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My Father, My Inspiration, My Idol

Inara Sunan Tareque

“Good Morning!” Those were the first two words that came flying to my ears every morning, as soon as I opened my eyes. He uttered those words in his deep jovial voice with great enthusiasm. I witnessed his vibrant face, glowing like the brightest star in the night sky. His lips, curved in a buoyant smile, his eyes, as lively as ever, and his face, which did not bare even a tinge of discontentment at anything. I always discerned warmth in his former wish. It seems as though it had been his sole intention to make each and every morning of my life a pleasant one.

“Good Morning,” I used to chirp in a sleepy, yet cheerful tone. I always have a cup of milk, and egg as breakfast. Sometimes, I feel a strong aversion to eggs, and loathe eating them. During those periods, I simply gulp a glass of milk and pray for the left-over egg to remain unnoticed. But alas! I could not escape Father's eyes. He either succeeded in diminishing my sudden feeling of hatred towards eggs, or in extreme cases, he forced me to gobble that horrendous thing. Gosh! I used to get so annoyed. In this way, every morning of my life commenced with “Good Morning” wishes, milk and eggs, regardless of whether I despised eggs or not.

Since 29th May 2010, I have spent most of my mornings at home, because my debilitating O levels Exams ended on the 28th. Most of the classes of Father, who was a professor of French language in Institute of Modern Languages (IML) of Dhaka University, were around 5:30pm. Hence, since then, he spent the mornings of his virtuous life with me. For one thing, Father loved to stay at home, and spend time with us. Maybe that is the sole reason which explains as to why he always brought home all the documents which he had to translate. He knew 14 languages. So every day, he brought stacks of documents, which he translated wholeheartedly, with great enthusiasm. He had written and translated numerous books as well.

I have never seen a person who enjoyed studying so much. Father loved to garner knowledge from wherever possible, be it a cerebral book, or simply an amusing trivial fact given by me. He loved to keep himself indulged in a sea of knowledge. He was like a living encyclopedia. I have never heard him answer “I don't know,” to anyone, asking any question. He had answers to every question. Father got overwhelmed by feelings of joy whenever someone wanted to know something from him.

I remember that just a few day back, Father came up to me with a beatific smile on his face. “I'll be taking an Italian course in our institute from next month,” he informed joyfully.

“Wow, that's amazing! But why Italian? Aren't you supposed to teach French?” I replied.

“No,” he said, “apparently, teachers who can teach Italian are not available in IML; and some Bangladeshi nurses will be going to Italy soon. Hence, I would be teaching them.”

From that day onwards, he started preparing a book for his future students. He actually started translating to Italian the book that he used for teaching French. He photocopied the French book, so that he could cut out images from the copy and paste them on the book that he was preparing. This shows his devotion to his work. In fact he worked on the book even on the very day that he passed away.

He left us on 29th June 2010, just the day before his birthday. All I can say is that life is very uncertain; you never know what the future beholds. My heart was void the day he left us; and I felt as though someone has ripped my heart apart. The reality seemed to be too harsh to be true. But slowly I realized that this is life. We have to face the ups and downs of life with fortitude. I will try to walk though the rugged roads of life with a smile on my face, and appreciate the good things that it offers. Although Father is not physically existent anymore, I do feel his presence all the time. He is indeed in a much better place now, watching me from the top. Evidently, death has not parted us. It has brought us even closer. Now, he will be able to watch every step that I take and be my spiritual guide. I believe that I will inevitably see his vibrant face again, in the afterlife.

(Student of United World College of Hong Kong)