u/Legitimate-Hat-856

Hello Dada,

Its 2026

The house feels quiet now a kind of silence that screams in its own strange way.

I made it to college, and I’m in my first year of BCA now. First year is almost over.

Sometimes I think about a version of myself who was a topper, optimistic, bold, confident, and extroverted. I don’t know when I lost him, but over the years he slowly disappeared. Now, I feel like a disappointment not only to others, but to myself too.

Life has never been the same after you left. Everyone has high expectations from me, expectations I can’t fulfill. Nobody really listens to me anymore, and nobody truly understands me.

No one watches TV anymore. I miss those nights when we used to watch Kaun Banega Crorepati together and play along on the mobile every day after 9 PM.

I still miss the days when you used to drop me off and pick me up from school and tuition.

And I can never forget how, in 1st class, you used to teach me numbers especially the teen numbers.

Or that day when we were returning from an event, and I was sitting on your lap in the front seat of the car. I asked you why the moon was following us, and you explained it to me so patiently. You were the first teacher of my life, and still the best one.

I miss my childhood so much the games we played together and the cartoons we watched together. Looking back now, some of those cartoons were honestly boring and cringe, but you still watched them with me. Thank you for that, Dada.

What hurts the most is that I’ve started forgetting parts of the memories we built together. It feels like an old cassette tape or a scratched DVD the voices are still there, but blurry, faded, and broken with time.

Speaking of cassettes, I still remember your cassette collection. It’s still here in the house, but there’s nobody left to play them or listen to them the way you did.

And our cat… a few months after your death, he left too, as if he went on his own little adventure.

I still miss the shayaris and ghazals you used to sing.

We survived the pandemic together.

And somehow, I made it to college.

Now I can’t believe it has already been three years.

This house doesn’t feel the same anymore.

Memories of you still bring tears to my eyes.

After you left, many people showed their true colors.

I don’t know what’s happening with my life anymore. I can’t decide anything properly, but deep inside I know I’m walking on the wrong path.

It feels dark and lonely here.

But even now, whenever I remember you, a part of me still feels safe. Maybe that part will never disappear.

I hope wherever you are, you are at peace.

Bye, Dada.

In our house, alternate days water comes from a tap(municipal water), so someone has to fill and manage the water storage. Usually we use a motor, but today I was manually filling water using one of those big 10-liter filter bottles because the motor wasn’t being used.

While I was doing that, my father thought I was doing nothing. In front of our maid, he suddenly shouted at me and called me “chutiye.” The maid started laughing at me. I felt humiliated instantly.

After some time, my father came to talk to me and tried to say sorry. But my mood was already ruined. I told him that saying sorry doesn’t erase what happened in front of someone else. I said that the maid already saw everything and would remember it.

Before I could even finish explaining myself, he got angry again and started hitting me in front of her. She laughed again.

Now I can’t stop thinking about it. The worst part is that maid work in multiple houses, and I know she’ll tell everyone nearby about what happened.