Talking about dad, one particular incident keeps coming to mind, which floods my heart with love for him.
I remember as a high school kid making rice for the first time. We were in the GCC and mom was in India. So I took it upon myself to cook something for my dad. I totally forgot about the rice and ended up burning it. I felt very disappointed because it was the first time I tried to cook something.
We had a party later on that day and dad mentioned that I cooked rice. One snarky uncle asked laughing “But the question is, did she cook it well? Did she burn it?” I could feel a joke coming up and was readying myself for it. To smile through it all, even if I was a little upset about my failure. But instead, my dad said “Yes, she cooked it very well!” and gave me a wink and a smile.
A wave of relief.
A wave of empathy.
As you move on in life, you realize, this show of kindness is very rare. People are just looking for the next joke, or the next person to troll, or the next person to burn. “IDGAF” is deemed as the new cool.
Not understanding that empathy is far greater, and has a much greater impact.
I am still to meet someone who is as kind and empathetic as dad. I am used to the best so how can I settle for anything less?
The Monkey Dilemma 