Those Wonderful Little Things !

Proud Father of a Loving Daughter !

Life truly is strange. Little things in life make a big difference to us and little kids often humble us. I am talking about my own kid. My most precious treasure that is my Daughter.

She is all of ten years old and is in Class VI. Her name is Samskruthy. The meaning of this word is civilization or culture. I had always kept this close to my heart and wanted to name my daughter Samskruthy.

I always yearned for a baby girl for myself even while I was a very young boy. When I was 21 or so, I decided to name her Samskruthy ! I married 5 years later and she came another year later. Ever since, my life and that of my wife has revolved around her.

I am a proud father because my child is a fairly nice kid and is reasonably good at studies. She also loves to sing and dance, like most of the kids. I have encouraged her to do what she loves. She is pretty famous with her friends, teachers and even my friends because of her nature, looks and talent.

I have thought of my daughter to be very lucky because she was ‘blessed’ with a doting father and a loving family. It never really struck me how much my little one loved me and what I meant to her. And then happened this ‘Little’ incident during our recent visit to Goa.

It was a family affair at Goa with a lot of people from my father’s family gathering for a function. Since we settled down in Kochi about a decade ago, our visits to my native place and to our family members have been rare and only for special occasions.

My little one was thoroughly enjoying the affection and adulation of people from my place. Everyone was talking about how cute and beautiful she has grown up into. Every adult was congratulating me for having a very obedient child.

And then there were the other children; the children of my cousins. One teen-aged boy whose name is Sreenivas aka Shinnu was the leader of the pack. There was Venkatraman aka Ajay, Anusree aka Ammunu and Kanthisree aka Tipny. Shinnu was very keen to play 'Big Brother' to my daughter because he rarely got a chance to do that due to the distance between our places.

We were staying in rooms attached to the Maha Lakshmi Temple at Ponda. We had to walk about three quarters of a kilometer to the canteen for the dinner. On our way, I was walking ahead of all. Shinnu was leading the kids a few paces behind me. They were chatting and were generally enjoying.

Shinnu suddenly asked my daughter, “Who is your favorite hero ?” I overheard my little one tell “Govind Raj Shenoy” This was absolutely unexpected for all of us around and it completely humbled me and Shinnu was absolutely surprised.

He came running to me and was ecstatic ! He was shouting jubilantly, “Govind Bappa it is so wonderful to hear Samskruthy. Simply superb ! I expected her to come up with answers like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Hritik Roshan. But what she told means 'My Father is my Hero' India will be a much better place with a father like you and a daughter like her !”

Now, isn’t it cute, touching, heartwarming, humbling, overwhelming and love-inspiring all at once ? I am writing this with a real lump-in-the-throat feeling.

I don’t know if India will be a better place with fathers like me, but it sure will be a wonderful place with daughters like HER ! I have learned a very precious lesson about love and affection and I shall remember and treasure this !

Dr. Pun-dit