A Letter To My Parents
On their 25th Wedding Anniversary
He is a man of black and white. And she is colour. All the colour he had.¹
Hello People
Namaste, this is Vedaant R Lathi, the second and favorite child of this lovely couple still young and in love: the most important people of the day and (I request you to listen to me for some minutes) they have managed to tolerate me for about 20 years you should try listening to me for a few minutes and learn their pain.
It is rare to get this kind of opportunity to be able to express your feelings to your parents, so yeah I’m lucky to do this. I honestly need you two to listen to every word carefully and understand the depth of what I am saying cause let me tell you I have spent a lot of time writing this little letter to you, Mummy and Papa. I bet Papa has never heard a single one of my many speeches so well this is a good chance to force him to sit tight in his seat and listen.
Today, 21st November 2021 marks the celebration of your 25 years of togetherness, joy, and sorrow. you have completed 25 years of your life in this social institution called marriage, you have completed one-fourth of a century on this planet in this institution of marriage & it is a humongous deal and usse badi baat hai ki (a bigger deal than that is) they have done this while raising someone like my sister. So a big round of applause for them, it must have been so difficult and I am not kidding!
We have seen you grow as people as individuals and improve as parents…you know looking at you two, at times I feel afraid and unsettled at times, I keep wondering if I can ever be such a good parent to my kids, I am very selfish.
Parenting is just one aspect of your life, so let’s talk about your individuality, which you never let go of. So instead of one role, you played as parents that should not be in the spotlight but “You” should be.
Most people lose their individuality in a marriage, they forget themselves.
You never lost your ‘you’ in your ‘we’.
Mom and Dad, you married each other pretty young at the age of 21 and 24 respectively. So basically you started your adult life together, kind of a baal vivaah (Child Marriage).
I’m trying to be objective and not see you as mom and dad but as people, I have known all of my life!
Dad:
You’re so charming! Starting with one, you are very lucky to have a wife like her in your life, ask anyone; I’m not saying she isn’t but you are lucky. You’re a gem of a person, you don’t just have a pure heart or clean conscience but you are a pure soul altogether. It is an absolute mystery how you have managed to hold on to your innocence in this cunning, competitive, and selfish world.
You derive your joy in making other people happy and are always there to help people. You’re an amazing friend, one I can only wish for. Let me tell you, I look up to you every day, the discipline you command in yourself and your ability to work relentlessly is something that I am absolutely very jealous of. Your interest in learning new things, every day, you have a curiosity of a child, that’s so inspiring. You never once forced or asked anything of me, you just let me be, you gave me my space always. I still remember I was very nervous for one exam, I was literally about to break & you told me that you didn’t care if I even failed the exams and you meant it, unlike mom. You are a satyug human being and the ‘kind of child of your parents’ that I can only dream of becoming. Dadaji and Dadiji (paternal grandfather and grandmother) are so very lucky to have a kid like you, you’re like Shravan Kumar reborn. You try your best to not showcase your love for Mom but it just doesn’t stay hidden, it just reveals itself.
Mom:
Your one smile sets my day straight, you’re so beautiful inside and out, precisely what we call beauty with brains. The amount of potential you have gives me shivers from top to bottom, I get goosebumps. You’re the strongest and most courageous person I know on this planet, the difficulties and hardships you’ve faced in your life at a very early age and how you’ve come out of them is just wow. Losing Nanaji (maternal grandfather) at the age of 5 and then Naniji (maternal grandmother) when I was 4, the way you have kept your pieces of heart glued for us is beyond my understanding.
I know that you remember them every day, even today you must wish so badly for them to be here with you and let me tell you they are, they have always been, and are so proud, so very proud to see the kind of woman you have become and are still becoming, the way you’ve undertaken this journey of life with so much bravery and strength, Nanaji has his chest swollen with pride and Naniji is so happy, I can’t even tell you, yes she is crying, crying out of happiness. They are happy to see their eldest daughter and their amazing jawai (son-in-law) who keeps their daughter like the queen she is and the beautiful marriage you’ve.
Your intelligence and the enthusiasm to always keep on going is something that blows my mind. I truly wish I inherited a bit more of your intelligence, I would be at different heights altogether. Yes, You were very short-tempered, and impulsive during your early years, but that okay, you were young and just figuring out life with everything going on.
Mom & Dad:
Now, let’s talk about both of you; you’re not an ideal couple but yet the one that I draw my inspiration from. One thing that I really admire is that ever since the beginning the transparency amongst us, you always respected my opinions and inputs even as a kid.
The kind of relationship you have is just amazing. They say a good relationship is supposed to be like a bow and arrow, one needs to bend to let the other one get ahead. And that’s what you have done, launched each other time and again.
Oh man, you guys fought! Damn you still fight and have fought so well, it’s good entertainment and a bond strengthening exercise for you two, so I’m looking to more heated discussions here onwards! Like it was fun to witness it. But the thing is now both of you know how to deal with each other and there’s a lot less drama, so come up with something new!
Both of you are very strongly opinionated and you have had a fair share of debates and nok jkhoks (cute clashes) but you have always respected each other’s opinions and points of view.
You have completed 25 years of your marriage and there are only more years to come.
Thank you so much for everything you have ever done for me and my sister, every parent sacrifices a lot for their children but…you have given all of you to us that rarely happens.
You’ve fulfilled every wish of ours and always been a rock of support, do forgive us and always keep showering your blessing onto us, we are nothing, absolutely nothing without you, we owe you everything (the good parts only) and we need your blessings to grow and we need them immensely.
I feel guilty at times like you have held yourself back for me and my sister; you both had countless opportunities and more chances at happiness but you always gave them up for us, which is not fair to you and simply wrong. Starting now, keep yourself above us, put yourself first and stop being so selfless.
What you have done for us, despite both of us trying our very best I don’t think we’ll be able to match up with even a bit of it.
I tried so much to not make this speech a thank you one (full of gratitude) but also some flaws to make it real but I couldn’t find many.
I know this speech is nothing compared to what you had to tolerate & go through, for me; but this is the least I can do to try to make you smile.
Mummy, Papa can’t live without you for even a single day, he’s not dependent on you but he just wants you not far from his sights, his love for you is boundless. And of course nor can you, I don’t know what your souls are made of, but mummy and papa, I’m sure your souls are made from the same². I know too corny but true!
Mom,
All that you’re is all that he’ll ever need and has needed.
I close my eyes, I can see a great new world waiting for you as you march onto your 26th Year in marriage!
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