Dear Mom and Dad,

You both blew the magic of life into my body. Nobody can or ever will live up to your place in my life. You showered me with love regardless of what I would become in this world. This letter is for both of you.

Firstly, my mother. My first breath created waves in your heart, you said once. I bet any mother would say the same to her child. Being a mother is not easy. I have heard of many mothers abandoning their babies on the streets for selfish reasons. I could never ask for a better mother than you in such a world. You were always there for me. You taught me manners and social code. Despite not being much educated yourself, you put me in front of textbooks and taught me what little you knew.

I wanted to ask you this question:

Are you a God? Who else could handle so many tasks while taking care of me?

Mother, do you remember that day when we went to a book fair? I don’t know the year; I was eleven or twelve. I took a big English book – ‘Sherlock Holmes’. It was in English, so I wasn’t sure whether I would read it. You told me to take it anyway after seeing my confusion. Later, when I saw a Malayalam version (my mother tongue) of the same book, I thought of exchanging it. But you made me keep the English version instead.

“It’s better to read in the original language a book is written,” you said, then.

How true! And it was a life-changing decision for me. I liked the Sherlock Holmes book so much that I began writing detective stories myself! Thanks to that decision, I’m an author now.

That decision…. Your decision gave me a new insight into myself. You knew me better than I did. You have always been paving the best way for me. You bathed me and clothed me. You understood me while no one could. You loved me while pampering and punishing me. I don’t know if you got what you expected from me. You will never tell.

But, mother, you have made me a better man. And I am proud to be your son.

My dear father,

What could I do without you? You provided me with everything. Your firm's willpower was what I found the most fascinating. Your life was very hard. You grew up in a penniless environment. You did many jobs to get past each day, but your eyes were focused on a single goal – becoming a government employee.

So you focused on getting a degree while doing so many jobs. You bought second-hand books to study for the exams. At last, you cleared all the tests and got the desired position. Then, you married and had me.

Father, do you remember how you solved my English problem?

The English language is foreign to me. So when I got to school, I struggled with English a lot. The English teachers were preaching the textbooks, and there was little room for grammar. That’s why I got a B grade in English alone, while excelling in all other subjects, scoring perfect A’s. I couldn’t grasp the problem I had.

But, seeing my answer sheets, you immediately found out my problem. And you did something that changed my understanding of English. You bought me the book titled ‘High School English Grammar’. Yes, the poor grammar was my problem.

“But I’m not in high school!” I was worried. “This book will be too much for me.”

“No, son,” you said. “You need to see the complete picture. That’s the problem. This book has everything you need. It’ll take time, but once you get it, you sprint while your classmates just start walking.”

And it happened. Obviously, I couldn’t learn it thoroughly, but I could get the sketch of a complete picture. My English was not perfect, but it was better than any of my friends’. This was the first problem I faced with the English language, and the writing help you provided was invaluable.

But that’s not the best writing tip I got.

I started writing stories in my mother tongue, Malayalam, in third grade. By the time I got into high school, I had also begun writing small stories in English. But it didn’t turn out as well as my Malayalam stories. There was no problem with grammar. But there was something amiss I couldn’t figure out. And I went to my problem-solver.

“The grammar is quite good,” you said.

“Thank you.”

“But the stories don’t have the quality you maintain in Malayalam stories. Not much vocabulary and creativity in English stories.”

“Maybe these stories are the best I can write. Nothing comes to my mind to improve these stories.” I expressed my concern.

“No, my son,” you smiled. “All you have to do is to read more English.”

“I read my English textbooks….”

“Not that. Textbooks can’t teach you the wonderful world of the flexibility of the English language. There are numerous ways to write English stories. You learn them by enjoying reading as many English storybooks as you can.”

Then, I understood a hidden secret behind my Malayalam stories

“Yeah. My Malayalam stories are good not because it’s my mother tongue but because I read a lot of Malayalam storybooks and comic books,” I remarked.

“Yes. And don’t read English books like you would study a textbook. Instead, enjoy them, and you’ll feel the stories come out of you so much that you couldn’t resist writing.”

That’s the best writing tip I have ever gotten. My father, you are not an English teacher. But you taught yourself English through hard work, and you had read a lot to do so. That’s why you know.

And that’s how you contributed to my way of becoming an author.

Well, I couldn’t think of any other people who survived such a path as yours. How did you manage all that?

You provided the best environment for me. Your life is my inspiration. You never blamed anyone for your difficult past; you kept marching forward to provide a better one for others.

You made no compromise for the wellness of our family. How could anyone do any more than that? Standing on your shoulders, I see a new sun rising above the horizons of our lives.

My dear mother and father,

Even when the whole world turns its back on me—when it judges me for what I did—when the world doesn’t listen to my words, I can always come back to you to let my heart out. You both are the only ones I need to explain myself to. You two are the only ones I can trust and love without a tint of doubt.

Mom and Dad, you are my home.

I thank you for all you have done and for all you are doing for me.

I promise you. I will always be there for you.

With love,
Your son.

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