My Father is my Inspiration

I know this is a pretty Cliché thinking and most people preemptively see their fathers as role models and inspiration. That is also the case with me I have seen him face the world for his family. Quite often people see celebrities or athletes as inspiration and I’m also inspired by them but I haven’t witnessed their day to day life as closely just seen their bright side on camera, never knowing what they went through in tough times. As for my Father I have seen him angry, happy and even crying (that I will explain later). I have had talks with my father regarding his life’s journey and we as a Father-Son relation are really close. I can open up to him regarding any situation and he has the best advice for me.

I was born into a family of Four, my Father, Mother and two older sisters. We were a happy and loving family, both my parents were very social and although in Saudi Arabia we didn’t have any relatives but their friend circle was really close with gatherings almost every other weekend. My Fathers was a Doctor and ever since I was a kid everyone told me that this was a noble profession saving lives. At home we were taught to respect our elders, be kind to others and never treat people indifferently. This was the case I witnessed on our day to day life, I have never witnessed my father be disgraceful towards a labor or driver he always tends to be kind to them because every hard earner is to be respected. You see manners and ethics is the difference between a respectable person and an uneducated one.

I remember as a child my Father usually had night shifts and when I would get ready for my Kindergarten he would enter the house and hug us (my sisters and I). Whenever he would pick up us from school and that wasn’t often we would get all excited because this meant we’re having lunch outside. The family would eat out together, I mean trips to Toys R Us was an adventure. I would usually get action figures while my Sisters would the usual Barbie stuff. I mean now that I look back, I think how even he afforded all our leisure’s. I remember once he went to Spain for a meeting and came with a 4ft teddy bear. The dude was bigger in size than me!

We were all happy and it never occurred to us that anything can go wrong. That is exactly what happened, my father got involved in an accident and unfortunately his right leg was fractured. This was really bad out of four bones connecting the lower leg three were fractured and eventually he was operated but couldn’t really recover fully. He had to permanently walk with a stick. With this tragedy diabetes also took its toll and his health deteriorated and he had to forcefully take retirement and we returned back to Pakistan. All this was going in his life but I never saw him frustrated at us and his attitude with us remained the same his love was immense for us.

I was in class 3 when we came back to Pakistan. We weren’t in a financial crisis or something and life went on, my fathers Will was really strong during these years and he wedded both my sisters.
Now after his retirement we have conversations about his journey, he had nothing at the start of his journey but now as he states “I have everything”. He was born in India and migrated to Pakistan with a bag of clothes, studied really hard and after very hard times he graduated to become a Doctor. He then married my mother and started his job in a village in Saudi Arabia, after many years he was given an opportunity to work in the Riyadh Airport clinic. The year I was born 1997 he claims this was a really lucky year, my father got a call from the Saudi kingdoms Royal clinic and he was on the medical team of king Fahad literally the king of a country. This is a story for another time, he said one thing to me “ I have lived in a one room house made out of clay with your mother and have lived in this house full of luxuries, no matter what happens always be humble because time changes and nothing is a constant”. These are words embedded within my Heart.

My Father has taught me everything in life the manners with which to treat others, never be arrogant in front on anyone, always be humble, don’t let greed change your attitude and the single most important thing is to earn respect from everyone money will come and go but respect is one thing that takes a lifetime to achieve and one moment to destroy. Even if I become half the man my father is that is satisfactory he is my inspiration.