M Abdul Karim

He was over 6 feet tall, red face, grim yet affectionate, a hidden smile on his face. Deep penetrating eyes, sometimes hard to keep contact with. I never saw him dressed in anything other than cotton whites. Kurta pyjama. Occasionally he would wear a "sadriyah" which is a waist coat also white. It was only the umbrella he carried that was black. He wore a white turban when he went out. He had a trimmed beard and well trimmed thin mush. He looked much smarter than me. On special occasions, he would wear an "Untrey"

He had a wooden trunk [approx: 18X15X12] in which he kept his few belongings like his eye glasses, some books, letters, pens and such other things. I don't remember if he ever locked it. But no one would dare touch or open it even if he is not at home except probably my Ma. Where is it now?

He slept on a mat in Abbajan ka kamrah and used a pillow.

Sometimes, if we do a mistake, if he was in the mood to reprimand, he would address any of us by saying "Joru ka ghulam". He had so much got used to it, one day he uttered the words addressing to a cousin sister of mine and we all burst out laughing wherein he was forced to join the humor.

The respect he commanded was mainly due to the respect we saw in our Ma's treatment of him, and her constant reminder to us about paying the highest respect to our father, although she posed him serious challenges regarding his roles and actions.

Do you recall something about him specific to you? Mention it here and share your experience, taking care to weed out any negative thought as it won't serve any purpose.