My daddy strongest!

Yesterday:
Scene: At Vaayu lounge, two absolut shots and a beer mug down.
“Hey molu, what are you doing?”
“Hi Acha, just came to a restaurant.”
“At 6?, why so early or late?”
“Having a late lunch”
“Why didn’t you have lunch, why don’t you have any thing on time..?”
“achaa…just had a late breakfast”
“What are you eating?”
“Err…(peanut masala?) just ordered a sandwich ( thank god for baristas)
“Who are you with?”
“I am with a person I met at that StartingBloc dinner I had told you about?”
"Person?"
"YES!"
“Alone?”
“Yes acha…”
“Hmm..(read hmph)…bye take care”
Acha is worried now…6 pm, at a restaurant with a stranger. He is sure I am not filling my stomach, he is worried for my liver and heart.

Lets rewind: 6 months back. Just landed in Bangalore, with a new meager paying job.
“Hi molu, how are you?”
“I am fine acha..”
“You sound very low or tired..what is it?”
“I am just tired…”
“Did you have dinner?”
“Yeah had a kathi roll at the food court?”
“Did you have chyavan praash?”
“yes.”
“Yes? Don’t lie..”
“Have bananas, they are loaded in potassium”
“Acha why do you have to call and only give instructions?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like why cant we keep instructions to 3 days and the remaining 4 days why cant we just talk”
“Because you don’t listen to anything and you don’t take care of yourself!”
“But can we try this?”
“Hmm..do you go to the gym?”
“I try to…
“I told you then itself do yoga at home, you wont go.”
“Acha…!!”
“Did you buy fruits, do you drink milk often?”
I am just wondering why I even brought up the point of limiting instructions to MWF and have a conversational TThS!
The monologue went on for 20 mins that day.

The chyavanpraash is not over yet!

Rewind: First year at college.
“Acha, I just tried alcohol”
“How many times will you Try it?”
“I like it.”
“WHAT?”
There is a drowning out of the Mumbai traffic..suddenly all I can hear is him.
“I don’t get addicted so don’t worry, but I like it.”
“Promise me you wont touch it again”
“I am 21…why would I do that?”
He is livid. Mom jumps in to keep the rickshaw from toppling..
“let it be…just calm down”
“Did you hear what she said?”

A spat ensued..I didn’t want to make false promises. My dad just wanted me to be a presentable Indian daughter and his angel.

Further rewind 6 years back

“Who are you chatting with?
“Many people…
“Why did you minimize the screen then?”
“there were too many anyway”
“But you minimized just one, don’t lie to me”
“Acha (I cant even ask him to read my chats because that would mean being grounded after he saw the sweet nothings to my first love)
“why do you always close your door?”
“Because I like it…!”
“What is this a PG?”
“AChaaaa..!!!”
He storms off….
What is with his timing…how does he just know when HE logged in!


“Why do you make such a face when you see Arjun?”
“I don’t…
“Acha you act so strange and scary when he is around, he is terrified of you!!!”
“What is this about?
“Why cant you just like my friends!!! This is so embarrassing…amma , you should see acha talk to arjun…what is this..why don’t you like him? (LIKE DUH…my daughters first boyfriend…why, I would love to adopt him!)
“Pinky don’t raise your voice!”
“I am not…but why cant you just be nice to him!”

A major spat ensued…I knew why he was so 'De Niro'-ish..but I was embarrassed..my then-boyfriend was terrified and too scared to come anywhere within a 5 km radius of my fortress…my dad transformed into a gruff looking monosyllabic person who just looked the trembling guy up and down.
I took my basketball and dribbled for 3 hours till he called me back and kissed me on my forehead. He still never broke the unapproachable keep away from my daughter exterior when he met arjun again.

Arjun is gone. Heart break. My dad,I guess never wanted that to ever happen. Health is non existent with work timings…Liver is not in the best of conditions.Safety is a concern with the happenings that occur daily in metros and the outsourcing business.

It must be so difficult to be a dad, and so much more to be mine. But he tries his level best to make sure I am doing alright,in his own disciplinarian,purely instructional and sometimes defenseless way which melts my heart and makes me choke.

I miss my dad today.

Phone rings.
Daddy Cool calling.
In my contact list, he gets to be the coolest person.
In my life he is my guardian angel with horns of course.