The Paper Boat

I could see my father’s image pop out of the scroll as the lawyer was reading my father’s will, “Last will and testament of me, Prakash Arora,”…. …and after that everything went blah, blah-blah, blah-blah. Where there is a will… I want to be in it...

The devil came and sat on my shoulder as the will continued to be read, and asked “What did he leave for us?” And I said the three words that females so often use “I don’t know” The interesting part came when I heard “ To my darling daughter Ritu, I leave, a boat.” “A boat,” said the devil, “haven’t you always dreamt of cruising the world in a small luxury boat, maybe it will even have a casino. There is the Sea Princess of your dreams and now you’re going to get it” ……but the next words the lawyer said ensured that my Sea Princess sank and the devil drowned in his tears. “Ah yes, Miss Arora”, she said, “here’s your boat.” A paper boat!

That evening I went and watched the family videos that my father had made ever since I was a baby, with the hope of finding the secret to the paper boat.

The first video was taken when I was a few hours old, and I imagine I had a hard life then, crying for food, crying for water, crying for a diaper change (waaaaa), braving those “ooh what a cute baby” from ogling aunts in different shapes and sizes, pinching my cheeks, “she has her mother’s eyes, her mother’s looks, and her father’s … money.” The love and pride that shone on my father’s face as he held me for the first time and my little hand clasped his big finger… and the pain, when I bit it.

The next video was of a five year old Ritu, who had rushed indoors at pitter-patter, the first drops of rain on the window-sill. My father had looked at me and said, “come Sweety, let me teach you how to make a paper boat”, and with his deft fingers he had carefully and cleverly folded the paper to form a boat, hypnotic and beautiful, and father and daughter had stepped out in the rain, and set the boat adrift in the rushing muddy water, and watched it toss from door to door. What my father was doing then, was creating a legacy. One that would help me enjoy the monsoon, the rain water and paper boats forever.

Property I could do without, bank balance I could do without, but Dad, why didn’t you leave me a sense of humour?

This boat is a living legacy for me that inspires me to create my legacy.

Kabir has rightly said, - ‘Kadli seep bhujang much, swati ek gun teen’. The first drop of rain, that falls into a Banana tree forms camphor, into an oyster forms a pearl, and into a serpent’s mouth forms venom. Each one of us is as unique and precious as the first drop of rain. The legacy we leave behind, camphor, pearl or venom is our choice.

Margaret Thatcher got the legacy of ‘commitment to service’, from her father, a shopkeeper. A dyslexic child grew up to become General George Patton because his father left him ‘courage to conquer’.

We can all become immortal by leaving living legacies, not only for our children, but for every life we touch. A famous Chinese proverb says, ‘the faintest ink is more lasting than the strongest memory’. ‘Letters from a father to a daughter’ made Pandit Nehru immortal not only for Indira Gandhi, but also for the world at large. Dr.Ralph C. Smedley’s living legacy is a not-for-profit organization called Toastmasters International.

Everything including life is temporary. It melts away like ice. Leave living legacies that will last beyond the mists of time. Create timeless treasures.

"Share your words, share you wisdom, share your wallet", leave your boat.

I am reminded of the famous ghazal of Jagjit Singh, - ‘Woh kagaz ki kashti Woh baarish ka paani’ Take my wealth, fame and youth, but return to me my childhood monsoon, the rain water and my paper boat.

My paper boat sails on. A living legacy that reminds me of the time that I spent with my father that has made me the person I am today. I can see my father no more, but he is still with me. He is more than a memory. He is a living presence.

Stretch out the palm of your hand and imagine your paper boat. Visualize it sailing smoothly over the waters? What is the paper boat that you are leaving behind?