Not an epitaph or eulogy, but a daughter’s contemplation

Baba, I know you can hear me way up in Heaven

Because we talk through our hearts

If memories could build a stairway,

I would walk right up to Heaven and bring you back again

If time exists in Heaven,

Do you still rise at 5 am sharp?

Do you still take walks along heaven’s lawn?

Does the morning cup of tea made by the angels there help you quench your thirst?

Or do you miss the morning tea made by me?

Is music all around you,

All those songs you held so dear?

I am sure God knows

The special father you had been

And how I wish that you were here

To guide my way again

I can’t believe its been two years

It feels like it was only yesterday when I fed you not so round chapatis for breakfast

And you savored them with utmost love, although they tasted terrible

Baba, I remember all the good times we had together

Those drives around the city playing your favorite Jayanta Hazarika songs

Those cricket matches we watched together with a bowl full of snacks

Those pep talks you used to give me when low self-esteem hit me

Those never going to sleep without wishing me “ Good Night” and asking me to not stay up late to study

Maa often tells me I am just like you

I am honored beyond measure if that is true

I never told you enough, how proud I am to be called your daughter

You gave me much more than a name

I know you want me to mourn for you no more

I know you’re by my side

In laughter and sorrow

In sunshine and rain

I know you are the one who picks me up

When my path is beaten down

Baba, I want you to know

Even though your body isn’t on this earth

But your soul will always glow.

(In loving memory of my Father on his birthday)