Rohit roy---my dad was my friend

M y late father, Mr. Brotin Bose Roy, has been the biggest influence on my life. He wasn't just my dad but a friend and confidante. When he expired, I was hardly 16 years old. I grew up suddenly after that. His loss was a big void and I became closer to my mom. In a way, she replaced him as a friend. Earlier, it was my elder brother Ronit (Roy) who was closer to her. But dad's death made me dependent on her and I started confiding in her. Today, there's hardly anything about me that she doesn't know. Dad was a very trusting kind of person. He made losses in business because of his sim- ple nature. He was also very straightforward, and I've inherited that from him. He was very generous with his compliments. But he was also very strict and reprimand- ed us brothers if we made mistakes. But I must admit, he went easy on me. I had this peculiar habit of singing weird Hindi songs when I was younger. Mom would get very irri- tated but dad would encourage me and say, 'Hey, go on. You sing well'. Those words were encouraging and act as a booster even today whenever I'm feeling down. As told to Shameem Khan