By Shevlin
Sebastian
Photos: Joseph Sebastian; parents Joseph and Ritty; Anup Singh Rashtrawar and wife Madhu
September 17
was a momentous day in my father’s life. He had turned 90. Amazingly, he
still has black hair. There are two reasons for this: one is genetics and the
other is castor oil. So, for those of you who want black hair at an advanced
age, use castor oil for at least 40 years.
Meanwhile, like
all parents, my father, Joseph, had a profound influence on me. Like him, I get
up early, and make the bed, whenever possible.
In his spare
time, my businessman-father had been an editor of a social-service magazine, in
Kolkata. So, from my childhood, I have seen him edit matter and type his
articles on the typewriter. I am doing both, although, instead of the
typewriter, I use a laptop.
At age 90, he pays his own electricity, telephone, water, food,
and newspaper bills. He has never depended on the government for pension or
help. He is a self-made
man, as well as a liberal.
When I wanted to be a journalist, he never insisted
that I should become a doctor or an engineer. As a result, I have spent the
past 30 years doing a job I love.
But there is one aspect of my father which I have never
absorbed: his passion to help the poor and the downtrodden. The few times I
went into a slum, at Kolkata, where I grew up, (I live in Kochi now) it unnerved
me. The atmosphere of defeat and despair coupled with the filth and the smell
was too much for me to bear. I ran away. And never went back.
But, amazingly, my father had an impact on my neighbor
and childhood friend, the tennis coach Anup Singh Rashtrawar. He wanted to do
what my father was doing.
One day, at the Calcutta Gymkhana, Anup noticed a boy
staring through the railings at the courts. So Anup called him in. A Muslim
boy, Rashid (name changed) lived in a nearby slum. He told Anup he wanted to play
tennis.
So, Anup taught him the basics, even as Rashid earned
his keep as a ballboy. Soon, Rashid took part in competitions and began to do
well. A few years later, he was able to secure a job through the sports quota
of the railways.
Today, Rashid owns a flat and his children are studying in prestigious
English-medium schools.
Eventually, Anup rescued more than 30 boys from the
slum. And they are all doing well. Anup, himself, is doing well, as a coach in
a millionaire’s club at Florida. And he has helped countless others over the
years.
Here is another example. Last year, he saw an article in a national
newspaper about a Muslim girl in the middle of Madhya Pradesh who wanted to go
for medical studies but did not have the money. He called up the Delhi office
of the newspaper and got the Bhopal number. From there he got the reporter’s contact
and got in touch with the girl. Now, Anup is funding her medical education.
And, even today, whenever he calls me up he inquires
about my father's well-being. The question that is asked of people, at the end
of life, is this: with your actions, did you do good or harm? My father only
did good. Thank you for being such a remarkable role model.
And happy birthday once again Daddy!
(A shorter version was published as a middle in The New
Indian Express, South Indian editions)
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