My Dad, My Hero
I would like to pay my respect and salutations to my father, Sadhu Singh Sandhu on his birthday. He was the youngest child of a family of six brothers and sisters and was born in the Doaba region (the interfluvial land between Satluj and Beas River) of Punjab, at village Jadla, district Nawanshahr to a hardworking, respectable and modest family on June 6, 1943. Since his childhood, he was sedulous and helped his family with farming, performed daily chores and found time to study and complete his education at the local school in his village. Being the youngest sibling and well aware of his family’s unpretentious means, he realized early on that he wouldn’t have a promising future living there. He was wise to have focussed on his studies, dreamt of working in the city and making a future for himself.
After completing his basic education, he migrated to Delhi and lived with my Phufarji, Sardar Harnam Singh (his brother-in-law, of village Siana) who was a senior officer with Audits Department (AGCR), Govt. of India, and completed his post-secondary education while helping the family. My uncle took him under his wing, introduced him to city life and my Dad became like a son to him. He was a mentor and father figure to my Dad, who was more than twenty years younger to him. He guided my Papa, gave him sound advice and counselling in order for him to successfully complete the recruitment requirements for Ministry Of External Affairs. My Dad eventually succeeded in getting selected for the job and started working for the Ministry in the 60s.
During the course of his career, my Dad was posted at various missions abroad and he performed his duties diligently, with integrity in order to help his countrymen in overcoming hardships while working in foreign countries. I remember my Dad used to work tirelessly in helping semi-educated Indian diaspora in Middle-Eastern nations, who mostly worked for the construction industry. The Indian labourers received minimal salary, had to live under harsh conditions and were treaded poorly by their employers. In many instances they had to deal with arduous consular procedures to resolve their employment/pay issues, which unscrupulous employers tried to fortify unjustly. My Dad used to expedite the proceeding and tried to alleviate the miseries of these poor souls to the best of his ability. He patiently listened to their grievances and was empathetic to their despondency.
In some Middle Eastern countries, octogenarian men used to marry young girls from India, especially from Hyderabad and brought them back to their homes as ‘brides’. During my Dad’s posting in such countries, he abetted and saved a few young Indian women from abusive relationships by providing them advice and guidance or by counselling the couple to reconcile their difference. He told me about a woman who was appreciative of his advice and since talking to him, her husband treated her well and subsequently she was blessed with a child. If the life of a woman was in danger, he made sure that she was repatriated back to her family in India. I remember my Dad personally assisted a couple of hapless women by giving them monitory support in order for them to overcome their perilous situation.
Frequently, the hard working Indian employees, used to pass away in foreign lands, while working under inclement weather conditions. My Dad made sure that their body was respectfully repatriated back to India, and ensured appropriate benefits were provided to the next of kin (some of the employers tried to cut corners by covertly disposing the body of the deceased in order to save repatriation expenses). I remember my Dad was commended by family members of the deceased through their letters of acknowledgement for having given them the opportunity to provide customary and dignified funerary rites to their departed relatives.
My Dad helped in the repatriation of thousands of Indians stranded in Kuwait and Iraq during 1990 Crisis, after Saddam attacked Kuwait. He along with other staff members of the Indian Embassy, Baghdad helped Indians evacuate the country before the first Gulf War. During this stressful process, he suffered personal health issues; however, he supposed his fellow countrymen escape persecution in these hostile lands. Just before the start of Gulf War in 1991, he was able to come back to India along with other staff members and their families. The media or movies may not have portrayed this event or given it adequate justice, I can however, personally attest to the hard work and dedication of many Indian Government officials during this arduous ordeal. The Bollywood movie ‘Airlift’ is not a true representation of the events that occurred in Baghdad.
My Dad worked at various missions: Nepal, London, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Canada, Kenya and I was fortunate to live and experience life in these parts of the world and to have met and known important personalities and seen historical landmarks as related to our history. As an example, I was fortunate to have visited and was part of the congregation of the Sikh Gurdwara at Baghdad during its pristine existence in 1989/90.
My Dad’s last posting was with High Commission of India, Kenya in 1998, where he was Attaché and liaison officer with United Nations. I was unable to visit him during his official tenure there as I was tied up with my family life and work commitments in Ottawa. I did however, travel to Kenya with my family for our vacation in 2015. I was therefore able to visit all of the countries where my Dad had worked and lived.
I recently met one of my Dad’s friends in Ottawa after many years. He is a retired army officer and his son had invited me to his home for dinner. I had known him and over the years we used to greet each other at our local Gurdwara. During our conversation, he reminisced about his friendship with my Dad and recollected that Papa was a simple and truthful individual who performed his duty honestly and with integrity. It felt nice to hear such kind words coming out of someone who had known my Dad from long time ago.
My Dad was always an inspiration for me, I always looked up to him; however, later on in life, due to unfortunate circumstances and due to a callous person, fissures developed in our relationship. Egos and pertinacity on our part prevented us from having a proper reconciliation and he departed from this world in 2011. He has always been in my heart and I feel his presence and blessings being showered on me. Papa helped me understand the value of being an altruistic individual, have compassion, even though that term became an oxymoron with our relationship. I may not have appreciated his hard work, devotion and advice at the time; however, in retrospect I do realize that some of the things he told me were indeed accurate. I know that not all heroes wear capes and they come in various forms. My Dad was a role model, who served his country, was a good father and benevolent man. My respect and regards to him and to his service to the Nation.
