A pair of weary eyes...
An anticipating heart...
A man who was miles away from his home, country and people...
A night at Karachi that didn't seem to go on itself...
He strolled the deck at midnight. His anxiety had caused him to crave for a smoke, but rules and norms stopped him. He twisted his lips. He hadn't been able to sleep, thoughts of people, his wife merged his mind and didn't allow him to slip into slumber. It wasn't any unusual thing that he was miles away from home. His job at the navy kept him away from home for months together. Yet he never felt this way as he felt today...he was waiting...he was anxious. This anxious heart was not of a son or a husband...but of a would-be father, who was miles apart while better half was being blessed with what would complete their life.
"You have got a daughter ... she looks exactly like you" - his heart conceived peace. He knew he could never express the profound joy...and how he wanted to run faster and fastest just to lay eyes on what was 'his' , someone whom he had brought into the world.
His world...his daughter...
The first time he saw her, he dazzled. He was scared to hold her, but his eagerness to wrap her up in his arms soon did away with the fear. He looked into her deep black eyes and uttered, "Hey girl! Its me your Dad!". The little one smiled as though she'd communicate like she had with no other. he held her close to his chest and made a promise, a promise every father makes to his daughter.
The moment he lay his eyes upon her he knew he'd never love anyone more that he loved her that moment. He knew he'd never feel the rush of bloods in his hands the similar way, as when he he held her for the first time.
He had her...he had it all
She completed him inside and outside.
His job yet kept him away from home and her for longer periods. He wished just to sit by and watch her grow. He had been there for her first birthday. He had run like never before to order her first birthday cake, first party dress, first invitations, first birthday balloons, first year of her life. She beamed in a glittering green frock, dancing and walking away with a pride he felt in her eyes. "His Daughter".
Time flies by at a speed we dare not take notice. 1, 2, 3., 4.................23. Twenty three years just flew by hi, watching her grow. The process did seem that long...yet to him it was like yesterday. On the way he found her and knew her like he had known no one. The way she she cried when she was in pain, the way she threw tantrums when she wanted something, the way she came to him when she was hurt, the way she resembled him, his manners, his nature - he'd realise she was HIM. He knew he have no other...so he never had another child.
His life rested and revolved around her. It was her presence that made him quit his lucrative career and made him settle offshore. He would do anything and everything to see that tiny curved smile when he brought home her first watch when she passed her fifth grade, her first cycle, her first cell phone and new ones henceforth each year. He loved fighting with her. Their arguements and accusations lasted and till date they have not reclined nor they will. When she left home for futher studies, the silence at home killed him. He missed her. He fought constantly with himself and his wife for letting her go so far. He knew she wouldnt come back once she'd flown out of the nest.
He wanted to gobble up these 23 years and capture them in his fist. He wanted to lock her up in her room so that she would never have to face the ugly world outside. Yet he let her fly because once he was her age. He knew her complications.With a lump in his heart, he had decided to let her free . Those initial years while she stayed away from him
he wanted her to come back, and come back she did!
A cold morning at Howrah station...
A middle aged couple standing outside thier car...
Two anticipating hearts...
This time the only difference - the bird had found her way back home.She was flying back to her nest...back to HIM.
