MY DAD'S KIND BOSS... AND HIS EID BIRYANI

Pic.: Chetna Shetty

My dad was a mechanic, and he worked for many years in a workshop owned by a kind Muslim boss. I say kind for two main reasons...

One: In spite of my dad’s huge weakness of drinking, his boss tolerated him for many, many years. My dad was a wonderful soul, very efficient in his job, too. But, because of his Sunday indulgence, almost every Monday used to be a nightmare for his boss... The hangover wouldn't allow my dad to go for work on a Monday; and, if he did, he would spoil the work of his boss’s clients!

And, in spite this nuisance, my dad’s boss, who was a devout Muslim, put up with my dad, and allowed him to continue working till we, his five kids, grew up... Finally, one Tuesday morning - I remember this even now - just before I became a graduate, my dad’s boss sent my dad back, once and for all. The great Monday hangover had finally taken its toll...

Well, that was long in waiting. Any other boss would have shown my dad the door, long earlier...

So, this is the first reason why I consider my dad’s boss was kind...

The second reason was my own weakness... My love for the Eid Biryani! 

Whether my dad was a pain or a gain to his boss, I am yet to figure out... Whatever it was, on every Eid day, the boss wanted my dad to come over to his place, with his little sons, for a sumptuous fill of biryani... and, till I got into the college, I would excitedly accompany my dad to hog it... Yes, just hog it...

So good it was!

Once, I became a college student, I was too shy to go like that... Also, by then, I had become conscious of my dad’s drinking...

So, for the marvelous privilege of savoring the heavenly biryani on each Eid day, for so many of my innocent years, I consider my dad’s boss as a kind man!

Wherever you are sir – here on earth or up there in heaven – may God reward you for all the kindness you had showered upon my dad and our humble family.

Here, in Mumbai, many people invite me for an Eid biryani. But, the biryani, which my dad’s boss served, would, always, remain special in my heart...

There is something else that appeals to me these days... No, the biryani doesn't turn me on, so much now...

Here is one such thing...

Shaikhbhai is a garden contractor in our housing society. He has been looking after our gardens for the last four or five years. He is one of the most upright humans I have ever met... Very simple, very cultured, very honest, and very, very, very committed to the task in hand... He puts his heart not only in his work but also in his relationships... Though, a father of married daughters and hailing from a hand-to-mouth family, he is never ever tempted by money. Upright and sincere to the core... A true Musulman, I consider him.

And, for the last four or five years, not failing even once, on every Eid morning, this simple soul would call me to say, “Sir, Eid Mubarak ho!”

The fact that Shaikhbhai, a Musilm, picks up his phone and wishes me, a Christian, on an Eid day, makes my each Eid – yes, here in Mumbai – special... In deed, a hundred times more special than the best of the best biryani in the world!

Today morning, when Shaikhbhai called me up to wish, I did not mince my words... “Shaikhbhai you are gem of a human being,” I told him, “I love your honesty, commitment and simplicity. May Allah bless you and you family.”

Yes, I said this to him in Hindi...

“Bahut, bahut shukriya, sir,” Shaikhbhai replied with all his honesty, “You are being very kind to me!”

Is it what they say, “What goes around, comes around”?

GRALD D’CUNHA