When, in the twilight of your life,
feeling haggard, hard done by,
It seems that life has passed you by,
just when there were new fields to conquer,
new avenues to explore,
new opportunities to grasp.
Your eyes light up when you see,
a tiny, sprawled figure,
who only slurps, and sleeps, and poops,
and yet, and yet………… never fails to put,
a spring in your step,
a smile on your face,
a song in your heart.
You can spend decades with family and friends,
and yet, when a tiny hand,
wraps itself around your finger,
and holds you in its spell,
everything else appears to be,
just a blur.
Such an innocent, trusting face,
reminds you not of
what could have been,
but of what can still be.
Your aching limbs and battered spirit,
have found a new body to inhabit,
a new life, full of promises, to live.
Through him, I live on,
My grandson, ah, my little one!
Wonderful piece sir.
Thanks. Should resonate in every granddad’s heart.
I really enjoyed reading your review of “1946 The Last War of Independence: The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny” by Pramod Kapoor which appeared in today’s DAWN, Karachi. As a Sub-Lieutenant in the Education Branch of the Pakistan Navy
in 1967, I had the pleasure of listening to anecdotes from two branch rankers (now dead) in PNS Himalaya of how they had taken revenge on their white racist Commander who had brought a gray tabby cat on board. In one of the RIN warships in January 1945, while they were cruising in the Persian Gulf, the poor cat had crept into a sailor’s blanket who was sleeping on the quarterdeck. The sailor grabbed the cat and threw it overboard into the sea. The next morning, the Commander had the ship anchored and searched every nook and corner of the vessel. No sailor came forward. The Commander, of course, realized what had happened. As a punishment, he had the crew fed lentils (daal) day and night for weeks.
I left the Navy in January 1971 but was recalled in November 1971 by Admiral M. Shariff in Dhaka who was once my C.O.
I had the opportunity of attending the first Navy Staff Course at PNS Himalaya in 1968. Apart from my years at PNS Rahbar, Manora, I also had the opportunity of teaching the American Language Course Placement Test program at King Fahad Naval Academy, Jubail, and Technical Institute of Naval Studies, Dammam, from 1993 to 2010.
Thank you for your kind comments and for sharing your own personal experiences.