Happy Father’s Day, Thaththa!

"Thaththa doesn't love us!" Vinuri's mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, stopped what she was doing and stared at her. Vinuri looked down and scraped the table with her nger. "Why would you say something like that Doni?"

Vinuri didn't answer her mother.

The thought that her father didn't love them, had come to Vinuri's mind a few weeks previously. This had happened when she was talking to a classmate over the phone.

"What are you doing?"

Vinuri asked, "I am so bored at home with nothing to do!"

"We are having a nice time because of the lockdown," replied Dinishka, Vinuri's friend. "Thaththi is at home all the time now. So we get to play with him all the time!"

Vinuri was surprised. Her parents never played with her. Her father was always working. Her mother was always busy with the housework. ven her older brother who was getting ready for his O'Level exam, didn't have any time to spend with her.

"So, what do you all play?" Vinuri wanted to know.

"We play cards, carom, catchers... Thaththi even comes to play in our play house!" giggled Dinishka. Vinuri frowned, feeling slightly jealous and also sad for herself.

Vinuri's father worked at a hospital. He was not a doctor, but these days he was as busy as one. He worked during night shifts and slept during the day time. Vinuri hardly even saw him on some days. If she put the TV too loud or dropped something, she was sure to get scolded by him. He seemed to be always in a hurry and always in a bad mood.

"He never plays with me!" Vinuri nally managed to mutter, because her mother kept on staring at her for an answer, after her accusation. Vinuri's mother managed a slight smile. "But you know how busy he is Doni."

"He has no time for me and he's always mad at me," complained Vinuri, looking at her mother from the corner of her eye.

Vinuri's mother came out of the kitchen and gently held Vinuri by her shoulders. She sat in front of Vinuri, stared at her for a little while and forced a smile. "It's a dif cult time we are all going through and you know that." Vinuri just stared blankly. "Hospitals are very busy these days and the hospital staff has to work very hard," her mother explained gently.

"Thaththa has to work during the night and that makes him very tired. Have you ever been up the whole night?" Vinuri remembered staying up late for a party once. She was very tired and sleepy the next day.

"Then why won't he leave his job?" Vinuri asked her mother. "If he leaves it, how are we to survive, Doni?" Vinuri's mother sighed. "We pay for our food, clothes, electricity bills for our TV and fridge, and everything else from what Thaththa earns. He works very hard to make our lives easy!" Vinuri's mother stared at her and continued, "Thaththa is sacri cing his comfort to make our lives comfortable." Vinuri was silent. Although she knew all this, she never really bothered to think about it before.

" ou know he can't play with you because he needs to rest during the day time, to stay up during the night. He's very tired but he never complains about it. But when you are tired, it's dif cult to be in a happy mood and we have to understand that Doni."

Vinuri remembered the days her father was less busy. How they went to the beach and how her father played with her and Aiya. Her father walked out of the room just then, to quickly have his meal and get ready to go back to work. He looked tired and his eyes looked very sleepy. Vinuri felt sorry for him. Vinuri understood that her Thaththa was working so hard in silence, to make life easy for her family.

Vinuri felt bad for accusing her father of not loving them. The truth was that he was a hardworking and responsible father. But maybe he just didn't know how to express his love through words. And that was why he never said that he loved them, but only expressed it through his actions by working hard, day and night to ful ll their needs. Vinuri wanted to do something to let her father know that he was appreciated. She wanted to tell him that she knew how much he sacri ced to make their life better.

One morning, a few days later, Vinuri's father woke up for his alarm. It was a Sunday. But still it was no holiday for him. He wished he could stay at home, relax and read a paper. But he had no choice; he had to report to work. A neatly folded, piece of white paper, near his pillow, caught his eye just then. He picked it up, curiously. But when he opened the paper, it made him smile.

The white paper was a 'Thank You' card. Written with a glitter pen, in Vinuri's round handwriting. It said how much Vinuri's father was appreciated, for caring for his family. There were beautiful stickers pasted all over it, with a small photo of their family pasted at the bottom. Vinuri's father felt all his tiredness disappear and he felt warm and happy after a long time.

"Happy ather's Day, Thaththa!" it said at the bottom.