Bapi

I know him from the knobby fingers
That held mine as I jumped onto
The train to my nanihaal

A child who wondered
How trains switched tracks
I know him from the answers that he etched in my mind

I know him from the dentures
That rested at night in a transparent plastic box
And the way he would fiddle with it
If only just to scare us

The books that I grabbed from his library
And the ones he brought to my lap
His admiration for the queen riding her horse
And how he would call her Razia Sultana
I know him as the first feminist I knew
Raising daughters in a world ruled by men
To be free as the breeze
To be fierce as the winds
I know him from the scorns he faced so his daughters could fly

The letters he wrote to his Sonamoni
And his affection that bled through the inland
I know him from the wax stamps
And his steadily working hands

I know him from the evenings in Patna
When he'd sit us all on the porch
And make us sing Billy Boy
While he would sing along too

We have it on our fingertips
His favourite old hindi tunes
I know him from the time he made us
Sing them to him on a train

I know him from the toothache
And the dentist's scary chair
I know him from the rickshaw ride
And the colourful resham threads
I know from the earrings for Nani
He bought for indulging his grandkid

The fragrance of the meals he made
The morsels of blessed days
The brick barbeque he invented for us
And the happiness on his face
I know him from the photograph
That captured his brilliant grin
A bit of spices, a lot of love
And a box of mirthful din

How can you measure a man
Who lived a life so full
Who laughed and sang and loved
His own and others akin
Who gave more than he ever got
And yet, would never call out a sin

I know him from the journals
He wrote at two-thirty at night
I know him from the dishes he loved
I know him from the fights
I know him from his fondness
For his sweetheart Nargis
I know him from the incessant nagging
If you were to catch a train
I know him from the endless stories
Of Babuji and Ma
I know him from his love
For his ideas of British India
I know him from the sweater I wear
I know him from his touch
I know him from the midnight calls
To know if I'd had my lunch

He is just the one I had
And what a grand one at that
Smiling at us from above the clouds
With his favourite things in his hands
Reveling in all the love we send his way
Sending more to us, everyday

I know him from the happy face
I can still see in my eyes
I know him as the grandfather
One couldn't dream of in lives