An abiding lesson in humility

In a primary school at Amritsar, during the recess, I used to make a quick jaunt home for lunch and run back before the break ended. When mother went to her parents’ home, father would bring my lunch to school, which I didn’t appreciate because he would show up in workshop clothes. I felt small, unnecessarily though, but hesitated to tell my father so. This reluctance of mine haunted me even at high school.

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After matriculation, I joined college and then went to Mumbai for the marine engineering course. I had quite realised that my father knew about my hesitation regarding his visits to my school and then even to college. After completing my course, I joined the merchant navy and in due course, rose to the rank of chief engineer.

During the India-Pakistan war in 1971, when my ship returned to Mumbai, there were still restrictions on entry to the docks. Only bona fide persons, like the ship’s crew, were allowed. Even after the war, entry restrictions were still there.

During my ship’s stay, my father came to Mumbai to attend the wedding of my cousin. He expressed the desire to see my ship, but also let me know that he had got a new suit to wear for the occasion.

His remark made me feel ashamed of my earlier reluctance which I had been harbouring since my schooldays. The Bombay docks police post was authorised to issue entry pass to friends and relatives of the persons serving on ships. When I approached the inspector-in-charge to get an entry pass for my father, he refused.

Even when I told him that my father had come all the way from Amritsar, he didn’t relent. So I, in my uniform, went to see the assistant commissioner of police. When he saw me, he got up from his seat to receive me.

When I told him about my problem, he called for the police inspector and reprimanded him. The inspector now appeared to have learnt a lesson in humility. He escorted my father right up to the ship. My father was pleased to see it. Being himself from a technical background, he wanted to have a look at its machinery. I deputed an engineer for the purpose. When my father visited the engine room, he asked some technical questions to the duty engineer.

But the best came when he asked the young engineer to let him know if his chief engineer treated them well; if not, then being his father, he could always ask him to behave better with juniors.