Dad, Cricket and Beer

It has been a couple of weeks since my father has been admitted to hospital and finally we have the news that he is likely to be discharged tomorrow. He called me up a few minutes back and while he appeared recovered, he also sounded weak. After kindly enquiring about my wellbeing as only fathers can he came back with the question, “What is the score?” He wanted to know the score in the ongoing second test match between India and South Africa. I could not but marvel that even while in hospital his appetite and enthusiasm for cricket remained undimmed.

This took me back to the magic year of 2003 when India under Soured Ganguly’s captaincy made it to the world cup final in South Africa. I had been married for only a few months at that point and when my wife returned from work she opened the refrigerator only to find a few bottles of beer. This was sacrilege. The pre-wedding script that had been given to her was that I was a teetotaler. She suddenly began doubting whether the Tamil Brahmin she had got married to recently was all that he had been portrayed to be. It was my mother who put her on the right track. It was not me but my dad who had ordered the beer to celebrate India’s march to the semifinals. This of course restored my wife’s confidence in me. My dad of course had one more bottle of beer when India made it to the finals. I suspect he had one when India lost the finals –this of course was downed in sorrow while the other two had been washed down with joy.

This is not to say that my father is prone to drinking. Indeed the only other time I remember him having a glass of beer was after my brother’s engagement in 1996 that too when some relatives wanted to celebrate. At the bar, we ran into some of my close friends and we all celebrated the moment together. I have to concede that a glass of beer did bridge the generation gap on that day. To this day my friends cannot get over the fact that a man well past 60 years joined guys less than half his age for a drink.

Well, all I can say is that he has been a great father and really I have no complaints where he is concerned. In short, welcome home again dad.