A few days a ago, a close friend, asked me how it felt to live now that Baba (my father) has passed away. My father — Prabhakar Vasudeo Gokhale (88), passed away earlier this year. As my friend and I talked about this, my mobile phone & Instagram (being the excellent listeners that they are, assuming that’s what I’m ‘into’ right now ; ) immediately took up the responsibility of serving me posts that were connected to losing a parent. First one of the lot was this quote by Paul Rudd who said “When you lose a parent, the world is off its axis and never rights itself….You either adapt or you perish.” My friend waited for an answer, and here’s what I replied –

My father taught me how to ride a bike, as must be the case with many of us. This was when I was about 6 years old and visiting my brother Raam in New Jersey with my parents. We got the bicycle out on this little community street and he convinced me to get on the bike and try. He instructed me to start pedaling and moving ahead, assuring me that there was no reason to be scared about falling because he was going to be holding the bike at the back the whole time. Trusting him, I started to pedal. It seemed impossible at first but after a few pedaling cycles, I started feeling like I could do it. I looked back and he was still holding on running behind me, smiling. He kept telling me that even though he wouldn’t let go, I now had everything I needed to go ahead without him. With my new-found confidence and excitement, I started pedaling a little faster. And before I knew it, I was balancing myself completely and going fast ahead! I had learnt how to ride a bicycle. By myself.

Now I looked back again. And it shocked me when I realized that my father was now standing at a far distance, not holding my bike at the back anymore. He had let go. This moment of shock, caused me, the girl who could now ride a bicycle perfectly well all by myself, to fall down. Of course, with time, I did get back on the bicycle and just kept on pedaling ahead because I knew Baba will always have my back : ) This art is my tribute to all the fabulous Dads out there.