Dear Princess — Om’s Letter

dear princess,

it is just 2 weeks now till you will be in my arms. you know that papa can’t wait to meet you. from the minute I found out that your mama was expecting you, I got everything ready, from clothes to toys to even the nursery.

but despite of all the excitement of becoming your father, I question myself that will I be a good father and that will I end up being like my father?

your dadu tej is an amazing man but he isn’t my real father. my real father is manish patel but you will never meet him in your life and it will be a good thing if you don’t because those who are with him suffer a lot.

manish patel was my so called father. when I was born, my mother died and since then he hated him for it. because of my mum’s death, he gave up everything and entered the world of gambling and alcohol.

every day and night, he would drink up the money he earnt on these useless things. he would drink until he was satisfied and he would gamble 24/7. the house we lived in was not very big and since it was very small, it would smell of alcohol. I have always hated the smell of it, it makes me dizzy and sad. he always considered me as the biggest mistake of his life and would beat me up even on the smallest things. if you ever saw that house princess, you would see blood on the walls and floors. the blood belongs to me and they were the result of his beatings.

when I was 7, he married another woman who became my stepmother. I was happy on the day he married her because I always wanted a mother figure in my life but she was exactly the mother figure I longed for, she managed to give me some happiness but it didn’t last for long unfortunately. she became pregnant and during childbirth, both she and the child died and once again I was back to being considered a black mark, a mistake and an animal.

manish patel never realised that I was a human being. he saw me as an animal and when he was gambling sometimes he would take me to the pub and make me some alcohol and those disgusting drinks. if he lost in gambling, sometimes he would smash a glass on my head. it is still a big shock that I am still alive today.

when I was 10, we lost the house because of manish patel’s carelessness. we ended up going to a shelter for homeless people. every night and day, all I heard was yelling and slaps. but I was already immune to it.

at 12, I had enough and the only solution to my pain was drugs. when I would walk out of the house, I would find some money. I used that money to buy some cheap drugs and I would insert them into myself.

it wasn’t a wise decision and I regret it everyday of my life. eventually manish patel decided to clear off one day because he had enough of me. I ended up going to an orphanage and I still continued using drugs there.

I stayed there for 5 months and those 5 months were as miserable as hell. but soon an angel entered my life and princess, that is your dadu tej.

he wanted to adopt a child with his wife also known as your dadi jhanvi because they wanted to give a child a good life. I don’t know much about that day since I fainted due to a heavy dose of drugs.

they took me to hospital and that’s when they found out drugs were running through my blood. the doctors were all set to send me to a rehab but your dadu disagreed. he argued with the entire world because he didn’t want to send me to a rehab. he saw through my eyes that I have been through a lot and he wanted to give me a life I have never dreamt of.

he taught me how to smile and laugh. he cleared the dark clouds in my life and sunshine took over it. he brought me out of my drugs addiction. everyone in his family and well I can now say my family were so supportive and nice. they accepted someone else’s blood into their family.

eventually princess, he won the fight against the world and he and

you may be wondering that who looked after me as a baby? well princess, my nani would look after me time to time but a while later she too passed away. you also may be wondering that did daddy ever went to school. princess, I never went to school till I was 12.

now princess, I am happy where I am and I am silently counting days till your arrival. though a part of me questions that will I be a good father, I know for sure that you will never have tears in your eyes and that you will only wear a smile. drugs and alcohol is not the answer to anything. it only causes you more pain.

princess, I am nothing like manish patel and I will never be anything like him. I am your father omkara singh oberoi and you will be treated like royalty. if you ever have tears in your eyes, then it would be like a knife stabbing my heart.

and remember something princess, you may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

I love you princess and come soon.

love from your papa,

om.