On the first day of this new year, my grandfather-in-law passed away. It was a very shocking, traumatic and sad incident. More so because he took his last breath in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do. Not even his sons who are doctors could do anything more. He lived to be 88. When I look back at my journey I see that I came to this family 11 years ago and with a little bit of negative image about him. I never ever dreamt at that time that this illusion could shattter and be replaced with immense respect and love for him. The passing years held me in awe of him as he gradually became my role model. I have read about so many real life heroes but had the good fortune of witnessing one which was my grandfather-in-law. I never could know when he ceased to be just an 'in-law' and became a guiding post. Every few minutes that I spent with him taught me something new. His passion for his work kept him going till the age of 88. He was a man of iron-will power, extreme self respect and self discipline. He had full control not over himself but also his vast family. He has seen and suffered so much, yet never broken down. In a family of more than 50 members he had full involvement in each one's development and growth. He was a man much ahead of his times. He was the first one to buy a scooter, a television, a satellite cable and even a computer, in his home town. He was the one to never back down. He was not afraid of new ideas and experimentation. This earned him immense respect not only at his native place but also all over the country. He became the founder person of All India Nureserymen Association. In the field of horticulture he is a renowned figure. You name a place in India and he has some or the other contact there.
Once he got an idea to prepare a directory of all the people running nurseries all over India to bring them together. Even the daunting age of 80 could not stop him from travelling in the whole country from state-to-state and village to village, collecting names and details of the nurseries. At the age of 76 he got an idea to start planting gladiola flowers in India. For this he travelled to Netherlands, learnt the technology there and brought those bulbs to India which he went on to plant successfully.
He had a very good reading habit and read on innumerable topics. His collection of books has now been converted into a library. He was very keen on translating a rare alternative medical treatment book of Urdu into Hindi to prevent it from extinction. He was a non-believer yet believed strongly in the theory of Karma. Given the era he was born in, he believed strongly in education, creativity, equality and also the principle of "be your own boss". He tried for every child and grandchild to become an entrepreneur. He was strictly against dowry and valued punctuality highly. Even the wedding party of the grooms of his family never reached late. He wished to donate his eyes and also his body for medical research.
His small tricks of teaching children were incredibly simple. He kept young children engaged by making them read out his newspaper and post to him. He corrected all his children and grandchildren by paying attention to small details of pronunciation and grammar. My husband tells me that as a child he and his cousins helped Grandpa in writing letters related to nursery work which went a long way in improving their communication skills. My husband says that his well appreciated communication skills at work are known to be clear and to-the-point for which his grandpa's contribution is very high. He even went on to make a 33 acre property out of nothing. When that agricultural land was sold, it pained me very much because I thought my cildren will never know the legacy they belong to. Also his passing away has deprived my children of knowing the legend himself and growing under his care.
His closest resemblance lives on in his son who is a doctor and who served him in his last days and a grandson who is my husband. My husband's Doctor uncle was not on very agreeable terms with my grandfather-in-law. But the funniest part and the most beautiful part of it is, that it was because they are so much alike in their attitude and self-confidence;-)
The way he lived his life fearlessly is an inspiration to me and my husband. I hope my children can also learn something from his tales.
