Ship Leaving Harbor!

7^th Sept 17

“A Ship in Harbor Is Safe, But that Is Not What Ships Are Built For”… Grace Murray Hopper.

Dear Dada,

And who better than Hopper who was US Navy Rear Admiral can describe a ship & its purpose! Beta on this day when you will be leaving your Pune harbor I recited the above quote for thousand times in my mind. Exactly like a ship for 22 years your home was your harbor & you were safely anchored here though I knew one day this ship has to leave its harbor & so the day has arrived. I don’t know how my father has felt while I left my harbor at the age of 13 years but then with all credit to my earlier generation they always exposed us to troubled water a lot frequently than my genre did! I remember 12^th May 95 morning 9 am still very clearly on the porch of hospital in-front of sarasbaug ganpati temple. I remember your very look & frankly I was too young even to understand the responsibility on me by your arrival though with your growing up I too learnt it, may be a bit late.

I look back & like in title of Marvel Comics movies your various images flashes in-front of my eyes, not that I have given you much time but right from your two year old chubby figure in swing attached to our sahakarnagar kitchen door to your first day to symbiosis school in the uniform, taking you along with other kids to cartoon movies & still I remember your excited round face after seeing pack of salted cashew nuts & shouting “kharre kaju”! And then the time spent with you in taking your studies for ssc board exam taking away your fear for studies, the joy of you having your bike, so many images of you are & will always remain fresh in my mind. And then suddenly you have grown up, taller than me, working out in gym for six packs with a beard (which I never liked, let me be frank). I never realized that so much time has fled that the day has come when you will be going to explore the world by yourself. As till now I am used so much to have you around though not in-front of my eyes yet your presence, I knew it’s nearby & now you will be going miles away literally like we say in marathi “sata samudrapaar” i.e. beyond the seven oceans!

Dada I have been writing to you for years now & many a times I think to myself  does he needs any more my writings which is advise for you, but let me tell you, off late if you read my letters then it’s no more advise but sharing. As call its advice or teaching, all such stuff is ok till certain age but when your son grows up, all a father can do is share what he feels & let the son choose what & whether to take the sharing by his father. Yet as an father I feel happy to share as that gives me a joy which you will realize only when you will become father & then my father has never shared any such things with me when I grew as that wasn’t something my genre was used to & neither his.  And may be my sharing you will find bore as its same over & again, only with different words but then generations came & went but the definition of good & bad hasn’t changed is a fact. So whatever my sharing with you or chota is, it’s always to make you understand good & bad & stood by the good. You may find these words coming straight from some Disney movie but can’t help it as you know how much your father loves cartoon movies & the philosophy they carries. Dada, why I used to take you to cartoon movies is they are the best teachers to make you teach which no words of mine of no school would have taught you & that is terminologies like, good, bad, morals, values, fear, courage, friendship, family, duty, responsibility & how we can forget Master Shifu in Kung Fu Panda searching for Inner Peace! All above words are not mere terms or letters but all these gives meaning to the life. As remember your school or college will teach you knowledge  & will provide you a degree to earn what society calls success but unless you understand all above terms & their meaning you won’t be ever able to enjoy that success which your knowledge will give you.

Dada do you know what I have come with in this city named Pune at age of 16 years? Well I had with me three years of experience of staying away from home, a bag carrying hardly four sets of clothes, a pair of duplicate Adidas bought on footpath of Bombay, an alarm clock, a blanket, a mattress & a second hand Luna! And you know what we have now, yet all I will share is even this very day I haven’t forgot what I have come with here, in this city! I have never & will not ever compare my childhood or growing up with yours or chota, as I believe that each tree is born with its own destiny to grow. But never forget the taller you go up in sky & wider you spread above the ground, then simultaneously only if your roots go deeper in the soil, then & then only your tall spread can sustain any hurricane. And here your height is your six pack body, your acting career, you degree, getting opportunity to go to England for study, your all perks of being born in a fairly well placed family with pairs of shoes, watches, your own car & many such which millions of kids never even dreamt off. And then your roots are you understanding of responsibility of your height, the goodness you will always carry within as well your family & friends who will love you & care for you always.

That way you will be going for just one year & a year is very small time considering our life span but when it’s your loved one going away the same one year seems a lot more time, which will be so for us here. No more we can go out for dinner at your favorite joints nor the movies which you like to watch on first day of release & many small things which will seems very big when you won’t be around. But don’t forget you are going to a new country, new world & try to absorb as much you can as these will be the best times & entire your surrounding will be your teacher. You are going there as a boy & you will be coming back as a fine young man & do come with not just knowledge, education, degree, manners & etiquettes of western world but come with the attitude which has made them a better society than ours though not on all fronts. Take back what we lack & leave what doesn’t suits or fits in our definition of good as it’s not necessary that a developed society is perfect one too!

And last & most important take care of yourself as this is something which you have not been used to while your ship was harbored here for last 22 years. I will be happy to see you back in the harbor ready for sailing to new horizons, is all I can say, rest anything doesn’t matters much!

Love,

Aai, Rohan, Aaji, Abbu & Baba.