My dearest Danyal
As elders, our natural
instinct is to want to protect our kids; we aim to take care of them, we
imagine that without anchoring them they might waver in life. As time winds
down, the realisation dawns that when your children have grown up, the first
thing you do is stop telling them what to do – not because they would oppose
you – but simply because by stepping aside on tiptoe, you can observe them etch
a forte for themselves where they would be a role model for the rest of the
world to idolise upon.
The day I watched you spread
your wings my dear Danny, I grasped that it was my time to tiptoe and observe, from
afar, how humanity was taking to you quite like iron takes to a magnet. I found
myself finding such rapture in your eminence, and it was not something that I
could express via any medium: art or words. It was a feeling that an elder
brother felt for his younger brother, and it was a feeling that I would want gone
with me when I cease to breathe, embedded and buried deep within my heart.
However, when the world
is shrouded in mist, and the atmosphere is so bloody that only the stupid are
fairly untouched, whilst the sensitive wither like a bug-befouled leaf, my chest
rather swells with honour when I see light at the end of the tunnel because of
you my Kidd, or do I even entitle you that, because you are now an admirable
young man who has acquired such a secure grasp on how to shape civilisation
just by being yourself, that calling you a Kidd would be most violating that
very essence, although, the fact does remain that regardless of how older you
grow, you will still remain, in my heart and soul, my little Kidd . . . my little
Danny. And as severe as this may sound, this is also precisely why I am rest
assured that even if I were to die, my greatest treasure, you, would be the
beacon who would manoeuvre the mislead to the zenith of peace and harmony that they
most rightfully need to find themselves in, for god knows that the world needs
a healer, and most urgently.
Thus my Dan, a man with
such a gifted ability and influence to make a dent, remember that when I close my
eyes never to wake up again, live so that your very presence would have made all
the difference to mankind. Commit to memory that your alluring
lips must speak words of kindness. Your lovely eyes ought to pursue the good in
people. For an athletic structure, share
your food with the hungry. For beautiful
hair, let a child run his fingers through it at least once in a day. For carriage, walk with the knowledge that you will
never walk alone. Remember that whether we elders are there with you or
not, we leave you a tradition with a future that
you will try your best to the tender loving care
of human beings, and you will strive that it will never become obsolete.
That you will keep in mind that it is not things, but people even more than anything, that have to be restored, renewed,
revived, reclaimed and redeemed. Be mindful that these very people will displease
you to such irksome levels, whereby you may desire to toss them before the
guillotine, yet, never toss anybody out, for
everyone who traverses your course does so in order to teach you something of
value. Most important of all, bear in mind that if you ever need a helping
hand, you must find one at the end of your arm, and the other one, you must use
for helping others, always.
While I wish you the best of everything in life and nothing
more my Danny, do not think me callous when I say that I would also like that at
different walks of life for you to experience defeat, suffering, struggle, loss
– it is these occurrences and their responses, laterally with delight and humour
that are rather responsible to provide you a way to find your way out of the
depths of delirium. It is these encounters that will help inculcate in you an
appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that would fill you
with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not
just happen, the trials and tribulations of life make them what they are.
I am infinitely
thankful that you exist, my Dan. Now go along and mend the world. It is indeed
your forecourt.
In deed and thought
I remain
Your very own
– Farahdeen
PS: I know, I know, I vowed I would step away and watch quietly, and even then I ended up giving you the longest lecture in the world. For that you officially have the freedom hereon to hold a gun to my temple and pull the trigger (as swiftly and painlessly as possible), as I mouth the last words – But, my Kidd, old habits die-hard, so do I really deserve this?
Photographs by Izzah
Shaheen Malik
