It was his dream and emphasis that we all get well versed in English,
so I thought it’s just apt to write his first year celebration speech in the
language which he loved and had immense command over. Pardon me if I am not
able to convey my feelings in certain sections of this speech, but those are my
short comings, and I shall continue to improve.
First of all, its celebration and not sorrow, for he was a man of
celebrations. He would greet you loud, he would hug you tight and he will never
let you step out of his house without having food with him. Least was some tea
and snacks, if nothing else, then at-least milk. So, all those of you who
thought that this speech will be about how dearly we miss him and feel sad, I
would like to apologize to you all, for even though we miss him dearly and miss
him every single day of our lives, but that's because we celebrate him, we
celebrate his achievements and we celebrate the respect that he earned in every
moment of our lives.
Here I begin...
This is a special day for us, for the world it might still appear to be
the same but for one man and his family, it shall never be the same. The sun
shall rise again and go down, the day will eventually get over and the world
shall move on, for the world has moved on since 28th Oct 2011, but I believe
for us, some part of us has been left behind.
It was this day in the yr 2011 that my Grandfather left us for the
heavenly abode. It’s been a year since then, lots have happened in our lives.
My Mother and father have retired from their glorious and respected careers, my
brother and his wife moved on in life to newer heights, my sister and her
husband relocated from one country to another. I have relocated to USA, etc.
But one thing remains same, and I realized this when Nidhi told me about it.
The room in the house shall always remain as it was a year ago. We will always
feel Baba's presence in that room. The room shall eternally be his. For in that
room we always feel he is around us, taking those deep breaths with a smile on
his face.
Baba had charisma of the Gods, until he lived and beyond he had
impeccable command for respect on the people around him, he was certainly the
best man who achieved what most of us dare to dream. Even though there are some
lesser mortals who would always make fun of him, but trust me, all those who
mocked him shared one thing in common, they were underachievers and nowhere
close to his personality. He would just smile and brush aside bad things said
about him. He would always say, keep your focus in life and keep moving on the
path to glory. He was someone who has a real story from "rags to
riches". His legacy is a legacy of tremendous effort, true respect and
devotion to Almighty.
I am sure, by now you'd guess, my grandfather has huge impact on my
personality. Whether or not I am an achiever, I still try to think what would
he do in this situation and every time I fall, I get up again and start for it,
for I have to face him some day and I can't tell him that I didn't try. I have
always enjoyed his love and affection, I believe now is the time to show the
world that his legacy is something that shall continue.
His family is striving too; together we all are trying to take his
achievements to next level. He got us out from that small village, it was our
responsibility to ensure that the third generation feels less deprived and the
next one feels no less than the world. He laid emphasis on education, here we
are, and his grandsons are all studying and working at good levels. By Gods grace
and his blessings we will take his name forward.
As I see it, this seems to be bad luck of few of my younger brothers
and sisters not to have spent as much time with him as we got a chance to do.
Cheenu and I were most lucky to have spent good amount of time with him and
around him. Even though, I would confess, as a child I used to be irritated at
his constant push but I also remember he would always say it, "Tunnu
bhaiya ji, you'd realize the importance of it one day". It’s just sad that
while I realize it now, he is not there for me to confess.
On his personality, I can remember few things very clearly. He had once
said, "I am a person who only has friends, I have no enemies, no one
dislikes me", well while that appeared to me more as a self obsession than
an actual claim, but very soon I realized how small I am, how little is my
thought process, for I lived in that moment, while he was talking of a life
span. How celebrated he was, as a personality, we came to know from his friends
when he was gone. Such is our bad luck that we couldn't hear it when he was
around, to see that "winner's" smile on him. On the third day of his
departure his best friend and my maternal grandfather spoke for him, he told us
about him like we never knew our own grandfather. He told us that if we
personify perseverance, dedication, and affection, it will be not enough to
showcase my grandfather's personality. He went on and on for more than 30 mins,
until my uncle had to walk up to him to stop him, neither the speaker nor the
listeners were in any mood to stop the celebration, but it was important for
the time keeper.
Personally, I will never forget that sight of him being dressed up for
his final walk to meet the Lords up in heaven. I will never forget the sight of
his motionless body, his smiles while everyone around him was crying out loud,
very true to the words: -
Aap aaye jagat mein, sab hanse aap roye
aisi karni kar chalein, aap hanse jag roye!
Baba, we love you and miss you dearly. We are here in USA, far away
from the place where we laid you to rest. I wish I was there, I promise to keep
your legacy alive and I promise to keep this day and date special in my life
for you were very special to me, and to us. May you be with Gods in heaven and
may you always be smiling.
Regards
