheld newspaper-fan that worked non-stop, on those days of long power-cuts, which made me sleep.
I still remember the security his presence gave, when nature played havoc and threatened my world with thunder, lightning and storm.


Memories of those long trips on his two-wheeler, when he slowed down to point out little things of interest, those moonlight walks in the neighborhood and those repeated bedtime stories told while half-asleep, make me weep. The enormity of my loss wrings my heart.

He was a complete man- my father. A great father, a wonderful grandpa, a loving husband, a doting brother and son, everyone looked forward to meet him. Many worn-out souls found solace in his wisdom, courage and love. He went out of the way to help those in need. No one left empty- handed from our house.

He was a self-made man. After losing his father at a tender age of fourteen, he learnt to care for his family, worked to earn a living and fought with the harsh fate to fulfill his dreams of becoming a doctor. He became a doctor who was the boon to our village and cared for his patients like his own family. Very often, the bell will ring in the middle of the night and my father will set out to see his patients unmindful of the hour or the distance. For many of the lower strata of the society, he was God himself. He refused to accept money for his services from the poor.

He was a celebrated footballer during his youth, having won many local tournaments for his home team. Every year, the local football tournament was incomplete without his presence. They still remember their ‘Kannettan’ who helped them and encouraged them to keep the sport alive. I remember how he had raised his voice when the near-by temple had plans to acquire the public playground for their activities. He had joined the protesters to retain the lone playground for the football enthusiasts.

He was dedicated to the field of medicine and refused to bow to the greed that was popularized by cunning medical representatives. He remained the pure classical homeopath until the end of his life.
He was an inspiration for all of us kids. We all wanted to grow up and be like him. Respected, loved and cherished by all.
With my son

He was the one who took me to the magical world of books. He would give me extra pocket money every time I left on a trip because he knew I would happen to locate a bookshop wherever I went and then would crave to buy that one book which had caught my eye.

Though he left for the world of unknown three years ago, I feel his presence and receive his blessings in everything good that I do.

He taught me to be helpful to others, to find the positive side of things and to be grateful for the little things that bring happiness.

Read more about him here.

This ad by another one of my male idols soothes my soul.









Attempting a translation for non-Hindi speakers…

Moms and Dads never leave..,
You think they have gone,
but they never leave.

You can find them sometimes in the smile on your lips,
Sometimes in your walking style.
At times you can see them on the nose of your son.
If not, you may find them hiding in the eyes of your son’s daughter.

Sometimes, they startle you…
when you find yourself voicing their words from a long time ago.
You can feel their presence in those lullabies you don’t even remember..
You can sense them in your hesitation when you utter a lie…

Have you ever thought why you shake your legs while you relax?

Gullu, Babli Pinky…Whatever is the name of your love, you feel their presence in them.

In a painting,
In a date,
In your inner fire…

Look carefully,
It is a long chain, quite an old one,
You are one of the links…

They existed before you and will remain after you leave …
Because, Moms and Dads never leave.
They remain here, for centuries…

Yes…Fathers and Mothers of the world never go anywhere,
They remain here till eternity.

I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with BlogAdda.com.


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11 comments:

  1. Beautiful dedication to your father... while there are many 'namesake' fathers, in the world outside, we are blessed to have fathers who enlighten our lives by the way they lead their lives.. Your dad, up in heaven will be pleased to see your dedication :)

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    1. Thank you for the kind words Shanmuga Priya Raj Kumar..

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  2. Beautiful dedication to your father... while there are many 'namesake' fathers, in the world outside, we are blessed to have fathers who enlighten our lives by the way they lead their lives.. Your dad, up in heaven will be pleased to see your dedication :)

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  3. Hello Preethi, This is a beautiful tribute to your father filled with warm precious memories. I have nominated you for the Liebster Award. Please see my link for further details, and copy/paste the badge to your blog. Michelle

    http://writer-way.blogspot.com/2014/05/liebster-nominations.html

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    1. Thank you Michelle for the honour..Off to see your post...

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  4. This is such heart-felt writing, Preethi. Thank you for sharing all this about your father, your role-model. Such love pours out of your words, a beautiful dedication indeed.

    Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal

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  5. A wonderfully written tribute to your father...up in the Heaven , he must be very proud of you...

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  6. I am daddy's girl ... your post reminded me of the difficult days me and my dad have gone through.. he is my friend, my guru, my role model, my god, my mother.. he is my everything... he is also a self made man and I am so proud of him.. he is funny, smart and emotional.. even today the only agenda in his life is to keep me happy... girls always have a special spot for fathers... very nice post. have gone all emotional i guess :)

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  7. That is such a thoughtful and heart warming post! Loved the poetry as well :)

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  8. :) Heartwarming one and you are so blessed lucky soul... It soothes someone like me, I miss a lot from my father which I long that he could be to me as a supportive friend, but he is what he is and let me face everything alone. That's how he lived his childhood so he may want me to go through the same? May be. But his case was different, last among 6 kids, his parents passed away at his 12 or 13. Then he was a lone fighter in his life. So I can understand him, why he is like this; better than he can understand me and my longing for a friendly daddy. Whatever, I do take inspiration from his life though, he is not like what I wish him to be to me :) Sorry, I went so emotional... Your words brought out this from me Chechi..

    Good one.

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  9. It is such a painful thing that someone very close to you leaves... and if someone can be loved so much by all, how can they die? They live for ever! Preethi, every word in this post has a special value as it is written for a great person!

    Almost a month I couldn't read your post! In fact, I am thinking, I missed all my favourite blogs and it is like I have lost a month!

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