I wish he was here

Article written by Dilun Tatak for certificate course HOSD 2015, Christ University
 

My grand uncle's name is Digong but I call him Yayi which means father in my native tongue. He is a seventy year old man who looks as if he is a century old. I cant recall any moment when he looked a day younger but looks can be deceiving because I have seen him plough our ancestral land and chop woods in the forest and i am sure many young people such as myself wont be able to do the things he does. He loves his village and his farm. He tills the land and listens to nobody when they tell him to take a break. As a child my fondest memories with him were in the village where he taught me how to swim in the village river, catch fish with a bamboo stick and a string, plant crops and showed me the rich flora and fauna of our village. When he was younger he took active part in the district elections. He would go to every house in the village educating the people about elections as majority of the people in the village were illiterate during that time. He would sometimes get into brawls and win them too. My dad would brag about this to his friends. 

When he was in his thirty's my grandfather shifted to a town nearby but he remained in the village. From that day onwards till now we have to go to the village if we wanted to see him for he rarely made a visit to the town. His reason for hating the town was that he loved the sound of nature more than the noise of a town. During Solung(festival),he would lead the war dance which was to displayed before the commencement of any festival in the village. 

He would also donate a lot of crops and cattle during these celebrations and probably because of it he was very well respected by everyone. He is old now but he had his share of fun during his youth. That's what he keeps telling me. Whenever I ask him about happiness and life he would always say a happy life is what everyone should seek for and not materialistic gains. 

For him happiness 

• growing crops and vegetables in his farm
• fishing silently on the river
• living peacefully in the village without the disturbance of modern technology
• enjoying what nature has to offer him
• if a person is contended with what he has then he'll always be happy.

My grand uncle is one of my favorite among my relatives for he is a wise man who is always so generous and kind to everyone he comes across. I'm so grateful to him for teaching me so many things in life and I wish he was here with me right now so I could tell him that I love him.