Baba!

He turned 65 today. Another year, another milestone! What has changed in the year? Practically nothing inside him, but quite a bit inside me - most of which has come from observing him .

He continues to fascinate me with the way he continues to accept our ideas, not necessarily agreeable to him. Even when he does not agree with an idea, he never rejects it outright. He thinks about it, registers any apprehensions mildly and gives a "go ahead" to execute it. This ensures that we think freely and yet not leave our touch with reality. It must be really difficult not to be stubborn about thoughts matured over a span of decades and further, to be ready to scrutinize and fine tune them. He manages to do so easily.

He becomes an important part of every person's life who comes close to him, and he does not deliberately strive to. it's just the way he works - in a meticulously ordered and disciplined manner - that makes one depend on him. Testimony to this is the fact that he handles a lot of stuff for us children, which we would otherwise be running from pillar to post to get done. That remains to be taken over from him, if possible, along with the discipline he handles the stuff with.

The most interesting thing which I think I have noted only in the last year is the way he reprimands someone. It just shows how much he loves people close to him and how much he hates the act of reprimanding them. It was quite a feat that I managed to evoke the act at least 3 - 4 times last year. I saw the pain he goes through, each time. It was probably more than that I felt by being at the receiving end. It was audible in the tone, visible in the expressions on his face.

I have to do much better this year - and in the years to follow - to avoid these instances.