My father, Rustomji Andhyarujina (pictured), who passed away over 20 years ago, would have been 115 years old on September 24, 2020. Those who will think of him on that day are his three surviving children, and perhaps some of his several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I don’t need an "occasion” to remember him. As the old song says, "all kinds of everything” remind me of him. Whenever I see a picture of a mother or father reading a story to a child, I am reminded of our childhood when we sat around in a circle listening wide-eyed to the stories narrated by him — a new one every day. When I feel sad, I hear his sage advice, "Don’t worry; you know good cometh out of evil.” On his birth anniversary I wish to acknowledge my debt once more to the father to whom, together with my mother, I owe everything.
While growing up we learnt the story of his life and witnessed the sacrifices our parents so willingly made for us. My father was the son of a priest in Udvada, one of several siblings, whose dream was to become a "famous lawyer.” When he realized that his father had other plans for him — taking up the priesthood in Udvada — he rebelled and managed to persuade his parents to send him to Bombay to stay with relatives and study. Once settled in Bombay, he brought down his siblings from Udvada and filled them with the same passion for education.
He became a famous lawyer whose tome on The Rent Act was cited as an authority in the Supreme Court and in several high courts in the country. Never forgetting the differences he had with his father over studying, he swore he would give his children the best education he could afford. His five children were the beneficiaries of this magnificent obsession and became lawyers or doctors, according to their inclination.
Today, more than two decades after his death, his legacy comprising his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren includes an advocate general and solicitor general (his son, sadly gone), several lawyers and doctors (including a heart transplant surgeon), accountants, writers and entrepreneurs both in India and abroad. The youngest lawyer, my granddaughter, has just graduated from University College, London.
Participants at webinars discuss solutions to India’s economic problems, the chief among them being unemployment and the plight of migrants. Among the solutions suggested are education and imparting skills. A hundred years ago a 15-year-old village boy dreamt of transforming his life and that of his family with just these, and proved that one could do so! I thank the Almighty for his bounty in giving us this extraordinary human being for a father.