My father

My father

I was sitting on the chair on the balcony of my 15th floor apartment watching the horizon of Lake Michigan and experiencing the view of the sun setting in to the deep lake. The burning red sun was vanishing in the blue lake, as it was quenching the thirst of the whole day, maybe my whole life.

It was my daily schedule to capture this marvelous scene into my heart through the eyes that have been experiencing this scene since I was only 10-year-old. I remember that my father practiced the same from our apartment at the seashore in Karachi (Pakistan). I can visualize the moments when his face expressed peace and relaxation, as if all the woes were drowning in the sea. When my childish brain compelled me to know about this daily routine. He smiled and replied that he gains energy for the new day and sinking my all worries in the depth of great sea. The eyes behind the golden glasses were always glittering as a star of the night sky, no matter if the circumstances turned out to be devastating. I never saw any frustration and hopelessness in the eyes of my loving father who was not only my friend but a confidant too.

To treat me as a friend was not an easy task for a 35-year-old father, but he managed well with his best sagacity and friendly attitude. I learned to play cricket from him though I broke the windows of our apartment and was never scolded by him. Whenever my mom complained about it, he smiles and softly admonishes me and asks me to play in a playground. When I passed my 5th grade exam, he bought a cricket bat and ball for me. He was also a very good cricketer in his age group and had a prominent position in our national team. He designed my schedule for studying for sleeping, and for practicing cricket.

Reading books was a hobby of his, which transferred on me, not as a hobby but as a quench for the thirst of knowledge. His small library was filled with books of different kinds of historic, arts, and cultural treasures of India. Every month, he not only increased of his collection but also gained knowledge for him. He lent me books for reading and after a couple of days he discussed with me about the book. The books were ...