Dear Son,
Welcome to the world. You will be your mother’s number one priority and your mother will be mine. Sorry, but that’s how I was raised.You are a boy. Treat women as you would wish your mother to be treated. The world is a beautiful place full of hope. Because you are fortunate. Remember that. Remember, not only us your parents are blessed, but you are blessed too. We will as your parents give you every advantage we can; in three days you have already been on the BBC to 300m viewers worldwide, and thereby achieved in three days more than I did in three decades!
But be always humble for your good fortune, and share it with others. Be a rainbow to other’s cloud and you shall lift spirits – including your own. “Poverty is the worst form of violence” said Gandhi. Please remember that when you pick your causes and battles to fight in life. Your achievements will rarely be your own, but like mine, they will be of chance and good fortune. So, you will have an obligation of gratitude to God above and a duty to serve those around you.
“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow” said the former President of India. I have lived by this creed and I hope you will see its merit too: “It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.” Bhagavad Gita. Know you come from an ancient proud heritage, civilisation and faith. Stand strong for your beliefs and values – in the end, it is all that will truly persist and matter. You are also British – be proud of that too.
Be a boy and then a man of character and culture – your actions will reflect on your parents, and theirs. Words from a song I have lived by “Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind...the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults, if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.”
You have a large family that loves you beyond words. But I hope you will consider a broader family too – the community around you; the owner of this paper is proof of that. “We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle” said Gandhi. Never run away from the battle. But I do not want to burden you with such thoughts now. There will be time for fun, joy. Fill your lungs with life as you screamed at birth, so too inhale daily the joys of life. Laugh until you have tears; for it is also a sad difficult world, and you will need to find your own moments of peace.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine. And look after your mom.
Dad, Alpesh B Patel
(Approved by mummy Aekta).
